**[Several months ago in the Sacred Desert]**
It had only been a few days since Michael left home to travel through space. Danny was very busy in his territory but he still thought about his brother, wondering how he was doing.
He wasn't too worried about Michael's well-being. On the contrary, Danny was certain that his brother would be fine. It was his gut feeling telling him that everything would be fine with his brother. And usually, Danny's gut feeling was right – especially when it revolved around his brother.
Instead of worrying needlessly about Michael, Danny felt that it was more important to finish the last preparations for the Sarkophag of the Primedival expedition.
It hadn't been long since they found the Sarkophag of Primedival, but everyone was excited to raid the Primedival Pyramid and enter the deeper area to make huge gains.
Only Danny was extremely cautious of the Primedival Pyramid's dangers. He repeatedly warned the remaining Lords in the Alliance that had been created specifically for the raid of the Primedival Pyramid, but they seemed anxious to pass by the Pyramid's outskirts and enter the deeper parts.
"My Lord, do you really want to join those foolish Lords inside the Primedival Pyramid? I don't think we should trust them. They're treacherous and they mistreat their subordinates!" A young man wearing high-quality desert armor voiced his concern, before kneeling down to the ground.
The young warrior knew that he shouldn't judge his Lord's decisions, but his worry forced him to go against his ideals and wishes.
"I know that they cannot be trusted. I will use this opportunity to ensure that their military force will dwindle before I attack them. They're probably planning something similar, but there is nothing we can do about that. If I attack one of them, the others will join the battle once both sides sustain heavy casualties," Danny responded, feeling an incoming headache at the given situation.
The problem was that the Primedival Pyramid was located at the intersection between four large territories. The border of Danny's territory and the territory of the three Lords formed a huge quadrat with each of them being in charge of one quarter. The four Lords had been fighting for two years now, and all of them had been on the verge of annihilation at least once.
Waging war with several Lords was not even the biggest problem. The biggest problem was that Danny discovered the Primedival Pyramid on a windy day a year ago. At that time, he was barely able to see the tip of the Pyramid's ruins jutting out of the Sacred Desert's ground, looking seemingly inconspicuous. But Danny's curiosity was piqued and he undertook a rather laborious task of digging a huge hole along with his subjects to reveal the humongous Pyramid.
While working hard to dig out the Primedival Pyramid, Danny found an invaluable treasure- a natural 5-Star Tierless Weapon Artifacts called Tigerfang. He put it inside his War Rune immediately, thinking of gifting Tigerfang to his brother.
Unfortunately, one of the three enemy Lords' scouts reported the appearance of the Primedival Pyramid and the treasure Danny found in its outskirts to their leader. It was only a matter of days before the other Lords heard of the Primedival Pyramid causing a huge stir in the Sacred Desert.
Danny and the three other Lords were in charge of a rather isolated territory. It was surrounded by large mountains, leaving only small trails for outsiders to infiltrate. Thus, the battle of sovereignty between the four Lords began, and all focus was put on the Primedival Pyramid. The benefits one could obtain from the Primedival Pyramid could be a deciding factor between victory and annihilation, after all.
The warfare of the four Lords became even bloodier than it had been, and chaos and destruction ensued for the next few months. None of the four Lords was able to avoid losses, which drastically stagnated the development of their territories.
In fact, none of the four Lords was able to avoid suffering a major setback in their territories' development progress. The battlefield had moved to the Lords' territories, forcing all of them to use desperate means and actions to survive.
Thus, less than two months ago, the Lords finally decided to hold a meeting to determine what to do next. They decided to plunder the Primedival Pyramid together and use their gains to fight one last battle.
"They're our enemies. Warning them won't help us…or is there something else that you are planning, my Lord?" A middle-aged woman with serpentine eyes appeared to their right side with a confused expression. She heard what their Lord said, but couldn't comprehend his reasoning.
"Warning them is for my own good. I need them to survive for a while so that I can enter the inner area to reach the Sarkophag of Primedival. If the Lords and their subordinates die before they can distract the enemy, we will have to struggle a lot more," Danny replied grimly, understanding that it was dangerous to keep his enemies alive.
It would be much better to let the Lords die, conquer their territories and prepare for a large-scale expedition using the gains made from annexing three large territories.
But time was what they lacked the most right now. When Danny entered the Primedival Pyramid for the first time he found out that it would collapse and destroy everything inside it exactly 500 days after it had been dug out. The majority of the 500 days had already passed, leaving Danny and the other Lords no way but to work together if they wanted to benefit from the Primedival Pyramid.
And right now, they were completely focused on that goal. Danny sighed heavily while wiping the sweat off his forehead. If not for the Primedival Pyramid's countdown, he would have never bothered creating an alliance with the three Lords. It was idiotic to work together with your nemesis. Any mistake could lead to their betrayal. There was no trust, which was disastrous in a raid.
Danny knew that damn well, but he was also fully aware that if he didn't join the expedition his enemies would make huge gains.
"How about we attack their territories while they are busy raiding the Primedival Pyramid? As long as their Summoning Gates have been destroyed we'll be able to win the war of sovereignty!" The serpent-eyed woman said, but Danny shook his head.
"If I don't reach the meeting spot unanimously agreed upon in the earlier meeting, the remaining Lords will join hands to attack me. The same will also happen to others if they don't arrive at the meeting spot," Danny revealed with a shrug.
He didn't feel great being pulled into the alliance with the other Lords, but he couldn't fight against the combined force of the three Lords simultaneously. They were not weak by any means, otherwise, Danny would have long since killed them.
Danny was waiting for an opening to strike, but so were the other Lords. None of them backed down, and all of them were greedy to claim everything for themselves – including sovereignty and the loot of the Primedival Pyramid. It was a hassle, and Danny couldn't avoid the battle if he didn't want to abandon his subjects and territory.
He would have to let go of his territory and rights as a Lord to avoid the bloody warfare, but that was not something he wanted to do.
Contrary to others neither he nor Michael would ever abandon anyone. After all, they knew how it felt to be abandoned, left to fend for themselves even though they didn't have the means or power to safeguard themselves.
Danny didn't want to abandon others. He didn't want to make others feel the desperation and helplessness he and his brother felt when their parents abandoned them with a disgusting excuse.
They wanted to search for their sister, knowing damn well that Hesta hadn't disappeared normally.
…
"I will never be like my parents. I'd rather die than abandon those who trust me!"
