Souta glanced at his palm before his form turned back to normal. As expected, he couldn't defeat a Four Shackles without using his release form. The limit of his current normal form was Three Shackles.
To kill Draymond, he even used a Forbidden Spell of his [Yin-Yang Bracelet]. It would take more if he wanted his normal form to cross the gap and defeat a strong Four Shackles expert.
'Although I grew stronger, it's not enough.'
Souta said inwardly before he returned his attention to Freydr.
Freydr coughed a mouthful of blood before she stood up. She looked up and met Souta's stare.
"You are strong. Your reputation didn't lie. I will pull back for now."
She said before she turned around and left.
Souta stared at her back until she disappeared. He didn't chase after her to end her life. He knew that she didn't lie when she said that she would pull back and he also felt that she didn't have any battle intent around her.
At the very least, a General Vanguard of Asgard would be gone from Hall Plains. He didn't kill her so he wouldn't receive any retaliation from the opposite side.
Killing her would cause a different reaction. There's a probability that the current situation would get worse if he killed Freydr, so he didn't want to risk it.
It's probably better to chase them away for now.
Souta moved his eyes and stared at the system.
[You've triggered a quest!]
[Territory]: Several powerful organizations have sent their forces to Hall Plains. They are planning to take a part of this land so as the Lord of Hall Plains, it is your duty to chase them away.
Rewards: 20,000,000 exp, 25 free attribute points, and 15 skill points
"Just an ordinary quest... Well, it's not bad."
Souta smiled as he turned his head to the horizon.
After this, he was going to go back to Champion's Den to know the reaction of the higher-ups in this situation. It's better to know the limits of what he could currently do in Hall Plains as the representative of Athen's Champion. He had an idea but it's better to hear it from them.
After the incident in Earthen Woods, Souta returned to Ekatoe City. He didn't find any clues about the organization behind Eilish's brother so he apologized to her.
"No, it's fine..." Eilish waved her hands.
"Is that really okay?" Souta stared at her.
"Y-Yeah..." Eilish averted her eyes as she answered. "I will just organize a few people to find clues about my brother."
"We can't do that." Souta turned around as he rubbed his chin. "I will help you find your brother, I already promise you."
"I-I understand... Then, I'll go now..." Eilish quickly excused herself.
"Hmm...?" Souta raised his eyebrows as he stared at her back. "Something is wrong with her today..."
Souta shook his head.
He went to the Guardian Fortress in this land and started setting up the [Five Element Rune Formation]. With this, the defense of the Guardian Fortress would undoubtedly increase greatly. The safety of everyone would be guaranteed even without his presence.
The overall might of Astros had increased. Although they lose tons of people in the war, the people who survived grew stronger than before.
Most of the peak Liquefying Realm before had advanced their strength to early Solidifying Realm. Also, thirteen monsters from the Feral Corps had achieved third stage.
Once Alice and the rest returned, their power level would greatly surprise everyone. While Souta was in coma, they were fighting and clearing dangerous dungeons.
At night.
Souta was on his bed with a transmission talisman close to his ear.
"Are you still in the demon battlefield?" He asked.
"No, we return a week ago. You haven't called us for a month. What happened there?" Lumilia asked worriedly.
"It's nothing. A small war just occurred and it's fine now. I'm doing great here." Souta answered before he asked, "Anyways, what happened to the battlefield?"
He knew that the battle against demons in the Giza continent have worsen. It's much worse than what's happening in God's Continent. After all, the demon army in this land has stopped advancing as if they were waiting for something to happen. The Giza Continent wasn't like that, the demons continued to advance their forces.
"Listen Wastes and Hunted Woods have become a land under the demons. The battlefield was moved to the border of Heretic's Dynasty and Gigantis Kingdom. They are trying to take over two Large Countries at the same time." Lumilia took a deep breath before she added, "Actually, we've fought there for several weeks and we've benefitted a lot since it let us grow faster but the war grew larger and larger. The participants became above our current level and even Teacher Bargan was dispatched."
Souta narrowed his eyes. It was worse than he imagined. Gluttony hasn't attacked God's Continent yet but the battlefield on the other continent already required someone at Teacher Bargan's strength.
Lumilia continued, "Teacher Bargan appeared without holding back. Luckily, he warned us before so we managed to retreat from the battlefield before he launched a fierce attack. Teacher Bargan annihilated twenty-nine cities. He killed fifty-seven Freedom Realm demons and nine demigods. The casualties on the two sides are estimated to be at least two hundred million. He did all of that in just a single day."
Bargan focused his attention on the enemies. The battle between him and the demigods annihilated everything be it enemies or allies. If Lumilia and the others were there, they would die.
Bargan was like a weapon of destruction that was detonated in that land. It destroyed enemies and allies.
His power was recognized by everyone at that moment. There was no need to doubt anymore that he was the strongest mortal by far in the history of Imperium.
Bargan was unstoppable before gods.
The demons were shaken but they didn't fall back. They adopted the strategy of the Deadly Sins and that was to seal Bargan. But Bargan was prepared this time and he escaped from their hands while killing two more Freedom Realm demons.
Since the battlefield became a huge enough to consider Four Shackles a fodder, Lumilia and the rest were called back to their country.
Souta sighed hearing Lumilia's story. The battlefield in Giza Continent was much worse than he imagined. It reached the point that it was beyond his current strength.
God's Continent would become like that sooner since Gluttony would launch an attack. At that moment, the whole continent would be engulfed in the flames of war.
Souta was prepared if he met someone above his current level. He had Blood Card and Emperor's Blessing Card.
But if a god-rank attacked, Souta could only save himself. He didn't have enough strength to protect the others.
"So what are you doing right now?" Souta asked.
"Me? I'm just running our legion. It seems peaceful since I'm far from the battlefield. A lot of details in the war didn't even reach the public's ears since it will cause a panic." Lumilia answered.
"Since you're just managing the legion, I'll give you a task," Souta said with a smile.
"Okay," Lumilia nodded.
"I haven't even told you anything yet you're already agreeing to it," Souta said.
"Um... You're the Commander of the Dark Oculus Legion and I'm just the Acting-Commander. I took over this position because your license has expired. When are you going to return? A lot of people are bugging me about you." Lumilia puffed her cheeks as she complained.
"Ehe, sorry about that. I have something that I need to do here. I will return in the future. I promise." Souta laughed. "Anyway, take a map and draw a circle to the region that I will point to you."
"Then..." Lumilia stood up from her bed. She went to the drawer and took out a map.
Souta closed his eyes and tried to remember the dungeons from the game. He didn't need to remember every dungeon, he just needed to recall the important ones that would greatly benefit Lumilia and the rest.
He told her about a few hard dungeons that would give them enormous rewards.
"Is there anything else?" Lumilia asked.
"That's all. I want you to remember that Solidifying Realm shouldn't participate in the raid. It's only for experts at Shackled Realm." Souta said seriously.
"I understood. We'll clear all these dungeons as soon as possible." Lumilia nodded.
"By the way, how is your current strength?" Souta asked.
"I'm close to breaking through the second shackle," Lumilia replied.
"That's good. Each of those dungeons will take you a few weeks to clear so all of them will probably take at least three months. At that time, you'll probably achieve Three Shackles. Even more, if you maximize the benefit of those dungeons." Souta paused before he asked a question.
"Is that true?" Lumilia asked.
"Yeah, when did I lie to you? I'm looking forward to the time when I return." Souta smiled.
