White Wheat City was one of the three cities that various overlords wanted to take over. The City Lord had perished in Bland City and the overlord, Prime Night Hall, tried to control the city even without their leader. The Prime Night Hall succeeded in controlling the city but the problem didn't stop. Right now, they were facing several overlord organizations that wanted to take over their city.
Without their City Lord, the strongest expert, they couldn't hope to fight the City Lords of other cities. Luckily, the battle didn't reach the point where Shackled Realm experts needed to appear, so they could somehow handle the enemies. They also received support from other cities in the dark. That's why they could last longer.
Vann, the appointed leader of Prime Night Hall, became the City Lord. He was the strongest in the city aside from the previous City lord.
Right now, he was in the middle of his office facing back and forth trying to find a way to overcome their current crisis.
He was a Shackled Realm expert but he knew that his strength wasn't enough to intimidate the other cities. Compared to his predecessor, his strength was nothing.
Suddenly, the door was slammed open and a man rushed inside.
"S-Sir, an army is attacking us again!!" The man reported as he tried to catch his breath.
"Again?!! An army of five hundred people just attacked us yesterday and we lose one hundred men!! And now, another one is attacking us!!" Vann gritted his teeth. He clenched his fists tightly as veins bulged out of his muscles.
"It is because of those Dragon Council bastards! Trying to protect the Mine Valley! Yet, they attacked us!!"
He knew that not everyone would want to protect the Mine Valley. Joining the Dragon Council? That's nothing but a fleeting dream. If the City Lords knew that they would be bound by contract then they would be glad that they didn't join the council. Some of them would be glad to overturn the entire Mine Valley if given a chance so why would they join the Dragon Council?
So the Dragon Council became a thorn in their eyes.
Vann went out of his office. He quickly arrived at the city wall and saw the approaching enemy army.
"What the hell is that?!"
He muttered subconsciously as he stared at the enemy army with wide eyes. The soldiers on the city wall had mixed expressions.
"S-Shit! Are they even demi?! Monster!!"
The enemy army was approaching their city in a domineering manner. The army approximately had three hundred men.
Their appearance was out of this world. They were humanoid but each one looked like a massive flesh covered in various sharp spikes. Some of them were even riding those non-humanoid monsters. The energy they possessed wasn't strong but they carried an intimidating aura. Bloodlust seeped out and filled the atmosphere.
The soldiers and the citizens of the White Wheat City could feel the intense bloodlust in the air. The killing intent made their hair stand on its end.
The enemy was approaching...
Elder Guan stared at the huge walls. He was the one who led the army of Astros to attack this city. He glanced at his left side and right side.
Yuko and Yenxa were here to take over the city. They would fight an all-out battle to complete the task given to them by their Lord.
"Everyone prepare yourself." Elder Guan said as he narrowed his eyes. His voice wasn't loud but everyone behind him heard it.
The army of Astros used their parasite ability to the fullest to boost their strength. All of them were B-rank and A-rank experts. Elder Guan even brought dozens of S-rank witches to raise their chances in this raid.
"Let's conquer this place! Second Head of the Dragon Council will make sure that no one will attack us from behind! So it's up to us to conquer the city in front of our eyes!"
The soldiers of the Astros roared at the top of their lungs. Their roars shook the ground and their energy surged out like a tidal wave.
In the next second, their footsteps sped up until they were rushing toward the city wall with overflowing confidence. Their brutal aura soared up as the monsters screeched wildly.
All of them were savage-looking. The only one who hasn't used the parasite's ability was Elder Guan. He was still observing the reaction of the enemy and would react depending on their movements.
ROAR!!
Yuko and Yenxa dashed faster than anybody. In just a second, they already arrived at the wall. Yuko roared as flames danced around her body before she smashed the barrier that was protecting the city.
Yenxa jumped in mid-air as she tightly clenched her fist. A massive amount of best feram swirled around her tiny fist as a green mist covered her entire arm.
BAM!!
Elder Guan narrowed his eyes.
"There are several layers of barrier in this city. It could attack and defend. Hmm... This must be the reason the other cities didn't dare to launch an all-out war. There are various traps hidden in every corner of the city."
...
"We're here."
Souta and Heili arrived at the Vantas Mountain Range. Both of them stood side by side at the entrance of the ancient ruin.
The ancient ruin was in the middle of three mountains that formed a triangular shape. It was a huge hole and there were stairs that led to the bottom of the hole. At the bottom, Souta could see that it was filled with white most but there was an intense energy fluctuation.
'The space is folded and there's a portal. It seems that this ancient ruin is in the alternate space.' Souta concluded after seeing the crucial parts at the bottom of the hole.
A commotion occurred.
Souta and Heili looked over and found hundreds of experts clamoring. The experts of the top factions of Spring Land had arrived. As expected, they wouldn't let something like this passed by.
Yaniesvyl, the Princess of Heiro Kingdom.
Verto, the Heir of the San Sun Clan.
Lady Heimbra, the next master of the Poison Demon Palace.
Dream from Great Chan Hall.
Casti from Night Light Association.
Hermo from Thunder Hall.
All of them were people from the top faction in the Spring Land. Souta could see why Ray was wary about the organization outside the Mine Valley. These organizations could easily fork out several Shackled Realm experts.
"Wow, so that is Princess Yaniesvyl," Heili exclaimed.
"Do you know her?" Souta asked.
"I don't but I heard a lot of stories about her." Heili slowly explained. "It is said that Princess Yaniesvyl is the most gifted child of the King of Heiro. When she was eighteen she reached Grandmaster Realm, twenty at Liquefying Realm, twenty-two at Solidifying Realm, and right now she was twenty-four she became a Shackled Realm expert. I don't know her current strength ever since the increase of mana density."
"I'm also twenty four but the difference in our strength is like heaven and earth."
Souta couldn't help but nod at her words. This Princess was really amazing.
'Yaniesvyl? Heiro? Oh, that one... I remember her.'
Souta remembered this name in the game. Yaniesvyl was a strong NPC but she wasn't that famous because of the existence of Yanagi, Gerxuzs, Alexander, and other NPCs that quickly rose through the ranks to achieve the level of gods.
In the later version, she was only at Freedom Realm. Experts who broke through all ten shackles were also called Freedom Realm. They break all the mortal limits so they were free and unfettered.
That's why it was called Freedom Realm.
Hmm... So she's from Hall Plains. Didn't expect it.
'If I'm not wrong, she's with the Ancient Myriad Emperor.' Souta looked around.
Alexander still hasn't arrived yet.
After a few minutes of waiting, Alexander arrived.
"You're here," Souta said.
"Yeah, it took longer because of some things that I settled," Alexander said as he stood beside Souta.
"Say, is this ancient ruin gonna open today? Or should we force ourselves inside?" Souta asked while looking at the giant hole. From his guess, he couldn't force himself inside the barrier. It would repel him no matter what.
"It will open today," Alexander answered without explaining anything.
"I see..." Souta nodded. He didn't ask. He knew that Alexander had a secret.
Heili, who was beside Souta, was a little bit shocked when she saw Alexander. Alexander carried a noble demeanor and he greatly carried himself not in a forced manner but more like this was his natural disposition. She also couldn't see the depth of his strength and the slight leakage of his energy gave her pressure.
She turned her head and looked at her junior brother. She felt that he was becoming mysterious.
Ohm!
An energy wave swept out in every direction, silencing all the experts in the area. They couldn't help but stopped chatting and focus their attention on the giant hole.
The barrier that prevented anyone from approaching it showed signs of breaking. Cracks slowly spread out and after a few moments, it broke.
Bang!!
