While Damien waited for the council of Cloud Giants to come to a decision, the world didn't stay in stasis with him.
Events in the outside world progressed at their usual pace without a single ounce of consideration for Damien's circumstances.
The first thing that happened, on the same day Damien first entered the Cloud Giants' Sanctuary, was the release of a bounty that subtly affected the tides of fate.
It was a bounty on a mysterious man and his golden palace. Anyone who was able to bring this man in would receive a hefty reward of resources and money, enough to set them straight for several years on end.
The strangeness of the bounty didn't come from the bounty itself, rather, it was the requesters.
There were two.
Lucas Streem of Asuran Gate and Sir Theon of the Nox Army.
Both sides offered copious rewards for that man's capture, forming the first instance where Nox and universe denizens unintentionally cooperated.
As the ceasefire between both sides was still ongoing until the heavenly material finally showed itself, the next few days became a widespread search for a single man rather than a war.
When Nox and universe denizens encountered each other, they actually avoided combat, something that'd never happened before.
Yet, despite several days passing, the man's traces couldn't be found anywhere.
***
Somewhere in a forest on the Wild Continent, a party of five fought against several ferocious beasts at the extreme peak of 4th class.
The beasts in the Wild Continent were all mindless regardless of strength level, making it far more difficult to deal with them.
However, this team had great cohesion that allowed them to accomplish things that they absolutely couldn't do individually.
"Alexandra, now!" A man suddenly shouted.
"You got it, boss!" A woman shouted back as she jumped into the air and let loose a rain of rocky bullets onto the beast.
"Good! Tess, Braden, get it while it's distracted!"
"Got it!"
"No need to tell me!"
The two people charged in from both sides, controlling the beast's movements and forcing it into a corner,
The beast slowly accumulated injuries under the attacks of these three people until finally…
Haa!
The leader jumped into the air and sliced his sword powerfully, bisecting the beast into two even halves.
"Fuwah! That's so tiring!" The woman named Tess exclaimed as she crumpled onto the ground.
"Tch, you just love to complain. We've dealt with so much worse back in the Misty Wildlands, what does a little beast mean to us?" Braden responded noncommittally.
"Alright, alright, don't start arguing again, you two." The leader said with a sigh.
"Alice, can you heal us up?"
"On it, boss!"
Alice clapped her hands together and prayed, causing white and gold mana to descend from the sky and wash through the bodies of these five people, healing all of their minor injuries and even partially healing most major injuries.
"Haha, as expected of Alice! You can't find a better healer anywhere else!" Tess exclaimed in satisfaction.
"Hehe~" Alice giggled happily.
Her gaze turned to the horizon, a slight hint of worry surfacing in her eyes.
It had been many days since they separated and that man disappeared.
He wasn't dead, right?
She truly hoped he could survive this ordeal.
She personally saw his determination to fight against the enemy, and even though she was never too good at reading people, she thought he was a good man.
He saved her sister, after all.
Alexandra glanced over to find Alice sneaking a peak at her and sighed.
'Don't tell me she developed some positive feelings for that man in such a short period of time…?'
Unlike Alice, Alexandra was far warier about the interaction they'd had with that strange man. Aside from the power of his artifact, just the fact that he was willing to offend so many people was dangerous in and of itself.
Arcadia Guild had survived and grown into its current state because they'd been prudent as they rose, taking account of others' interests so as to not offend someone who couldn't be offended.
The reckless and belligerent approach of that man wasn't something Alexandra could fathom.
'Regardless, he is still my savior. If he didn't provide me with the appropriate materials and his mysterious healing power, I wouldn't be able to use my body at all right now. Even if I can't understand him, I will at least protect his identity for as long as I can.'
In fact, Alexandra and Alice's return to the Grand Heavens Boundary camp and reunion with the other members of Arcadia who'd come for the Void Corridor opening wasn't a coincidence.
It was something Damien had requested of them.
He didn't know how Heaven's Army would move with Asuran Gate controlling them, and he didn't need any unknown factor interfering with his movements.
Alexandra and Alice were currently acting as his eyes and ears in Heaven's Army. He could contact them through an unknown mental skill and exchange information as needed, but he hadn't cast anything like a slave seal on them.
'It's a trust test. If we fail, we'll likely die.'
Alexandra realized it early, and acted accordingly. Though, since this man wasn't truly an enemy of the universe, she didn't mind helping him.
'If anything, he is doing far more to combat the Nox than Asuran Gate. That Lucas man is not a good character in the slightest.'
She hadn't heard much since she'd only been present for a few days, but it was clear that Lucas Streem was severely abusing his authority to oppress and control those beneath him.
Atop that, he even established unofficial cooperation with the Nox to find a man who, by all logic, should've been a distinguished guest of Heaven's Army.
Public sentiment was heavily skewed against Asuran Gate, but what could these people do?
They were too weak for their opinions to matter.
Subtly, a change of mentality took place in Heaven's Army.
If that mysterious man was leading them, would they be in a better situation?
He was bold in action, yet prudent. He knew when to attack and retreat to deal the greatest damage to the Nox while suffering the least losses.
And when he was placed side by side with Lucas Streem, he seemed like the defender of justice that all people wished would lead them.
'The situation is becoming chaotic. If the army continued to subtly split like this, the Nox will gain a heavy advantage over us. Now that the heavenly material is on the verge of blooming, it seems the only possible path forward is a full head-on confrontation.'
Now that Damien had slaughtered a majority of the Nox's cannon fodder and ground troops, they would need to act fast and aggressively if they wanted to take victories against Heaven's Army.
The clash for the heavenly material would surely spiral out of control.
It wasn't a matter of "if," but a matter of "when."
'I hope you can do something about this situation. If you can truly pull our people out of despair…'
Well, then he might not be a bad leader at all.
Heaven's Army needed good people at the helm.
'If only he wasn't so reckless, wouldn't that be great?'
Alexandra sighed and shook her head.
For now, she should just stick to the task she was assigned.
As for how events would pan out in the future…?
It was useless to try predicting something that man was planning to interfere in.
