The next day,
Although Aditya was expecting to see Bianca and Olivia scold Alicia, contrary to his expectations, the goddess managed to drag Aditya into her own matter. When Aditya's name was also bought, Olivia and Bianca stopped scolding Alicia and let Alicia go.
Alicia finally managed to convince her father to let her join the expedition team. At first, Ronnie didn't want to let his daughter go. He agreed only when Aditya stood up and promised Ronnie the safety of his daughter.
Outside Rose hills city,
Currently, 100 people were riding 100 various color Pegasus. These Pegasus were Peak 3rd-order magical animals. Pegasus is one of the magical animals that can only be found in Westnia. Pegasus is raised and bred by all the strongest Empires in Westnia. The reason for this is that a mature Pegasus can become a Peak 3rd-order magical animal with agility surpassing even Peak 4th-order magical animals.
Pegasus is just like horses. but with wings. A mature Pegasus can even give a beginner 5th-order a good run. Although Pegasus is not great at fighting or in defense. They were excellent in agility. Pegasus is one of the best magical mounts out there.
This time Ronnie send 100 powerful cultivators. Among the 100, there were three 5th-order cultivators. One of them was Sylvie who came at Alicia's request. The other two 5th-order cultivators were two elders of the Ethereal Empire. Aside from Sylvie, Aditya, Alicia, Noah, and two elder 5th-order cultivators, everyone else here was a Peak 4th-order or Mid 4th-order.
All the 4th-order cultivators were wearing Peak 3-star full-body armor sets and had Peak 3-star weapons. Even if the Ethereal Empire was the strongest and also richest Empire in Westnia, giving a 4-star full body armor set or 4-star weapons to their soldiers is impossible for them.
To make a Peak 4-star armor or weapon, just having a 4-star blacksmith is not enough. The metal needed to make 4-star armor or weapon is extremely rare to find and is super expensive.
Sylvie had managed to get her 5-star full body armor set by spending years of her saving. If she did not use her authority as the guild leader of White Lotus, even billions might not have been enough for her to get a full body armor set. Even the two 5th-order elders of the Ethereal Empire did not have full-body 5-star armor sets.
Noah was given Peak 4-star armor as he was the crown prince. His life was more valuable than others. Alicia did not need to get one Peak 4-star armor from her father as she already had one.
As for Aditya, he was the only one who wasn't wearing any armor. Although Aditya had a Mid-5-star sword, he did not have any 5-star armor set.
"Alicia, do you know how much it costs to breed and raise Pegasus?" Aditya asked Alicia while sitting on the back of a white Pegasus. He felt very comfortable sitting on the Pegasus's back. If possible he also wanted to bring this magical mount to his soldiers.
"Monthly it takes around 100 gold coins for one Pegasus." Aditya nodded his head while gently stroking the neck of the Pegasus. The winged horse was intelligent enough to understand people's words.
Meanwhile, everyone except for Sylvie and Noah wondered what was Aditya's relationship with princess Alicia. Why no one has heard of Aditya? Everyone wanted to ask what relationship Aditya had with their princess but no one dared to take the initiative to ask such a question as this would be considered very rude. Added to the fact that the crown prince and the guild leader of white Lotus also like this young man meant that no one can offend him.
"Everyone I have been ordered to lead this expedition. Our aim is to find the mutant fire ant nest. As of now, we're not sure where the mutant fire ant's nest is. We will be heading to Heavenly Hemlock Forest to find the mutant fire ant nest. We won't come back till we find the mutant fire ant nest. In this mission, I want everyone to listen to my orders. If I tell you to go to the right, you go to your right. Those who disobey my order will be killed. And yes his Majesty has given me permission to kill anyone who disobeys my order."
Hearing the old man's words Aditya couldn't help but frown. Aditya has met people like this old man even in his previous life. They were the type of people who love power more than anything. From his words, this old man was trying to show his supremacy above others. The arrogance in his tone was clearly evident.
It was as if the old man did not care about the presence of the White Lotus guild leader, which is the biggest and strongest guild in the whole Westnia continent nor did he care about the fact that he was in the presence of the Crown Prince or the Princess who is also the goddess of Alchemy.
Noah and Alicia also frowned. Noah knew that Tate was a prideful man. The old man only showed respect to the Emperor. But that did not mean that the old man was rude and arrogant in front of the royal family. This was the first time the old man was showing such arrogance and rudeness in front of Noah and Alicia.
For now, Noah decided to let go of this matter as they had more important things on their hands. 'After we return, I will deal with you.'
The one who spoke was an old skinny man. The old man was around 70 years old. He was 5 feet 7 inches tall. Despite looking old, his back always stayed straight. This old man's name was Tate. Tate was a very proud beginner 5th-order. According to Alicia, Tate has been serving the Ethereal Empire for 99 years now. Tate was extremely loyal to the Ethereal Empire. Ronnie greatly trusted this old man.
Sitting next to another Pegasus's back, behind Tate there was another middle age woman. Her name was Nora. Nora was also a beginner 5th-order cultivator. It was said that Nora was the second youngest 5th-order in the history of the Ethereal Empire.
Nora has beautiful long black hair. The voluptuous woman was actually a Succubus. She had a black whip-like tail. Her tail was morphed into love shaped symbol with the bottom being the tip of her tail. Nora also had two small black bat wings on her back. Nora was wearing a tight dress. Just looking at her curvaceous body, no men could restrain themselves.
Aditya, Noah, and some other 4th-order elite soldiers couldn't help but look at Nora. Even Alicia found Aditya staring at Nora, she snorted.
"Hmph! It turned out that all dragons just think about their lower parts." Aditya bitterly smiled. He has seen women who are even more beautiful and sexy than this 5th-order Succubus. He was only looking at Nora not longer than even a second. There was no lust in his eyes even though the woman he looked at was very sexy and hot.
Aditya turned to his right and looked at Alicia's face. "It looks like a certain princess is jealous."
"Jealous? And me? Haha~ I am not jealous." Alicia looked away as she couldn't handle his burning stare.
"I am not jealous. I am just worried about Julia." Alicia said those words in a very low tone. Aditya was able to hear her words as he was very close to her.
"Can't you find a better excuse to cover your jealousy?" Aditya's words only earned him another cold and sharp glare from the princess.
Meanwhile, Noah and Sylvie noticed the interaction between Aditya and Alicia. Noah just smiled. After fighting with Aditya and spending hours with him, he now had come to like Aditya very much. Deep down he was already starting to see Aditya as his brother-in-law. Even though he knew that both of their relationships were fake, he can feel some sparks of love.
'I will have to report this to grandma.' Noah was sure Olivia would be very pleased to hear his report.
'Can you two stop flirting in front of me? This is unbearable. Never thought my best friend, the goddess of wealth would find her love before me. Sometimes fate can be cruel.' Sylvie secretly wiped the tears from her eyes. A part of her was happy for Alicia while a part of her was jealous that her best friend was being taken away by someone.
After traveling for 5 minutes, with the Pegasus's speed, everyone reached the area where Aditya, Noah, Sylvie, and Alicia fought the mutant fire ants on that cold snowy winter night. Tate who was at the front slowed down. As the captain slowed down, everyone else also slowed down.
Tate and everyone were shocked seeing the current state of blackwood city. Not even a single brick of the former blackwood city remained. The ground of the whole area had been scorched black. There was a deep big crater. Around the crater, there were dead bodies of mutant fire ants, and half-eaten bodies of the people who died at the hands of the mutant fire ants. The area around the crater was painted in red blood color. It was the blood of the 1.5 million victims.
As the Pegasus's speed was slowed down, it took the expedition team to reach the outer region of the Heavenly Hemlock Forest another 5 minutes.
"Everyone stop." Under Tate's order, everyone stopped.
"Since we're going to enter the Heavenly Hemlock Forest, let's leave all Pegasuses here." Unlike other magical mounts, Pegasuses cannot fight. They are magical animals with very high agility but very low defense and attacking power. Everyone agreed to leave the Pegasuses here.
"Coby, you stay behind and look after the Pegasuses. Wait here till we return." Coby was a Peak 4th-order powerhouse. Coby was one of the strongest elite soldiers of the Ethereal Empire. Leaving Coby outside the Heavenly Hemlock forest to look after the Pegasuses was not right in everyone's opinion.
"But sir....." Coby wanted to reject. Coby was a fighter. How come he has to take care of Pegasuses while everyone else gets to enter the heavenly Hemlock forest?
"No But. Coby, this is my order." Tate even refused to let Coby finish his words. From Tate's tone, he made it clear that there was no room for discussion.
"Elder Tate, I think leaving Coby here is a bad choice. Coby is a very capable fighter. With enough support, he can even give a tough fight to a beginner 5th-order. We should bring Coby with us. We can pick someone weaker to look after the Pegasuses." Noah respectfully advised Tate to not leave Coby here. Coby was an important part of this expedition team. His strength will become crucial if the mutant fire ants were to attack them.
However, Tate shook his head. "My prince, the safety of the Pegasuses is equally important. Beside, Coby's role can be fulfilled by other capable elite soldiers." No one in the whole expedition team was convinced by Tate's words. Even though Tate seems to know this, he did not care.
Noah walked up to Coby, the young man who was only 43 years old and had managed to reach Peak 4th-order and was very loyal to the Ethereal Empire. Ronnie was even thinking of promoting Coby to become one of the generals of the Ethereal Empire in the near future.
"I will get you justice when we return back to the capital." Coby lowered his head and nodded while clenching his fists. Coby believed in Noah's words. After all, crown prince Noah was a man of his words.
"Let's go." Leaving Coby outside, 99 people in the expedition team entered the Heavenly Hemlock forest. The forest which will also become their worst nightmare.
Really Thank you very much to all those who sends support with valuable golden tickets. I hope we can keep it up!!!
