Four days after Lux made his declaration…
"The Six Kingdoms and our allied factions in Elysium are very annoyed at how this matter escalated so quickly," Alicia reported. "I'm afraid that Lux will have a hard time staying within our faction's territories after he has made his decision."
Alexander took a sip of his coffee before signing one of the documents that laid on top of the table. When he heard Lux's declaration, he couldn't help but shake his head because he understood that the Half-Elf wanted to retaliate for the bad treatment he'd received as of late.
This was a daring move on his part, and Alexander ordered Alicia to keep him up to date on what the result of the "auction" would be.
In the end, the Skystead Alliance and the Xynnar War Pact had no choice but to meet with Lux and negotiate. The Domain of the Fallen was an ideal place for gathering unique resources that wouldn't be found anywhere else in Elysium.
Also, all of them were curious about the kind of rewards that conquerors would gain after conquering another gate. They didn't think much of the Pseudo-Legendary Items that Lux and his comrades acquired after clearing the dungeon.
For them, the Sacred White Lotus was the real prize in the Gate of Death, which allowed them to create a medicine that would cure the Purple Plague that had been ravishing the borders of their territories.
No amount of treasure could cure the plague, and even High-Rankers were not safe from its deadly grasp. Now that the Sacred White Lotus had been acquired and was currently in the hands of Maximilian for him to create a cure for the Purple Plague, the Kingdoms and Empires set their eyes on exploring the Domain of the Fallen, as well as the Sacred Dungeon, once more.
Due to the strength of the Monsters inside the Domain, no one had a chance to explore it. However, those with keen abilities or artifacts that could detect very rare artifacts, herbs, fruits, and other consumables that would grant great benefits to whoever acquired them, had sensed their presence within the Domain.
The Sacred Dungeon was just one of the many things that the Domain of the Fallen possessed, and this was why the Skystead Alliance, who had only come to learn about its existence recently, was adamant to send their own representatives inside it.
The only thing that was preventing them from doing so was the restriction that they could only enter it once a year, during a specific time.
Now that there were slots within their reach that would allow them to enter it at will, they would definitely jump at the chance to do it.
Lux understood this as well. The Law of Supply and Demand allowed him to get the upper hand in the negotiation.
"I'm sure that Lux knows that the Skystead Alliance will go all out to acquire these precious slots to enter the Domain of the Fallen," Alexander said as he placed the document he just signed to the side. "He sure is making things difficult for everyone."
Alicia could only smile bitterly because "made things difficult for everyone" was an understatement.
The Six Kingdoms of Solais, as well as the Kingdoms where their factions thrived in Elysium, were very displeased that the Half-Elf chose the offer of the Skystead Alliance.
They thought that since Lux belonged to the faction of the Barbatos Academy and Wildgarde Stronghold, he would surely choose their side, so their offers weren't as lucrative as the other side.
That was their mistake because Lux was someone who had already figured the delicate geopolitical balance of power in the region where these kingdoms were at.
"Cai is untouchable because Maximilian is a powder keg that can explode anytime, making the Kings' unable to find fault in its decision, in fear that a Saint will jump ship," Alexander commented.
"Lux, on the other hand, understood that they cannot be too unreasonable with him as well because he is under my umbrella. That brat really knows how to make trouble, taking advantage of the fact that no one would dare to make things difficult for me."
Alicia covered her lips as she suppressed a smile.
"Even so, he still planned things meticulously and dragged Einar, Vall, and Xander into his plans," Alicia commented. "If it wasn't for that, he might have become the Xynnar War Pact's public enemy number one."
Alexander sighed because the entire situation was a really close call for the Half-Elf who had decided to stick to his declaration that the one with the highest bid would win.
Just like Alicia said, Lux had met with Einar, Vall and Xander to discuss how to market their limited slots to gain maximum profit.
In the end, this was what happened.
Lux, Cai, and Keane sold their slots to the Skystead Alliance because they were the highest bidder in the auction.
This made the Xynnar War Pact scramble for the remaining slots, and raise their offers as well.
In truth, even if they didn't raise their offers, Einar, Vall, and Xander would still sell their slots to the Xynnar War Pact.
Lux knew that Einar's and Vall's area of operation was within the regions of their faction's territories, so they couldn't really antagonize them.
The Rowan Tribe didn't have this problem because they were a Nomadic Tribe. They didn't have a fixed settlement, and would pack up and leave whenever they felt like it, making them immune to the restrictions of geography.
But since Lux didn't want to offend the Six Kingdoms too much, he asked Xander to agree selling his slots to their faction's side, in order to balance things out.
In the end, fifteen slots went to the Skystead Alliance, and fifteen slots went to the Xynnar War Pact.
Lux, Cai, and Keane won big time in the auction, while Einar, Vall, and Xander, received a decent payout after the Half-Elf's shenanigans, forcing their factions to take them seriously.
"They should be there right now," Alexander glanced at the window of his office. "The Skystead Alliance had taken this matter seriously and had sent the Elite Members of each of their Kingdoms to explore the Domain of the Fallen."
Alicia nodded. "From what our intelligence gathered, they sent their best Pseudo-Initiates under the age of twenty five as their representatives. Because of this, our side also did the same thing. All Pseudo-Initiates from our faction were filtered until only the best were chosen to participate in the expedition."
"So everyone is finally taking this seriously."
"Yes, Sir. Lux and the others conquering the Gate of Death was like a wake up call to everyone. They didn't want to fall behind their competitors."
Alexander closed his eyes. Now that Vera's life was no longer in danger, and Iris was currently inside Barbatos Academy, two of his family members were safe. The only problem was the Half-Elf, who would once again venture inside a dangerous place, in order to finish his Coming of Age Quest, jsut so he could create a guild of his own.
—-----
Entrance of the Domain of the Fallen…
"So, this is the fabled Hidden Domain," a teenage boy with dark-blue hair and eyes eyed the door in front of him.
He let out an indignant snort when he saw the letters inscribed on its surface. He believed that if they had been the ones to find out its existence, the first conquerors would have been his team, and no one else.
He was Malcolm Robles, the son of the Grand General that commanded the army of the Vahan Empire. He was nineteen years old this year, and was forced by his father to wear a Sealing Bracelet, which prevented him from stepping into the Initiate Rank since his eighteenth birthday.
Malcolm was a true prodigy, and because of this, his father was afraid that his arrogance would make his head too big, so he sealed his progress to make him "a little more humble". Unfortunately, this didn't do anything to lower the prodigy's arrogance.
The Sealing Bracelet only prevented him from breaking into the rank of a Grade-A Apostle. However, that didn't stop him from acquiring stats that he could freely distribute as soon as his seal was undone.
In a stroke of luck, the whereabouts of the Domain of the Fallen was discovered, and Malcolm immediately volunteered to be one of the people that would explore the new domain for the kingdom.
He thought that this was a perfect way to gain more merits, as well as to force his father to break his seal once he had successfully accomplished his mission.
Emperor Andreas had long known how talented Malcolm was, so he agreed to his request. He even made the teenager the leader of the expedition forces, as a way to encourage him to do better.
Malcolm was also the Guild Master of the SIlver-Ranked Guild, Chaos Oath, which was one of the Top Three Guilds in the Vahan Empire.
"According to the agreement, once you guide us to the Sacred Dungeon, we will go our separate ways," Malcolm said. "You better not drag us down."
Lux ignored Malcolm's taunt because he had already gotten used to it. The first thing that Malcolm did when his team arrived at the entrance of the Hidden Domain was to challenge Lux to a fight, which the Half-Elf rejected.
Several Rankers from the Skystead Alliance and the Xynnar War Pact were present to prevent any trouble from breaking out.
They were all treating this expedition seriously, so even Malcolm couldn't force Lux to fight him. After all, the latter was the one who called the shots as to who would be going inside the Hidden Domain.
Einar, Vall, and Xander were standing on Lux's opposite side.
Behind them were the representatives of the Xynnar War Pact who would venture inside the Hidden Domain for the first time.
The Solaians, with the exception of Lux and his comrades, weren't allowed to join the expedition. The Kingdoms in Elysium adamantly demanded that the expedition party must only be composed of their members, since the Foreigners had monopolized the Domain of the Fallen for several years.
In the end, the Six Kingdoms compromised. Einar's, Vall's, and Xander's role was to only be the guides in the expedition, allowing their faction to reach the entrance of the Sacred Dungeon.
"Since everyone is ready, let's go," Lux said as he walked towards the giant gate that would lead them inside the Domain of the Fallen.
He and his comrades had made plans beforehand, so he didn't give a hoot about what happened to the representatives that were coming with them.
Since they would go their separate ways once they arrived at the Sacred Dungeon, he didn't have to worry about other people getting in the way of his own Dungeon exploration.
