Alice's group fought the people from the Hall of Power fiercely. It was a brutal battle but they managed to defeat them in just an hour. They suffered some casualties but it wasn't high.
Alice sighed looking at the scenery of countless corpses around the battlefield. No matter what, the war was always cruel on both sides.
She couldn't help but recall the war on the sub-world where they had to fight the Great Astley Empire. In that war, they had to fight every day and she killed countless people. It was physically and mentally exhausting.
Millions of people died in that war. They had to fight from planet to planet until they broke through the Great Astley Empire's formation and arrived at their motherland.
Alice personally witnessed the soldiers who fought by their side break mentally. They even obliterate almost all the living people on a single planet.
Alice glanced at her subordinates and said, "Take all of our fallen comrades and preserve their corpses. We will take them back to our land once we finish this war."
"Yes, Mam!" The soldiers of Astros hurriedly left.
No matter what, Alice had to respect the soldiers of the Astros that stake their lives in this battle. They would be buried with respect in the future and their family would receive some sort of compensation.
This was the first time that the Astros suffered heavy casualties. The attack on White Wheat City and this war would surely change the state of Astros in the future. They even lost some of the top members of the Astros. Elder Guan had perished, Yuko was heavily injured, the newly recruited Nine-headed Hydra was sealed again, and Yenxa had gone missing.
Alice turned her head to the side as she heard faint footsteps. She saw that it was Isabella.
"No matter what, I never get used to this sight," Isabella said in a low voice.
"Me too." Alice agreed with her words.
Isabella revealed a forced smile. She shook her head and said, "We already eliminated all the enemies here. What should we do next?"
"Next..." Alice narrowed her eyes and looked up at the top of the Mountain of Demise.
She could feel Souta's energy at the top. It was stronger than before so he must be fighting a tough opponent. An opponent that she couldn't hope to defeat.
Then, she recalled something that Souta said to her. It was about them. Souta said to her that after they defeated the enemies at the foot of the mountain they should occupy it. They would only let the warriors from Athen's Legion to the top but would stop any people aside from their allies.
By allies, it means only people in Athen's Legion and Dragon Council. They would have to fight any other group from other regions of Hall Plains even if that group wanted to fight the Hall of Power too.
Why?
She couldn't understand why Souta specially ordered her to do so but he must have a reason for doing so. In short, their group has a different goal than Eztein's group. Eztein's group would head toward the peak of the mountain once they defeated their enemies.
"We'll stay here and prevent anyone from approaching the mountain," Alice said to Isabella.
"Why? I thought that we would head on the top of the mountain." Isabella asked.
"I don't know but Souta gave me this order." Alice shook her head as she didn't know what Souta was planning.
Isabella nodded. She sighed and muttered, "I want to go back and continue my research. Fighting in the frontline is too much for me."
Alice smiled. She then sensed something from the mountain.
Hmm...?
She looked and felt a slight fluctuation of energy. She glanced at Isabella and said, "I'll leave the command to you. I have something I need to check out."
"Why? I think you need to bring a few people with you." Isabella quickly said.
Alice shook her head and explained, "No, I think I'm fine on my own. If I ever met someone of the same level as me then the soldiers will die. The most important thing is to complete Souta's task. You should go and help the other groups too so that they could proceed to the top of the mountain."
She told Isabella the whole plan. Her explanation made sense and Isabella couldn't refute her at all.
"I-I understand..." Isabella could only nod her head.
Alice left and went in the direction where she sensed the strange energy fluctuations.
She arrived in the middle part of the Mountain of Demise and saw a small hole covered by elemental particles. It was in the form of sand. If not for her extreme senses, she wouldn't notice it.
"It's still nothing compared to Isabella's stealth..."
Alice said to herself. Isabella could literally blend her presence into the surround and only people with higher senses could detect her.
With a wave of her hand, she removed the sand and saw a deep, unknown passage.
"This..."
Alice had a bad feeling about this. She wanted to turn around but what if the enemy had another plan in this passage? If she discover their plan then she would have to stop them so she had to check if this passage would lead her to something that could change the tide of war.
Before she went inside, Alice glance at the top of the mountain. This passage was hidden too well and most of the people here were too focused on getting to the top of the mountain so they wouldn't notice small details like this.
"I need to check this out. I already told Isabella the plan so she will be able to execute it without me."
...
The state of Hall Plains was chaotic. Governor Ray led his troops and was currently on his way to the central region. He defeated anyone that blocked his way and paved his path toward the focal point of the entire Hall Plains. The Spring Land was in tatters after a series of events that occurred there. Even the Heiro Kingdom, the superpower of Spring Land, was devastated after Souta fought the experts of the Hall of Power.
The other heads of the Dragon Council were currently focused on stabilizing the Mine Valley. They were gathering a huge force to unify the Mine Valley and defeat the tribes from the Earthen Woods.
Bland City, a city under the rule of Governor Ray. It was also the center of the Dragon Council. The security was high but right now, the personnel in this place were too few. After all, Governor Ray brought his troops to march toward the central region.
The one who was handling the affairs of Bland City in Governor Ray's position was one of the heads of the Dragon Council, Ninth Head. She was a dwarf and a leader of an overlord organization in the Mine Valley. She joined the Dragon Council because her friend, Third Head, joined this group.
She was guarding the city to protect the absolute secret of Mine Valley, no, the Hall Plains. The corpse of the god buried deep inside Bland City was too important to be left alone without any protection.
"I want to train inside the tomb again but there's a prerequisite number of times it could only open. Plus, it also needed the blood of the descendants of that god."
Ninth Head said while looking at the majestic jade door of the tomb. She was staying in front of the door because of the high concentration of energy here. It would give her a lot of benefits just by using it to expand her own mana pool and temper her flesh to a higher level.
Suddenly, a footstep sounded behind her.
Ninth Head widened her eyes as she quickly turned around. No one should know about this place aside from her and the other heads of the Dragon Council.
"Who is it?!"
She shouted and saw a beautiful woman wearing a black dress that showcased her excellent curves.
The unknown woman had a pair of black horns at the side of her head and one red horn at the center of her forehead. She had long pink hair with a hint of whiteness at the ends that draped over her shoulder like a waterfall. She had a pair of pointed ears just like those elves and a pair of green reptilian eyes. She also had a blueish gem embedded in the upper-middle part of her chest.
"Who are you?" Ninth Head asked cautiously as she couldn't feel anything from this unknown woman.
The unknown woman glanced at Ninth Head before she focused her attention on the jade door.
She slowly opened her mouth and said, "It's been a while. This body has been buried here for hundreds of years. It's time to dispose of it."
"You!! Who are you?! Answer me!" Ninth Head said in a loud voice. Her mana flared up as she readied herself for confrontation.
"I'm Aleteya." The unknown woman said as she slowly raised her left hand.
