377-389

Chapter 384 - 377: Trapped

Sakuya and Lilith stared at each other after Kamishiro disappeared; they both chuckled, and Lilith inquired.

''What are your plans?"

Sakuya's stopped and stared at Lilith with surprise; there was no need to ask what Lilith was talking about; she was probably referring to her plan for the Far East Empire; what she would do? Would she go or not? This surprised Sakuya as normally Lilith would have asked this; this means she was slowly changing, slowly accepting them, her to be more exact.

''What?''

Sakuya's silence made Lilith frown; she wondered what happened. Was her question too insensible?

''Hahaha! Nothing, I will eventually go because I feel that something is waiting for me there. I hope when the time comes, you will follow me. For now, let's focus on our current mission.'' Sakuya said while glancing at Lilith to see her reaction, and she was not disappointed.

Lilith looked elsewhere while saying, ''Who knows!"

''Hahaha! Sure, let go back.'' Sakuya chuckled; she found Lilith's reaction extremely cute, not that she would tell her this. The girls disappeared; they rejoined Alex, whose injuries had recovered.

At the same time, somewhere in Avalon, the moment Leonardo broke apart that magic stone, the invisible shield protecting Avalon vanished, making it possible to infiltrate it. This was precisely the aim of the demon and the unknown organization; they wanted to disable the invisible shield always protecting Avalon to infiltrate a certain facility safely; if this shield was active, they could never succeed breaking through it except by sacrificing untold amount of demons and monsters. What they were after is of the utmost importance; this thing was located in the underground maze of the fallen palace, the imperial family's former palace.

Two individuals, one woman and the other a man. They were wearing a crimson robe with a white mask having the same design as Leonardo's when under Cain's identity.

''Fufufu! Soon we will get our hand on that key, one of the five keys to help our Lord. I can be happier.'' The woman said her happiness couldn't be hidden even with a mask on her face; she was probably grinning like a fool behind that mask.

''Stay vigilant; who knows what we might face. This is not some leisure trip; everything can happen. Never forgot that.'' The man warned; his voice was rough.

''Hmph!"

The girl harrumphed; she never understood the cautious nature of this partner; they are both Saint, which in itself is pretty rare. They are the most robust existence beside the Demi-God, so there's no need to fear, especially when nobody should be aware of their presence here. Even if some guardians are protecting that key, they weren't something there should fear, not now that the invisible shield that could give away their identity and suppress their power was disabled.

The two kept walking silently forward; strangely, they didn't encounter anyone, even the girl started to find the situation unusual; however, she believes in her senses, she had swept the underground tunnels but never found anything.

After walking for another fifteen minutes, the Duo stopped before a room with gigantic doors. Behind these doors, they could feel the presence of five individuals, 3 Grandmasters and two Saint Realm experts whose levels weren't high as their levels.

The two looked at each other through their masks; they smiled before moving, the doors automatically opened themselves let the two walk-in.

Immediately, the five guards guarding the altar, which had a black key on top of it, raised their weapons.

''Intruders state your goals. Where do you come from?" Asked the head guards and as one could expect, the two didn't answer, the female disappeared to reappear before one of the guards, her arm was going toward the latter neck, and once she caught it, she would have twisted it, she loves the sound it makes, it gives her a unique sensation.

''Four, wait.'' The man shouted; however, his warning was late; the moment Four's arm gripped the guard's neck, the latter vanished as if he had never existed.

''What?''

Instinctively, Four knew that something was not right here; she tried to retreat; however, she couldn't. The other four guards vanished like a mirage.

Giri~

Then the giant doors closed behind them, and numerous individuals appeared surrounding them. It was at this moment the Four and Two knew they had fallen into a trap.

''Since when did you notice?" Two asked; he was eerily calm; however, inwardly, he asked himself where they had done wrong; however, he couldn't think of anything other than wait. This position sent shiver done his bones, making him tremble; if previously he had the confidence to face so many enemies (5 Saints et 15 Grandmasters alongside many Masters), now it wasn't sure anymore because if things are like he thought then they were screw up, so severely that it is hilarious.

''Two, what going on? Let's kill these weaklings and retrieve the key. I can praise them for laying an ambush for us, but so what? We are stronger if will not be a group of weak humans that can stop us. Let's slaughter them.''

Like usual, Four is a battle maniac with zero ability to read the situation rambled. Two felt compelled to massage his forehead, feeling headache coming; he almost shouted, you were previously a human when Four said, weak humans. Never underestimate humans. If not, the cost you will pay would be huge.

''Shut up, Four, we have lost. We have been played. They lured us here.'' Two declared.

''What?"

This declaration was like a vast slap o Four's face akin to thunder striking close to her; the eyes behind the mask were widened beyond description.

Clap! Clap!

''Well, said Two. I believe that is your codename. I'm wrong?"

Suddenly, there were clapping sounds followed by Julius's voice. Unexpectedly the emperor, the strongest of the emperors, personally came out, immediately everyone except Two and Four kneeled at the emperor's arrival.

''Rise!" Julius said and observed Two and Four with a smile.

Sigh!

Two sighed and tried not to tremble, even though he had thought of this possibility when he understood that they had been lured, he still almost controlled himself in the presence of the God-like presence, even if Julius stood there doing nothing, simply smiling, the innate coercion that appears when one reaches a certain level was still there. He almost wanted to kneel; however, he knew he must not act rashly, not give in to fear if not everything would be lost; he was secretly trying to contact the headquarter.

However, not everything knows to put their fear under control. It is said that when fear exceeds human capacity, this human will act irrationally, it exactly what happened in Four's case.

She felt so much fear that blood rushed to her head; she threw all rationality to the trashbin and lunged on the emperor, something she would have normally never done.

''Die Human emperor scum.'' She bellowed and unleashed all her strength.

Julius let slip an almost inaudible sigh before slowly raised his right hand before letting down and.

Boom!

Four was instantly pummeled to the ground by an invisible force, creating a giant crater; she quietly lay in this crater, limbs bent to an unnatural angle, all the bones inside her body were broken, she kept vomiting blood nonstop.

Gulp!

Everyone except Julius and Two gulped; rarely they have seen their emperor fight; no, they have never seen him, at least those present here, so they were shocked by the fact that the emperor could pummel a Saint Realm expert to the ground so casually.

Two sighed, thinking as expected of Demigod expert.

Smiling like a father trying to have a peaceful conversation with his runaways son, Julius said.

''Let's talk, shall we? By the way, the shield has been reactivated, so no communication, no reinforcement.''

This information pushed, Two deeper into the already sinking abyss. Indeed, they have been played; they have never been the hunter, but instead, they were the prey, and they are now trapped.

Chapter 385 - 378: Gracier's Training 1

Two weeks passed in a flash since the demon's infiltration; nothing noteworthy happened. Julius failed to acquire any information with the two captured targets; they died because their hearts suddenly stopped working, probably due to a curse put on them. No demon nor members of the unknown organization was seen; they knew they were fooled; even after losing two strong members, they stayed hidden.

Alex's group disguised Sam, Mio and Elsa continued to travel toward the demon continent, accepting missions along the way.

Currently, they are fighting against the weakest monster.

With a casual swing of the Razor, the custom-made black long knife sliced three Goblins at the torso. Goblin blood and entrails were scattered everywhere.

Frowning at the uncomfortable sweat coming out around his eyes, Alex looked towards Sakuya, fighting nearby. Avoiding a wide swing of a long rusty sword, the next moment, the tip of her katana sheath quickly pierced into the Goblin's forehead before being swiftly withdrawn. It looked like a practiced series of movements.

Alex shifted his attention to Lilith.

What had unfolded was a one-sided stomp rather than a fight. A Goblin desperately wielded a rusted spear, which Lilith easily dodged and destroyed the goblin's head with the back of her sword.

Quickly, the group cleared the thirty goblins blocking the road; having how easily they were dying, the remaining goblins fled at shocking speed.

Normally, with the difference in strength, they shouldn't have never attacked the group because instinctually, they knew they were not Alex's group match. However, they still attacked, meaning they were desperate to disregard everything to attack a strong; something wasn't right. Alex's group was encountering more and more of this situation, almost as if monsters, especially weak monsters, lost their place, were forced to migrate, forced to search for food elsewhere than their usual place, and Alex was not so free to investigate the cause behind this.

The group had made considerable progress during the past week, with Alex leveling up twice, Sakuya thrice, and Lilith twice. Like this, Alex level 107, Sakuya Level 88, while Lilith is level 108, one more than Alex.

Alex still hasn't used his SP. As the group silently road the carriage toward the next town, Sakuya sighed.

''I wonder what the others are doing right now, especially little Gracier.''

''Probably training,'' Alex answered. Maria was training under Freya, Luna under that paladin while Gracier was with Artemia.

''I want to train to. Come spar with me.'' Sakuya said with a yawn.

Alex smiled, ''We will, don't worry.''

''I would like to spar with you two. We will use our full strength.'' Lilith, who had her eyes closed, opened them and said there was no way she would miss out on the opportunity to fight Alex one time; the last defeat she hadn't forgotten about it; she wished for revenge.

''I don't mind,'' Alex responded as he drove the carriage forward.

At the same time, back in Avalon, in one of the numerous forests on the floating capital, a young girl could be seen running toward the forest; naturally, this young girl was none other than Gracier, Alex's sister. Under Artemia's order, she had come to take a mission, a B Rank request.

The request is pretty simple; she must rescue a group of adventurers who went to kill a Gamelion, a rabbit-like monster extremely sought because of how tasty their flesh is; Gamelion meat is highly demanded in high-class restaurants. Gracier firstly accepted this mission because she couldn't bear to let fellows adventurers suffer, not when their children and wives come daily to ask for other adventurers to rescue them. It has been two days since their disappearance. Their family went so far by putting money together to issue a mission on top of the guild mission. Secondly, Gracier would supply the Gamelion's meat to her brother's restaurant.

Gracier, who had to grow up a bit, dashed through the forest in the search for the missing adventurers; it would have been easy if she could use her full strength; however, this would have gone against the goal of this training because this was the aim of this training, she was forbidden for using her full strength, she could only use fireball and magic shield. This training aims to train her physical strength, train her to be able to still fight after running out of MP because a situation like this was bound to happen; if she couldn't fight, then she would die.

Gracier smiled before suddenly; her pointed ears picked up sounds coming from a specific direction, without hesitation, she dashed toward that direction. Even without using blaze step, her speed was breakneck, and soon she arrived she saw adventurers fleeing from a monster, becoming they were dragging a fellow injured adventurers, their speed was slow.

However, what shocked Gracier wasn't the scenes of adventurers fleeing for their lives but instead the monster chasing them; normal Gamelion didn't exceed 3 m tall; however, the one chasing those adventurers was 8 m tall, meaning it's a rare species. Normal Gamelions are C Rank monsters; however, this rare species is equal to B Rank, no wonder the mission was B Rank.

Gracier smiled before jumping to land violently between the group and the big monster.

''Quickly leave the forest; carriage is waiting outside,'' Gracier told the adventurers without turning back; she summoned Ignia in her scythe form.

The adventurers momentarily lost their capability to think because of the absurd scene in front of them; a small child stood between them and a monster three times her height; no matter how you see, she would be crushed.

''Are you deaf? Quickly scram.'' Gracier shouted; she was getting annoyed; instead of using this opportunity to escape, they were blankly staring at her.

Finally, the adventurers moved, helping each other they left after one of them said.

''Thank you, please be careful.''

Gracier smiled, thinking at least they are not ungrateful; she stopped smiling and stared at the rare species Gamelion; the latter was looking at the punny human that appeared and stopped its hunt; she must have a death wish thought the Gamelion.

Roar!

The Gamelion roared and charged at Gracier.

Chapter 386 - 379: Gracier's Training 2

Having its prey stolen under its nose left the rare species Gamelion furious.

Roar!

The Gamelion roared and charged at Gracier. The latter wasn't idling either, putting strength into her weapon; she swung it at the rare species, which was about 5m away.

''Flying Slash!''

Saying the Red Scythe's skill, Gracier let loose a flying slash. As its name, a slash flew out.

''Gaaa~!''

Maybe it felt the power of the slash. The rare species Gamelion leaped high into the sky with a cry.

As expected of a monster similar to a rabbit, its jumping power easily jumped over the flying slash. It was also a jump on the spot. From this, Alex could see the intelligence of the rare species, who didn't jump forward to close the distance to her and her scythe.

Swoosh!

The moment Gracier thought that she heard a sound of whistling air, and he swung the red Scythe almost on reflex.

Kin~!

At the same time, a metallic sound echoed out as something clashed against Gracier's scythe.

''Gugya!''

Right after, she heard the rare species scream. She glanced at a 3 m rope-like object that fell to the ground for a moment before raising her eyebrows; it was the monster's long tail, longer than an ordinary Gamelion tail.

''Ga...gaaaaaa!''

It seems that it was angry that its tail had been cut off so easily. The rare species gave a large cry and showed its powerful fangs, which were overwhelmingly more prominent than the ordinary Gamelion. It was to intimidate Gracier. Nevertheless, she didn't lose her nerve when confronted by its rage and anger. Instead, she pointed her scythe at the monster, and from its tip, a fireball the size of volleyball was formed, then she swung the scythe.

It was fast enough that it would have been unavoidable for low-rank monsters. However, Gracier was fighting a rare species of Gamelion, which was usually a rank C monster but was now equivalent to a rank B monster. In addition, because it was a rabbit-based monster, its instantaneous power and speed were relatively high.

''Kyuiii~!''

It gave a short cry; the rare species avoided the fireball by jumping sideways. Without pause, it pushed all its strength into its hind legs to jump towards Gracier and make her pay for cutting off its tail.

Roar~

Then the monster felt shivers.

''!?"

The rare species looked around on reflex to find the sound source and saw that the fireball had burnt a 2 m diameter area to nothing with its overwhelming power. Even the grass affected by the magic power of the Forest of intermediate (farming ground for intermediate adventurers) and never withered all year round had been turned to ash before Gracier's flames. The monster almost gulped; this girl is dangerous; she must be killed asap, thought the monster.

Gracier decided to end the fight as she had finished gauging the monster's strength; with her suppressed level, she would have no trouble dealing with it without breaking her seals, because she didn't have Appraisal skills like Alex and others, Gracier couldn't know the monster level, she could only speculate, to her this monster is around level 70, 80 at the most.

Swoosh!

Gracier disappeared, the rare species felt a sense of crisis; relying on its instinct, the monster jumped back. Gracier smiled and continued to walk toward the monster slowly.

Realizing that it was being overwhelmed by this small human, unlike its earlier angry voice, the rare species cried as if to inspire itself.

''Kyuu kyuuu!!!!"

The rare species revealed its long sharp fangs to threaten Gracier. The Gamelion was 8m in size. Its mouth and fangs were huge, and for someone of Gracier's size, it could swallow her in a single gulp. Even if that was impossible, if it pierced her with its fangs, it could inject poison. And if that happened, Gracier would die, so the monster thought.

Using abilities unique to Gamelions, it jumped forward to strike with its fangs before entering the Gracier's Scythe's range.

''Gakin~!''

However, the fangs that should have struck Gracier were blocked by the flame shield that appeared so suddenly that it startled the monster.

Almost simultaneously, Gracier put all the strength she could muster into the scythe and swing it.

''!??"

The rare species recognized the blade of the red Scythe approaching it and tried to catch the attack with its right blade ear almost on reflex.

The sharp blade ear would have been able to block it if it had been an ordinary long sword or spear swung. Alternatively, it might even have been able to cut through the weapon. However, the weapon this time was a magic item called Gift formed from the soul of its user, said to be almost indestructible. It surpasses any ordinary weapons and is coupled with Gracier's enhanced physical strength. As a result, the rare species' right blade ear could hardly resist it, and it was neatly sliced off.

Gracier flicked her wrist and swept the Scythe around, turning the blade towards the rare species again.

No skill was used, only pure physical strength.

''Gagyaaaaa!!!!"

As the cutting edge of the blade fell, the power of the attack was increased by Gracier's physical strength. The rare species was hit by it, dyeing its usually proud fur with blood. It was blown away nearly seven meters while raising a shriek. After rolling along the ground for several meters, it finally stopped moving.

''Are you joking?"

Among the adventurers watching from the forest, the man who seemed to be the leader murmured.

The man was the one who had said a few words before leaving. However, it was already impressive that he had been able to speak. All his other friends had yet to fix their breathing and couldn't say anything at all.

Gracier had blown away the 8 m large rare species. She was only around 165 cm and looked to be a delicate child. However, what she had just done, a delicate child couldn't do it.

Fully aware that people were watching her, Gracier ignored them and stared at the half-dead monster trying so badly to get up. Putting strength into her legs, Gracier shot forward; she passed by the half-dead monster before stopping 2 meters at its back; nobody saw how her scythe moved except the strongest existence hiding.

What the others saw was the head of the rare species flying in the air. From the top of its neck to the bottom, its head was cleanly cut off. Blood spurt into the air dyeing the monster fur red as it crouched before falling.

Gracier collected the monster's body before, under the astonished eyes of the adventurers who still hadn't gotten over the previous, vanished.

''Bloody hell.''

Shouted one of them, finally left for the guild.

Floating in the sky was Artemia dressed in black training gear; she was holding Gracier, who was waiting for her evaluation.

''Not bad, 8 out of 10,'' Artemia announced the result of this training; Gracier smiled; however, she smiled more at Artemia's following words.

''Let's move, the next training is about skills, you can finally unleash your meteor skill.''

Chapter 387 - 380: Gracier's Training 3

After Artemia and Gracier left the forest of intermediate, they appeared in another forest.

The forest was enormous, luminous, and diverse. Its canopy was monopolized by beech, maple, and cedar, and abundant dancing lights bounced through their crowns for scattered mushrooms to reign the fertile soils below.

Bundled branches hung from a couple of trees, and a potpourri of flowers, which were seen occasionally, enriched the otherwise dark scenery.

A variety of noises, most belonged to foraging animals, added life to the forest, and overpowered the occasional sounds of birds of prey gliding in the air.

Strangely, Gracier felt no presence of monsters.

Having noticed Gracier's confusion, Artemia smiled and explained.

''This a special forest at the other side of the capital. As you have noticed, this part of the forest doesn't have any monsters only ordinary animals. This is the outer edge of the forest; only in the forest's depth will you see monsters. You can fight to your heart content here, unleash whatever skill you want without fear of damaging the forest because it will regenerate afterward.''

''I see. Where are we going?" Gracier asked this.

''Follow me,'' Artemia said and walked deeper until they saw a platform; using this platform, they appeared in the depth of the forest, in an arena-like space.

''What is your current level?" Artemia asked the moment they stood atop the platform in the middle of the open space.

''Level 78,'' Alex answered while checking her status.

『[Gracier Alexandra Touch]

「 Rank 8」

Level 78

Class: Fire Empress

Age: 14

Female

Race: High Half-Elf

Experience Value: 10200/37000

Magic Power: 3500/3500

Magic: Fire Magic

Attack: 1310 ➤ 1335

Defense: 700 ➤ 725

Agility: 800 ➤ (+50 BP) 875

Intelligence: 800 ➤ 825

Luck: 700 ➤ 725

BP: 0

SP: 10

Gift: Ignia's Bracelet

Skills: [Cooking Level 4] [Sewing Level 3] [Fireball Level 5] [Fire Arrows Level 4] [Meteor Level 1] (New) [Fire Snake Level 4] [Flame Shield Level 5] [Presence Detection Level 5] [Chantless Magic Level 8] [Fire Lotus Level 5] [Archery Level Max] [Blaze Steps Level 5] [Golden Arrows Level 1]

Special Ability: [Dragon Eye Level 10 Max] [Flame Wings Level 3] [Dragon's Breath Level Level 2] [Lord of Hundred Flames] (New) {Dark Mode (Sealed due to its instability)}

Titles: [Avenger] [Child of Fire] [The Awakened] [The Diligent] [Lord of Flames]』

''I see, that's good. I hope you still have not used your SP yet?" Artemia inquired.

''No, I still haven't used them. I'm waiting for your instruction.'' Gracier responded, she still doesn't understand why Artemia forbade her from immediately using her SP; however, she knew she was about to get the answer to this question soon, and indeed she was not wrong; Artemia began to explain the reason behind her order.

''You see, most people often mistook immediately spending their SP on their skills as a normal thing to do; however, it isn't the right thing to do. Let's me explain to you why I have said this.''

Artemia's words had caught Gracier's attention; she nodded her head, ready to listen to Artemia's full explanation.

''Why is it not a bad thing to immediately distribute your SP. You will acquire more benefits if you practice your skill, having the minimum mastery over it before spending SP on it; this increases the overall capacity. More than anything, you will have perfect mastery over it. For example, if two persons have the same skill and one spends more time practicing his skill before using SP. The other only spend SP doing nothing, at the Max level, the person who practices hard before spending SP will have his max skill power will be doubled compared to the other that only use a shortcut, it's why I have suggested not to use your SP yet on your meteor skill.'' Artemia explained why she had stopped Gracier from spending her SP on her meteor skill; if not for her, Gracier would have used all her SP on her meteor skill as she believes that it was her strongest skill with the more destructive force among her skills.

''I see; I understand your reasoning. Does my brother know about this?"

Gracier couldn't help but think about her brother after hearing Artemia's explanation, she wanted to know if Alex knew about this information and the answer was negative.

''I doubt it, don't worry, I will tell him later. You should also know that your brother is special, possesses special training methods, so there's no need to be concerned about this; however, just in case, I will have to tell him.''

Smiling, Gracier said, ''I will appreciate it if you do that.''

Artemia nodded, ''Let's us begin.''

Immediately following this announcement, she vanished; two Artemia appeared, one at the front while the other at the back of Gracier they hands thrust forward.

A normal person shouldn't react in time; however, Gracier was different, especially after training under Artemia's spartan training; not dodging this attack would have shamed her master.

A crimson flame appeared under Gracier's feet, launching her into the sky like a rocket. She didn't waste time before deploying a flame shield under her foot, and flame wings appeared at her back, making her float in the sky.

Fwoosh!!

Boom!

Immediately after Gracier deployed the flame shield under her feet, a lightning spear struck it, creating an explosion that destroyed the shield. Fortunately, Gracier had fly higher, dodging the explosion.

Aiming Ignia in her bow form at Artemia looking at her.

Tuk! Tuk!!!!!!!

In a single shot, seven flame arrows were fired. Facing the incoming arrows, Artemia's expression was calm as the surface of the water; she summoned her Gift in the form of a spear and swung it, she deflected all incoming arrows to the side.

Gracier smiled when she saw this; immediately following her command, those flame arrows which had previously fallen on the ground blossom into a beautiful yet deadly fire lotus flower, and how could Artemia haven't known this?

Just as the fire lotus tried to swallow her, Artemia flicked her fingers; however, for Gracier, it was like the announcement of the grim reaper; she heard the flicking sound loud and clear, her eyes widened, it was then she came to learn that Artemia previous attempt to strike her with that lightning spear from the ground wasn't without purpose, the scattered lightning after the explosion have gathered together and unexpectedly struck her before she could deploy a shield. Like that Gracier was struck by lightning and lost the ability to fly, she pummeled toward the ground at astonishing speed.

Artemia was still standing where she stood since the beginning; she thrust her spear at the falling Gracier; five lightning spears were sent toward Gracier; the latter knew what would happen if those lightning spears struck her, so she moved her paralyzed body, the mouth was enough. Finally, struggling enough, Gracier managed to open her mouth and unleash dragon breath.

She spewed fire from her mouth toward Artemia, and because of her proximity to the ground, Artemia should have been caught off guard; however, just as the flame was about to reach her, blue lightning appeared around Artemia and parted and tried to divide the incoming in two, it was then Gracier showed why she got the title Child of fire, she changed the flame and a gigantic flame fist that struck Artemia, the latter widened her eyes, she had fought numerous times with this girl, however, her control over the Fire element, her quick decision never ceases to amaze Artemia, even though she suppressed her Rank at the same level as Gracier, she almost lost because of the sudden element of surprise.

Grinning, Artemia's figure blurred at the last moment, leaving the giant flame fist struck empty air.

Boom!

An enormous crater appeared on the ground; numerous trees were uprooted and burnt to a cinder; Gracier wasn't happy at all; she felt chill down her bones; she tried to turn around; however, it was already too late.

Bam! Boom!

Artemia, which appeared behind her, punched her to the ground; the strike was so strong that Gracier felt that all the bones inside her body almost broke as she embedded on the ground face; first, she created a small crater not too far from the one she created using that flame fist.

Artemia landed softly on the ground and watched Gracier stand up, she said.

''You lost, always stay hundred percent focused during a fight, until the last moment your opponent may use some mean to reverse the situation, however, if you are attentive enough she can cope with any unexpected situation.'' Artemia lectured Gracier; the latter lifted her head wiped the blood around her mouth, and nodded to indicate that she understood Artemia's words; she was careless; it won't happen again, she vowed to herself.

''Great, although I wish for us to continue, we will stop for today. I have something to take care of. Sorry, we will come back later.'' Artemia announced; Gracier was disappointed; she thought she would unleash her meteor skill today; I guess it won't happen.

Just now, one of Artemia's men on a mission informed her of something; she must go back and check it. It was why she canceled today's training.

''Let's go,'' Artemia said before leaving with Gracier; she thought if her subordinate information was correct, then she might be able to know the traitor's identity.

Chapter 388 - 381: Lucifer's Return

Alex's group continued to travel toward the demon continent. Currently, they arrived in a city known for welcoming couples and family on vacation, Blue Ivy, the coastal city. Also known for its Hot springs like the one in the Far East Empire, most people visit this town at least because of the Hot springs and Alex's group wasn't an exception, they could have chosen a detour, however, they didn't, this could mean they want to take a short rest here.

Entering the town that looks like a mixture of modern buildings and traditional buildings like Tokyo, Alex and the group when to the best Inn Blue Ivy had to offer, The Rising Jade Inn, a five floors pagoda.

They booked two rooms on the highest floors, and naturally, this Inn has its own hot springs.

After entering their rooms, they decided to take a rest before visiting the hot springs later.

•••••

~ Demon's continent, the throne room.

''Damn you, Julius.''

Crack! BANG!

In the throne room in the depth of the demon continent, a heavy atmosphere weighed on all those present as they kneeled, their forehead against the ground.

Even though their face was covered in sweat, no one even dared to move in order to wipe it out.

They knew that with what happened, it wouldn't be surprising if Lucifer, known for his short temper, decided to take the head of everyone currently present.

Lucifer wanted to improve his standing within the organization; it was why he volunteered to take care of Avalon's ultimate shield; he believes he had a chance.

The plan's premise was simple, first open up a path for the organization numbers to infiltrate the capital and retrieve one of the keys; everything should have worked fine because he made sure of it.

Most importantly, for the next war, there must acquire this key, timing is the key, but now all failed.

Just thinking about the shame or the extent of his current wrath and shame was enough to make them lower their heads even more.

They even wished they could completely bury their heads in the ground. They had promised to succeed in this mission as Lucifer tried to conquer that dungeon, as he couldn't personally go down even with his suppressed level, Lucifer chose to supervise, to search, no train talent to go down and get what he wanted, so he was busy, he left the task of the ultimate shield to one of his men to handle.

"Who was the fool who told me that that he could complete the mission!?"

None of them dared to step forward.

"I said… Who!?"

*ROAR*

The heaviness in the air became almost physical as the ground itself began to crack and splinter.

The roar was so loud that some of the servants had their eardrums burst and blood flow from their ears. Despite this, neither the servants nor the officials kneeling in front of the emperor complained. Lucifer's right-hand man stood beside him with a shield deployed around him; he had wished to be the one to take care of the plan; however, Lucifer wanted him beside him, so he complied.

Finally, one of them, a demon with a goat-like horn, raised his head and advanced toward Lucifer while still kneeling before lowering his head once again.

"I am terribly sorry, your majesty! This whole situation is my fault! I should have reevaluated the situation more after the first failure."

"I see. Then, how will you repent?"

At this question, the demon with goat-like horn once again raised the upper part of his body and said with a quivering face.

"I pray you, your majesty, bestow death to me. But on account of all the service I accomplished, spare my family!!"

At the demon's words, Lucifer's purple eyes turned dark, his face contorted.

"Oh? Are you giving me orders?"

"I wouldn't dare."

"I see. Then do not worry. I am a man of parole. Your family will be safe."

"I sincerely thank you for your benevolence."

Once he said so, he stretched his right hand and received a long curved black sword from the hand of a servant before placing the edge of the blade against the left side of his neck.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, then using his other left hand, he hit the blade with all his strength.

*Splash*

Blood spurted as his head fell, followed by his powerless body.

All the retainers shivered, but none moved. They were already used to such scenes. At Lucifer being merciless, the man slaughtered his own family; from this, you could see how cruel he is.

Looking expressionlessly at the blood staining the ground, Lucifer finally spoke; his words sent shivers down to those kneeling spines.

''Does this man has a mistress and twins?" Lucifer asked.

''I-I think he did.''

Answered one of a kneeling man, he was shaking, he knew what was about to come next would not be pleasant and indeed he was right.

''Good, kill them all, I will live his main lineage alive, I'm such benevolent being.'' Lucifer's order was absolute.

''As you wish.''

Responded one of the kneeling men before disappearing to complete Lucifer's order; the remaining men were left kneeling while shivering; they prayed for Lucifer's madness to stop there if not, they may all lose their heads alongside their family slaughtered.

Glancing at the shivering men, Lucifer snorted.

"You are dismissed. And someone! Come take this corpse away and clean this filthy blood."

Everyone except for Lucifer's right-hand man left the throne room.

''Tell me, have you succeed in locating my sister? Has she left the empire yet?"

''We are still searching, although she tried to make us believe she was still inside the empire I believe she left around two weeks ago, as for where she currently at, what she looks like we have no clue.'' the man in purple dragon robe answered.

''I see; keep your guard up. Knowing Lilith, she will try to sabotage our plan; we must succeed; you know how vital this is for the next step.'' Lucifer said, arms crossed at his back.

''Don't worry, we will.''

''You can go. Tell the vampire duchess that I wish to see her.'' Lucifer said to the retreated man; he bowed and left.

''I must get that thing to become more stronger. I will rule over everything.''

Black aura burst out from Lucifer's body, instantly turning the throne hall dark his body bristling with sparks of dark lightning, he looked like a beast ready to shred everything to pieces

Chapter 389 - 382: The Queen Of Underworld

Two hours passed in a flash, Alex could be seen heading toward the hot springs. This would be his first time in this world; back on Earth, he likes to soak in Onsen, like Japanese people like to call every time he visits Japon.

As for Sakuya and Lilith, they went ahead, saying stuff like girls needs time to prepare before enjoying a heavenly bat; as Japanese herself, Sakuya was fond of Onsen, to the extent that she let slip that Alex should build one in their house in future.

''Future house, huh?"

Alex thought, he became lost in thoughts, so he collided with someone walking in front of him.

''My apologies, I was lost in thoughts.'' Alex immediately apologizes to the man.

The man in question smiled, waving his hands to indicate that he didn't take it to heart.

''I'm also at fault.'' The man lowered his body to help Alex pick up his towel, which had fallen onto the ground during their collision.

Alex smiled, feeling embarrassed; when he looked closely, the man seemed to be in his early twenty, beautiful long white hair, cerulean eyes; he wore a monocle on his left eye, which was strange considering that he was going to take a bath.

'Well, it doesn't concern me.' Alex thought and tried to leave.

〖This man is sure strange. I can't feel anything from him what you be impossible. Be cautious around him.〗

〖He is dangerous.〗

Alex was shocked to hear the siblings' warning; however, he didn't let it show on his face, politely he tried to leave.

''Once again, I'm sorry. I shall take my leave. If fate allows it, we shall meet again.''

''Sure, we will meet again, I'm sure of it, Mr. Sam. Please take care; by the way, I'm Zero.''

The white-haired man said, although Alex wished to ask him how the hell he knows his name, he refrained from asking, and he hastily left; the more time he spent standing beside the man, the more dreads he felt.

Looking at the retreating Alex's back, Zero smiled and mumbled.

''What interesting young man. Although you tried to conceal it, you possessed a huge amount of mana. Sam, leader of a C Rank group, was recently promoted to B Rank. Interesting, we shall reencounter each other. I must head back. Lord Thanos will be furious; however, if he learns about a potential future member, stronger with more potential than Cain, I think he would be happy.''

Like a child that just found something interesting and couldn't wait to brag about it to his parents, Zero smiled before vanishing; previously, he wished to take it slow by enjoying the once time opportunity to come to the human world; however, after his encounter with Alex disguised as Sam, he had a change of plan, he decided to head back.

On Alex's side, Alex threw his encounter with Zero at the back of his head as he decided to enjoy the Hot springs.

After cleaning his body, Alex entered the hot springs because they had paid for the highest room, meaning the emperor's suite; they have the right to enjoy one of the personal hot springs.

''Fuh!"

Alex exhaled as the hot water enveloped his body, relieving most of his stress.

''It should have been perfect if I had someone to give me a shoulder massage,'' Alex said with a smile.

''Oh? So, you wish for a shoulder massage? Lucky you, I happen to be good at this.''

Unexpectedly, Sakuya, with only a towel wrapped around her hot figure, appeared and declared; Alex chuckled. Truth be told, he knew of her arrival because, since his encounter with that strange man, Alex had been on edge, his Divine Sense was always activated.

''I wouldn't mind. Thank you in advance.'' Alex said, still soaked in the hot spring.

Sakuya smiled before crouching down him started to massage Alex's shoulders slowly; it was gentle.

Alex moaned few minutes, statement to how good Sakuya's shoulder massage was; the massage session lasted fifteen minutes with Alex feeling completely refreshed.

Sakuya decided to share the hot spring with Alex, not that he minds.

''Where is Lilith?" Alex asked after not sensing Lilith's presence nowhere, even in the adjacent hot spring.

''Ah! Lilith said she was feeling uncomfortable after soaking a bit; she went back. She said she would sleep, to have fun.'' Sakuya explained the reason behind Lilith's absence.

Alex frowned, finding this reason a bit odd; with their Rank, heat shouldn't be an issue, and yet, well, maybe it was this period when women.., Alex couldn't help but think of something rude.

''Aren't you thinking of something rude right now?" Sakuya asked with narrowed eyes.

Alex immediately waved his hands to indicate that he wasn't thinking of anything rude.

The two burst into laughter, laughing to their heart content as they shared a rare intimacy.

•••••

At the same time, elsewhere, in an unknown basement, the sound of high heels clicking against the ground could be heard, it was slow yet rhythmic, and soon a silhouette appeared, a woman dressed in all black, her face was obstructed by a black butterfly mask, long black hair and purple eyes were the only things visible.

This woman walked forward before stopping and place her hand on an inconspicuous wall. Doing so, a line of light ran through the wall, and the wall slid open.

Without finding such a phenomenon surprising, the woman with the butterfly mask enters the now open passage.

Inside was a staircase leading further down. The woman continued forward until she found a wooden door.

What was waiting behind the door was a beautiful study room.

Some countless old books and candles are always lit even though nobody ever tends to them.

And in the middle of this room was a big magic circle; its purpose couldn't be more obvious.

Stepping inside the magic circle, the woman sent her mana inside it, making it shine and cover her body with brilliant blue light; as the light died down, the woman was nowhere to be seen.

The woman appeared in an unknown underground palace; there was a black throne with a butterfly engraved on top of it; sitting on this throne, the woman crossed her legs.

''Welcome back, Queen; we have been waiting for your arrival.''

Numerous men and women kneeled, they all wore black, emitting killing intent, their eyes were ruthless, like the eyes cunning hyenas, around their right wrist was the tattoo of a black-blue butterfly, this is the underworld, and their queen has graced them of her presence, she who appeared like a ghost and conquered everything, the black Butterfly Queen, the slaughter queen, singlehandedly slaughter the old underground king and subordinates, transforming into a beautiful butterfly.

Chapter 390 - 383: The Young Shadows

Deep in the night, somewhere in the outskirt of the outer capital, one hour before the Queen of Underworld return, five shadows could be seen moving at high speed like some ninja; those shadows were dressed in black from head to toe.

The five exchanged looks, they communicated through their eyes, then two disappeared going to the left of the lone house not too far from their position, another two went to the right while the remaining simply vanished.

Fwoosh! Fwoosh!

Four shadows infiltrated the lone house; it was entirely dark; however, for the shadows, this couldn't be considered a problem, they were able to see in the dark, moving their eyes they located their target, a lone male sitting leg crossed, this man had a large scar running through his face, he seemed to be waiting for the shadows because immediately, the room turned brighter startling the four shadows.

''Kukuku! I was waiting for your arrival, you have killed my brothers, and now you think you can kill me two? Keep dreaming; I will kill you all and avenge my brother.'' The man with the scar roared and threw his ax at the nearest shadow.

Fwoosh!

The ax traveled to the air and arrived before the shadow; it was a split-second decision; the shadow bent back, letting the ax pass, before taking support on its hand to spin, crisscrossing her legs to kill the flying ax momentum before catching it between her legs and throw it back to its sender.

The man with the scar widened his eyes; however, he was not your typical thug, snorted his left arm bulged, thick veins appeared all over it turning it red; it was a small physical enhancement.

''Break for me.'' The man bellowed and threw his fist, it collided against the incoming ax, and surprisingly the ax broke apart.

During the time that the man with the scar was locked in a fight with one of them, the other three moved, one went to switched the light, while the other two nimbly dodged darts shots at them from hidden spots, the man wasn't alone, the information was wrong, it was a trap, however, when they remembered what their instructor said, they quickly calmed down, and chuckled, she must have known beforehand this was a trap, it is a test we shall not fall.

Reaffirming their determination, a small black cord appeared under their wrist; controlling this, they wrapped the cords around the poisoned dart before sending it back with the doubled speed of its initial launch.

Puh! Puh! Puh!

The hidden men's eyes turned purple in seconds; they couldn't believe that it was their darts that came back to kill them.

Immediately, the room turned dark, four shadows moved as one, using darkness as cover, they struck the man with the scar where he was the most vulnerable, the man had his muscles cut off, the muscles controlling his arms and legs, his eyes rolled back due to the extreme pain coming from his lower body.

Holding what was left of his precious jewel, the man fell headfirst; butt raised high.

''Secure the target.'' The leader of the five shadows entered and ordered; the other quickly nodded before one of them put the unconscious man on his shoulder as the group vanished; the house was set ablaze shortly after they left.

Back to Avalon, in a mansion not too far from the Blue Haven Manor, the five shadows with the extra luggage appeared in the basement.

''Welcome back. What took you so long? This mission should have been completed in half an hour, yet you took 45 minutes to complete it. Care to explain?"

A woman with her back facing the five writing something on a paper stopped and tilted her head back, her brown eyes looked at the five, she momentarily glanced at the unconscious man, no he was faking because when the man heard her voice, he shuddered.

''Apologies, teacher, we were ambushed; they were people waiting for us other than the man and the initial three subordinates. We were forced to improvise.'' The leader of the five stepped forward, he removed his mask, and a youthful face appeared, no less than fifteen, pale white face with few scars running across his face, light purple eyes, black hair.

Following his gesture, the other four removed their masks; strangely, they are all women no less than sixteen; two among them are from the beastmen race, from the cat tribe, there was one elf, and the last one is a human.

''I see; you should have expected this kind of situation and better prepared. Missions will not always go as predicted, no matter how much information you have. Sigh! Let's stop for tonight, go settle him in the underground prison for interrogation later, making sure he couldn't kill himself.'' Sera ordered, dismissing the five.

After bowing, they dragged the man who started thrashing the moment he heard dungeon and interrogation; he knew he was screwed, he wouldn't live after that, they want information, recently, he and his kind were repeatedly targeted, the strangest thing was only those with wicked deeds such a rape, prostitution and illegal slave trading were targeted, only the small gang, almost as practice, the bigger gang have not been targeted yet, however, the man believes that it was because of the lack of information. He happened to have that information; thinking about it, the man couldn't help but shudder; he must have retired, elope that time with the boss wife.

Back in the basement, Sera sighed, and without looking back, she said.

''Pandora, do you have something to report?"

Pandora, former Meera, the Elf Spirit mage appeared and stared in the direction the five shadows left to; she smiled. It has been few days, almost a month since they bought them, yet those five were former slaves Sera bought for the sole purpose of forming assassin, information collector, and so on; this will be Alex's personal force, and looking at them, it could be said that it was going well at the moment, jumping from Rank 2 to 5 in less than a month under Sera's hellish training, their assassination skills are above average, already entering the realm of an intermediate master, what they need is more training more missions more bloodbaths and they got the perfect target.

Shaking her head, Pandora decided to focus on the reason she was here.

''There is an unusual movement in one of the kingdoms.''

''Tell me more..'' Sera's interest was piqued; maybe they could lead on the mysterious organization, thought Sera as she listened to Pandora's story.

Chapter 391 - 384: In The Shadows

''Rise.'' The woman with the butterfly mask, the Queen of Underworld said.

Her subordinates rose, none of them said anything, they waited for their queen order.

''Report the situation.'' In a cold town, the woman with the butterfly mask ordered.

One of her subordinates, a man in his late thirty stepped forward; he wore glasses, gray hair tied up behind his back, black tuxedo with a glove, however, only one hand was covered. The other one was left uncovered to let the underworld tattoo be seen. This man's appearance looks more like a butler than an underworld member; however, nobody dared to point out, the queen wasn't bothered, she waited for the man to update her on the latest news.

''My queen, recently some of our men are being targeted.'' the man said and pushed his glasses back.

''Oh? Explain.''

''Yes, My queen, seven groups have been destroyed. Even though they are scum among scums going after your policies (no forced prostitution, no illegal slave trading, no kidnapping, no drugs selling), they are still members of the underworld. Killing them without regard to us is completely disrespectful.'' The man was angry, so were the others, killing their men like they are nothing shouldn't be tolerated any longer, they should retaliate, if weren't for their queen order not to act recklessly, to inform her before acting, they would have killed those behind this.

Feeling her subordinate's bloodlust, the woman with the mask sighed. Everything in this life needs a counterbalance, like when there's a day inadvertently, there will be night, light and dark, the clean society then underworld. When she conquered the underworld, it was in a complex mess with almost no rules, no bottom line; the emperor and officials were getting fed up and were searching for a way to control the underworld, they knew they couldn't erase it because a society without underworld isn't a real society, the underworld is where darkness resides, where dirty things are done; however, it shouldn't be in moderation, and this woman brought it, she quickly developed the underworld to the degree it could almost compete with the imperial family, they have cities under their control, the imperial let them do this because the almost absolute control the woman has over her subordinates, they never started something they shouldn't have, never provoke someone they shouldn't have, it was why she must know against whom she would be going before acting.

''Judging from your reaction, you must know where this group is coming from. I'm listening.'' The Queen said and began to tap on her throne armrest rhythmically.

''All we know is that it's a group of five, probably young, the base is somewhere around the eighth house, we didn't know the exact location.''

The eyes behind the mask widened; the woman immediately understood something she immediately ordered.

''Let's them do what they want.''

''But?" The man in a butler suit tried to argue but was cut short.

''Are you questioning my order?"

The queen icily asked.

Her voice was so cold that Hyde felt a chill crawling up his spine, and his face turned ashen; he immediately bowed his head.

''I wouldn't dare. It just that-"

''Sigh! Something I really wonder if you are smart or you try to play smart.'' The queen cut off Hyde and said. Her comment was like a burning arrow that pierced Hyde's heart.

''Ugh!"

The others lowered their heads, doing their utmost not to laugh.

''You know, what will you do when someone came out and did the job you have planned to do but couldn't at the moment because of other issues?" The queen questioned.

''Obviously, I will gladly make use of this-"

Suddenly, Hyde stopped talking; he had finally understood what his queen was hinting at.

''My queen is sure wise.'' Hyde tried to bootlick his queen and what he received in return was another arrow in the heart.

''Is more like you're dumb not to have immediately seen the importunity with this group appearance. There are pests we will have to take care of not to let the whole structure rot, so now that we got free workers, why not make use of them? So, as I said, let them continue. Just from time to time, play the rescue role; I mean, fake it, you will come only a few minutes after the massacre occurred.'' the queen ordered with a smile; her smile was beautiful mesmerizing everyone inside.

''A-As you wish, my queen.'' Hyde stuttered, his heartbeat accelerated, his face flushed red. However, none had ever seen their queen face from the small visible part and the elegance her body exude; she would be without doubt a beauty, a country toppling beauty at that.

As she said, they understood what should be done; leaving this unknown group takes out the rotten flesh shouldn't be a bad thing; they lost nothing, after all. Instead, they have gained, they didn't have to dirty their hands.

''Tell me about the cities under our control, how things are going?'' the queen inquired, and Hyde happily complied.

The queen patiently listened to her subordinates report; she was happy because more money was coming in, she was slowly building her force, they may come in handy when the time will come, thinking about it, her lips curved up, and she mumbled, ''It will be fun.''

''What? Did you say something, my queen?" Hyde asked with a tilted head; the gesture looked girly, making the queen almost throw up.

''Ugh! Nothing, continue.''

The meeting continued.

••••••

At the same time, in an unknown villa located in the noble area, a meeting was currently taking place.

The big shots of the underworld, those from the lawless factions, the one Alex's young shadows were eliminating.

''Damn it.''

Crash!

A plump middle-aged violently smashed the glass in his hand on the table, the glass broke, sending glass shards everywhere on the table; however, this didn't stop the woman shaking her hips atop of the man knee naked; she kept moaning with a fearful expression on her face, she wasn't the only one, this scene was everywhere, the other two gang bosses had women on top of them.

''Calm down, Snake eye. We will crush them.'' Said a bald man with an owl tattoo on his head; he kept slapping the woman, shaking her hips making her move faster.

''Shit, Kuh! I'm pissed off. That woman must be overjoyed right now; she would not help us just because we refused to follow her stupid policies. Underworld with such shitty policies, isn't it Underworld anymore. Shit! Women should only moan under men, nothing else.'' The third man said he had one eye blinded, blinded by the Queen.

''Calm down, let's elaborate a plan to deal with this unknown group and later with that queen..'' The second man said, the other two nodded before smiling wickedly, they were sure that this location wouldn't be revealed because nobody would think that they would hide in the noble area, the only one that knows were present here and that fool, that subordinate that died in tonight massacre, burnt to cinder alongside the house, only if they knew.

Chapter 392 - 385: First Try

Back on Alex's location, Alex could be seen lying on the big bed; however, in reality, he was not sleeping but training; he had decided to at least check what was inside the gigantic tower.

Through the forest, Alex arrived at the plain; from here, the tall tower seemed close. However, Alex had to spend another two hours to reach it, seeing this from close finally it was tall, two gigantic golden doors adorned the tall tower, images of dragons and phoenixes mixed with numerous other beasts were depicted on these doors.

Alex sighed before stepping forward; automatically, the two doors opened themselves, letting him see what was on the other, darkness, absolute dark, and Alex didn't shy away and walked in.

Garin~

The doors automatically closed behind him; then the first floor got illuminated.

Suddenly, a voice echoed in Alex's ears.

''Welcome challenger, welcome to the tower of Self, the Tower of Reflection. Kindly state your name.'' The unknown entity stated, probably the tower spirit; it was a girl's voice.

Not wanting to waste time and quickly get over it, Alex introduced himself.

''Alexander Kael Touch.''

''Good, I shall call you Alex from now on. Alex Rank 11, owner of the Death Guns, let's us begin.'' the voice said.

Alex's mouth twitched; he almost asked why to bother asking for his name if she already knew all these things; however, he stopped from doing so.

Suddenly, following the tower's spirit announcement, a magic circle under Alex's feet before shining, Alex vanished afterward.

When Alex, who had closed his eyes during the transfer, opened them again, he appeared inside a forest; somehow, this forest was strangely familiar, he had a sense of déjà vu.

Indeed, the next scene confirmed his guess; a young Alex appeared, not so young, but Alex a few months ago appeared, the Alex who was experiencing his first mission, aimed with nothing but a knife and throwing knives.

The present Alex looked at the Alex from a few months ago and the forest where he killed his first monster; he could more or less understand what this tower's ability is and what the next thing should be.

''So, you're the one I should fight.'' the Alex from the past declared before Alex found himself restrained; it was quick; however, after Alex felt like something had been put inside his body restraining his level, indeed he levels fell back to Level 1, then the Alex from the past moved.

He kicked off the ground raising a small cloud of dust, and arrived before Alex; he slashed at him with his knife held in reverse position; Alex (the real Alex) dodged to the side, he believes that even with his level suppressed, the experience gaining would be engraved deep inside his body making able to easily dodge the attack of Level 1 ranker, that he could easily clean up this stage; however, he was wrong, badly wrong as that.

The moment Alex from the past saw that Alex was about to dodge his strike, he didn't panic but smile instead before opening his palm; sand flew out of it and entered Alex's eyes, momentarily blinding him.

''What?"

Alex was shocked because his levels were suppressed, even his exceptional physical strength was considerably reduced; even knowing the danger about to come, he couldn't react in time before feeling something pass through his neck, followed by the taste of iron in his mouth

''Puh!"

Alex puked blood and failed to stop the cut on his neck from letting loose a torrent of blood that dyes his clothes and the ground red as he slumped toward the ground, life slowly leaving his body, even though it wasn't an actual death, it was still painful.

In his last moment, Alex saw his past self smiling while the tower's spirit announced.

''Challenger Alex died, six chances remaining. Please retry two days from now on.''

Alex was sent away; he appeared outside of the tower; he couldn't help but sigh, to think he would lose to his past self and in that manner, how unsightly.

''Fufufu! I seem that you didn't even get past the first level.''

To make matters worse, Silveria appeared with a mysterious smile, and somehow, her smile irked Alex more than anything; Alex quickly massaged his temple to keep his emotions under control as he spun around to see a floating Silveria. She was dressed in a simple silver robe with golden embroidery.

''Yeah, I lost to Level 1, and because of a sand, the bastard blew sand into my eyes, momentarily blinding me before finishing me,'' Alex grumbled. At the same time, he was angry, irked because of Silveria's smile that implies I knew it; he was angrier at himself, he had taken the situation lightly, judging from the tower's name, he would face his past self in the form of challenge and win. His past self would make use of his ability to the best of their capability more than he had done, they will use wits and tactics to compensate for what they lacked at that time, you might think that it was unnecessary all of this hassle as he was now Rank 11, however, only by surpassing his past self, by learning from them would he truly exhibit his real strength.

His first opponent had played dirty, but only because the situation allowed so; maybe if Alex had done the same thing when he was facing the goblins, he would have leveled up faster and unlock Silveria, maybe Nyx faster. Alex doesn't know, but he can learn from the past to perfect the future.

''I understand,'' Alex muttered to himself.

Silveria smiled; it's a good thing that Alex could discern some of the tower's real aim so quickly; however, the real show is about to come. If Alex succeeds in completing this tower, the reward will be endless. Silveria believes so.

''Let's head back.''

To Silveria's words, Alex nodded as the two disappeared from the Illusionary Battlefield, Alex didn't question Silveria about what was the meaning behind the tower's spirit words when he was leaving, nor he asked for the rules; he knew eventually he would find out, it would be more fun this way.

While Alex was coming back from the Illusionary Battlefield in the adjacent room, Sakuya came back from the rooftop; she was sweating, using the tower around her neck; she wiped away the sweat on her face, she clutched her katana with a sigh. She was trying to recreate the movement used by Kamishiro when he used that technique on the vampire duchess, the result she failed miserably, although, frustrated Sakuya knew that she couldn't rush things, she must let them come naturally because she believed that she would be able to do it, to use that skill one day, she might even surpass him, no she must, Kamishiro had seen something in her. However, he couldn't consider her teacher, Sakuya still thinks of him as one, and she must not disappoint him.

''Hah! Still has a long way to go.'' Sakuya mumbled before scanning the suit; Lilith just came back.

''Fufufu! You are back. How was your night stroll?'' Sakuya inquired with a smile.

Lilith first sat on the bed before answering.

''Not bad, I feel refreshed. Something it's good to walk around aimlessly at night to release some of your worries.''

''I couldn't agree less. Next, let have a group walk, it would be more fun, fufufu! What do you think?"

''Hehehe! I think it would be fun.'' Lilith responded to Sakuya's suggestion with a smile; both smiled.

Sakuya knew Lilith had done more than a simple night stroll, she went somewhere, and Lilith knew Sakuya didn't believe her, however, adults as they are, they know better than anybody that they exist things one must ask even when the obvious is before you, everybody has a secret, some too many, better let the other willingly share it than force her to tell you, they both knew they would learn more about each as they grew closer, spend time together and more importantly successfully building a solid trust between them, so now wasn't the time both knew it.

''Good night Lili.''

''Good night, Mio.''

They wished each other a good night before sleeping.

•••••

Hours passed quickly, and the bright radiance of the sun had infiltrated the night sky thoroughly.

Night was over, and it was the start of a new day.

After his morning routine, Alex joined the girls, and they ate their breakfast. During this breakfast, Lilith asked Alex to accompany her; Alex didn't found it strange, nor he refused as they have decided to take few days off before continuing.

''No problem. Where do you wish to go?" Alex asked after Sakuya left them; she said she had things to do.

''Well, let's just tour the city,'' Lilith said after a moment of contemplation.

''Sure.'' Alex nodded.

The two left the Inn and started to tour the city.. Somehow, this could be considered as a date, their first date; however, none of them think of it as one; they decided to enjoy a day off.

Chapter 393 - 386: The Eight Dukes

Outside, the skies were clear, giving off a pleasant vibe. Alex and Artemia looked at the city in awe, tall buildings with numerous man-made waterfalls. The duo moved; they visited famous spots such as an aquarium, the attraction park before ending in a restaurant.

The two ordered a salad and ate; after they finished, Lilith stared at Alex for a moment.

''What is it?"

Alex couldn't help but ask; it wasn't like he disliked being stared at, however when you stare too much, even for him, it becomes uncomfortable.

Finally, Lilith opened her mouth and said.

''Thank you for going along with my selfishness.''

Waving his hands, Alex responded, ''Don't worry, I have much fun. It's good to accompany a friend.''

''Friends? Huh! I'm happy that you think of me like that.'' Lilith responded with a smile; it was a beautiful smile, a genuine one coming from the heart.

Alex smiled back before his expression turned serious as he said.

''We have our fun; however, I believe that you asked me out for some reason. What is this reason?"

Lilith smiled; this time, because of how acute Alex is when it comes to some subjects, this made things easier.

''Well, you're not wrong. I have asked you out for a purpose in mind. I want you to tell about the demon continent; you might have a brief knowledge on the demon gained through books, but directly hearing it from the princess of the demon race should help you more.'' Lilith declared this declaration couldn't make Alex more happier; although they are still far from the demon's continent, it never hurts to learn more about your enemy; only by knowing more could you perfectly prepare as the saying goes, knowledge is power.

''I'm listening.'' Alex declared and made himself comfortable.

''Great,'' Lilith said before taking a deep breath.

''You know the demon's continent, also known as the Dark Continent. Unlike you humans or Elves and beastkin, we do not have kingdoms systems.''

'I thought so, from what I have read, there was no mention of the kingdom, only one empire ruling the whole continent.' Alex mumbled.

Lilith continued. ''Although we do not have kingdoms system, the continent is to be to be ruled only by the imperial family, so we come up with a solution. How is the easiest way of governing a large continent without losing your hegemony? The answer is simple, divide the continent into nine; the central part should naturally be ruled by the strongest, meaning the Royal family with royal bloodline, while the other eight parts should be under the supervision of your subordinates, Eight Dukes. They will have the authority of overseeing the territory in your stead; they will be like a king but with limited authority.

Lilith then suddenly stopped talking and looked at Alex before raising a question.

''Do you know the difference between a Duke ruling a large piece of land almost equal to a kingdom and an actual king ruling over a kingdom?"

To which Alex didn't bat an eyelid before answering.

''It is simple, a king of a kingdom affiliated to a super puissance might one day want to become independent while the Duke will never become independent as they didn't hold any decision, they are just overseers nothing more. The final decision is in the hands of the royal family.''

''Smart. It's like you have said. Although the eight dukes are powerful, they are no real kings, only figureheads. The demon's continent is divided into nine parts; these are ruled by the royal family located in the center of the dark Land, while eight of their subordinates oversee the remaining eight parts. You have seen one of eight dukes.''

''You are talking about that vampire, don't you?"

Alex inquired as he remembered the vampire's strength; the duke, Silver, faced and couldn't do anything about it; only the arrival of Kamishiro had made the vampire duchess retire.

Lilith nodded, Priscilla may not have recognized her, but she, on the contrary, did remember her.

''Yeah, the vampire duchess, head of the vampire race, the ruler of the west. As you know, a demon's race is composed of numerous races, such as a winged demon, succubus, vampire, undead.''

Lilith continued after letting Alex digest this information.

''Eight Dukes:

Duchess Priscilla: Vampire race, territory West.

Duchess Milla: Succubus queen or Arachne's Queen, she is the mix of Arachne and succubus.''

''What a dangerous combination.'' Alex couldn't help but comment when he remembered that Arachne he fought inside the forest on the second level of the Illusionary Battlefield.

Ignoring Alex's comment, Lilith continued.

''Duchess Milla rule the southern territory.

Duke Gregor: High-level undead, ruler of the land of death, shout west, an underground kingdom also known as fake underworld.

Duke Trafford: Winged race, this race could be considered a version of the beastmen but different, the golden demon winged eagle, northern territory.

Duke Goliath: Demonic ogre, his territory is adjacent to Duke Trafford territory; this race possessed the second strongest strength after the Lesser devil.

Duke Belphégor: Lesser devil, the lesser demonic dragon should be more accurate, this race is highly lustful, have pair of incurved horns, golden slit pupils, they possessed the strongest physical, often fight barehanded or transform into a dragon, extremely few in number. Share territory with the succubus queen.

Duke Baal: the greed race, possessor of enormous physical, never full, they greed know bound, extremely good at commerce because where the money lay, without a doubt there will be someone from the greed race, they are in charge of the commerce, their territory is no far from the central area, nobody likes to have the one responsible for your money to stay far from you.

And lastly, Duke Vidaal, leader of the Lycanthropes (a mix between a demonic wolf and vampire), the natural vampire enemy; however, under the tight supervision of the royal family, no more blood were shredded, these two races fought for a century, some said it was because of their discord the demon lost in the war.''

Alex chuckled, hearing the last part of Lilith's explanation, no matter what race, people will always find a scapegoat for their failure.

Shaking his head, Alex asked a question.

''Between the eight Dukes, we are entered from which territory?"

''Through Duke Millia's territory, it will be easier this way,'' Lilith explained, and Alex nodded, and the two continued to discuss at the same time.

Chapter 394 - 387: An Emergency Quest

Near the edge of the Sia Kingdom, Alex and others were not too far from this kingdom; it could be said this Kingdom was under the supervision of the Drexia Empire.

Currently, a city that was closer to the frontier than the central lands was approaching destruction. About 35% of the city's residents were down with a feverish illness. The remaining residents were desperately nursing them. But unfortunately, that only served to spread the illness further. Yes, the illness that was spreading through the city initially wouldn't occur in the area. This place was usually hot all year round, but illness would usually only occur with the addition of higher humidity. However, many people in the town started falling ill for some reason.

Some people knew about the illness, and about 10 hours ago, it had become clear it shouldn't be possible for it to appear in this area. They asked the pharmacists and alchemists about the medicinal cure for it...but it turned out that they didn't have enough stock of a herb to make the medication.

In situations like this, pharmacists and alchemists were usually the ones at fault. But they could be blamed as no one in that city expected that the illness, commonly known as Magic Fever, would occur here. The clerics couldn't heal everybody as they are not so many clerics, to begin with.

''So what are the material we are short of?''

Ludic, the deputy governor of the city of Xeeno, bitterly asked the elderly man in front of him.

The elderly man was Mathias Schocker; he was the acting guild master at Xeeno's city border Adventurer guild branch. At the same time, the man was a highly skilled mage and a long-time friend of Ludic.

''It's called Aurora grass powder, its a powder made from the dried grass that can be found growing in regions with high magic power (near high-level dungeon). It's the main ingredient for making medication to suppress Magic Fever.'' Mathias explained.

''The grass only grows in regions with high magic power, you say? Where would that be specifically?" Ludic asked, eyes full of urgency; his people were suffering; like a good Lord, he must quickly relieve them of their suffering, especially when elections are coming.

''That's right. The closest place from here would probably be the city of Blue Ivy, near the Drexia Empire.'' Mathias answered; it was also unknown for most people, but Blue Ivy had a high-level dungeon underwater.

''Blue Ivy? ..If I'm not mistaken, there is a method for guild masters to contact each other, right?''

''Yes! It's possible to communicate with the guild master of Blue Ivy.'' Mathias replied.

''Don't hesitate to get in touch with them, I know the tense situation inside the Sia kingdom with one faction wanting to support the Third princess while the other is supporting the Second princess, we all know that the Third princess isn't interested in politics, but people are stubborn, thinking maybe with enough support she might give in, especially after learning she is getting engaged to the Eighth, said to be the most talented of the otherworlders, people take this as a divine sign. Ah! I just want to save my people.

''Okay, I understand, my friend. I will contact the guild master on the other side, but..''

Ludic knew what his good friend wanted to say. Although Xeeno and Blue Ivy were both on the frontier, the distance between them was vast. If a merchant caravan had a smooth journey, it would take half a month. Even if a seasoned adventurer drove their horse to its limits, it would still take ten days; by Magic carriage, it would take seven days.

It was possible to use an item in the guild to notify them of the city's current situation. But if you considered the time it would take to collect the Aurora grass powder and then transport it to this city.

''Sigh It would be good if 40% of the residents can survive.'' Ludic briefly said that with a bitter expression of regret.

''It can't be helped. It's a situation of life and death. I will contact the guild branch in Blue Ivy immediately. I don't know how much we will owe them for this, though.'' Mathias responded.

''Haa~, such a debt, if we can salvage this situation, I'll pay back as much as can.''

Giving a depressed sigh, Ludic spoke with a smile. He had aged since the start of this disease. However, he wished to be reelected; sometimes, he wished to let go of everything. Still, he couldn't do that, firstly because power is like drugs. Once an addict is always addict, it's almost impossible to be clean again. Secondly, because he must prepare a stable environment for his children and family and lastly because of his people, he couldn't let them go, they still need him, so he persuades himself.

''That's true; right now, we are helpless in this situation. I'll take my leave.'' Mathias said as he stood up.

'''Ah. I've used my authority as deputy governor to shut the city gates not to spread the illness any further. I can't afford to spread it to other cities. Regarding food, I'll figure something out with our reserves.'' Ludic announced, it was a tough decision, but he didn't really have the choice.

Mathias gave a slight nod at those words and deftly left the office with movements unlike that of a mage in his sixties.

After Mathias left his friend, he contacted the guild master in Blue Ivy as he promised his friend, the situation is dire, having hit the limit as an adventurer, and because of the lack of talented adventurers on this side, Mathias couldn't only ask for assistance. Usually, they should investigate the cause of the current illness; however, they couldn't because the adventurers stationed here are fighting against monsters; the arrival of the magic fever brought along a lot of problems, high contagion, and monsters wave. So, he had no choice other than to ask for assistance.

And like that, the Adventurer guild branch in Blue Ivy was contacted, and their guild master immediately asked for the highest-ranked group to carry this mission.

Chapter 395 - 388: Dark Elf

Suddenly, Alex and Lilith, who were in the middle of a discussion, saw their conversation getting interrupted.

''My excuse, dear customers it's against a policy to interrupt a customer during lunch, but the situation is urgent. You got a call from Blue Ivy adventurer guild master; it's extremely urgent, so they say, Mr. Sam." The waitress gave a light bow after she was done talking.

Alex and Lilith exchange glances. Despite not knowing what the guild master wanted with him, Alex decided to first the other party; the situation must be pretty urgent for them to come to disturb him here; Sakuya must have judged the situation to be urgent for her to tell the guild staff where they are.

''Sigh! I will head over now.'' Alex said and stood up after helping Lilith up.

The two left with Lilith going to the Inn while Alex made his way to the guild as he had promised. However, the guild seemed to have an unusual atmosphere compared to normal. To be exact, a large number of people were entering and leaving the guild. This was even though most adventurers would be out on their requests during this time.

The moment Alex set foot in the guild, he was met with a scene.

''How much Aurora grass powder has we collected!?''

''I bought as much as I could from all the miscellaneous shops, alchemists, and pharmacists in the city.''

''Wait. In case anything happens here, we have to leave some behind. We should send them 70%.''

''But Lina, the city over there-"

''It will be okay. Counting the number of residents there, 70% of the stocks from Blue Ivy should be sufficient for all the people in Xeeno.''

''We'll keep collecting Aurora grass, for now; send me a few adventurer parties later..''

''I understand. Put out an urgent request as soon as possible for all the available adventurers.''

Guild staff and adventurers were all in haste as if they were possessed by something.

''I wonder what is going?"

Alex thought as he walked toward one of the counters.

〖It's probably a pandemic judging from the amount of magic grass being collected.〗Silveria's voice echoed inside Alex's head.

'I see, maybe it's a magic fever.'

Alex had heard about it; however, he didn't know the details. Well, he was going to learn what happened after he met with the guild master.

Looking at the current chaotic situation inside the guild, Alex couldn't help but think when he had seen a situation like this, it went back to what happened in Celesta, the monster wave, and the demon's infiltration.

''Welcome, Mr. Sam, over here.''

One of the receptionists, even though busy, called Alex the moment she saw him.

Several adventurers and guild staff turned to look at Alex when they heard that but soon returned to their work as if they had no time for it.

''Please come over here. I'll take you to the guild master's office immediately. I'm Leonora, by the way.''

Lenora introduced herself and pulled Alex behind the counter.

''At least can I know what going on?" Alex inquired; however, Leonora shook her head.

''Please ask the guild master about that. However, something out of the ordinary has definitely happened.''

Replying to Alex's question, she went up a set of stairs behind the counter. At the top was a door.

Knock! Knock!

Alex watched Leonora knock on the door.

''Guild master, it's Leonora. I've brought Mr. Sam.''

''Yes, I've been expecting you. Please come in.''

Alex reacted with a twitch when he heard the voice from inside.

Not because the voice was clear as a bell, but because it belonged to women, half of the guild masters he encountered were women except in Eria and Celesta; this raises a question, why the ratio of women in charge when it comes to guild matter is high? Only the Mercenary guild has a man as the guild head.

Shaking his head, Alex discards these thoughts.

''Pardon me.''

Leonora opened the door and prompted Alex to enter.

Alex was met with a brown-skinned woman when he entered. However, she wasn't a human woman as both her ears were much more pointed compared to ordinary humans.

''Dark Elf.''

Alex's words echoed through the small, silent office of the guild master, where the noise from the first floor couldn't be heard. It was his first encounter with a Dark Elf.

''Fufu~, apologies for calling you over so suddenly. I wanted to borrow your strength for something.''

Seeing her gracious smile, Alex was breathless for a moment.

Pointed ears and brown skin. Her silver hair flowed down her back. She was wearing something like an evening dress that you would wear to a party. Because she seemed to be working on some documents on the desk, she was lower than Alex. The deep valley created by her large breasts accentuated itself greatly. Her smooth brown skin and seemingly soft twin hills would draw the gazes of men like insects to honey. Because she was a Dark Elf, he couldn't tell her exact age; comparing her appearance to a human's; she looked like a woman in her mid-twenties.

''Enjoying what you see?" The Dark Elf asked in a teasing tone, and who is Alex?

''Greatly,'' Alex replied as he took the seat across from the woman.

The Dark Elf was momentarily surprised; most men, in this case, would shy away because they embarrassed being caught red-handed, or the bravest one would only lightly cough to divert the subject elsewhere. However, Alex did none of that; on the contrary, he admitted to having enjoyed the view; this left the woman surprised; no, she wasn't the only one; Leonora was surprised by how bold Alex was. One should know that Alex was in the presence of the guild master whose status isn't any less than a city; sometimes it went past that, so no wonder Leonora got surprised seeing Alex's both answers.

'He acts like he had seen more people of high standing than her.' Leonora couldn't help but conclude this.. If only she knew the truth.

Chapter 396 - 389: Nominated Request

The Dark Elf smiled; she decided to give this interesting man another glance; it was when she received her second shock.

One should know that Elves be Normal Elves, Wind Elf, Dark Elf, or the mighty High Elf, they got one thing in common, high affinity and high sensibility to mana, so although Alex had sealed most of his power, he couldn't completely hide the tremendous amount of mana inside his body.

So, the Dark Elf woman held a surprised expression for a moment after sensing Alex's mighty magic power but disappeared as she spoke with a smile.

''How do you do. I've heard various things about you from your reputation; you and your group have accomplished quite a feat. I am the guild master of Blue Ivy's adventurers' guild, Celesta Lilac. As you have noticed, I'm a Dark Elf. Nice to meet you.''

Celesta's face was well proportioned, and Alex could feel a sense of deep wisdom from her eyes, which was a characteristic of Elves and also because this one should be pretty old.

Dark Elves. The ancestors of the Dark Elves and Elves were initially the same. However, the Dark Elves specialized more in combat. As a result, it was said that they lost the blessing from their spirits, and skin and hair changed to brown and silver, compared to Elves who had whiter skin and green hair. By the way, the ancestor of Elves is the High Elves.

Although the relationship between Dark Elves and Elves wasn't completely harmonious, it wasn't to the point where they constantly fought; at least they were on friendly terms the last hundreds of years.

''I'm Sam, Leader of the Sky Wolf Group, a C Rank group. So, to get to the point, what business do you have with me?''

The moment she heard Alex's words, the smile that was on Celesta's lips disappeared, and she turned to Leonora.

''Leonora, thanks for bringing him here. Downstairs will be busy in a lot of ways, for now; please take care of that.''

''I understand. Then, excuse me.''

Leonora gave a small nod at Celesta's words before heading back down. When the door closed, Celesta directed her dark green eyes towards Alex before speaking.

''Yes, I heard about this in Celesta,'' Alex responded.

Celesta had a strange expression when Celesta's city was mentioned; it couldn't be helped; she shared the same name as the human city. The history behind Celesta's city name is quite funny; the City got named after a woman. The lovesick city Lord at that time names the city after his unrequited love, an Elf, quite ironic if you think about it.

Shaking her head, Celesta stared at Alex and said.

''In that case, I can skip forward. Actually, we received an aid request from the guild of another city. It's an urgent request.''

''Oh? I finally understood why the first floor was so crowded. Is this City closer to Blue Ivy?" Alex asked.

However, at Alex's question, Celesta shook her head slightly.

''No, it's far away. Even if a seasoned adventurer rushed to travel the distance, it would still take ten days to get there.''

''Well, I'm curious about why a city so far would ask aid from here. I believe there another place they could ask help from.'' Alex stated.

''Well, you see.'' Celesta smiled bitterly before she began to explain.

The story goes like this; they could have asked help in the Sia kingdom, in one of the cities closed to them; however, help couldn't quickly come as this city is supporting Katherina in the race for the throne, Xeenon's city being faithful to Artemia, it will be hard, it why they have turned to Blue Ivy who was in the neutral faction.

Alex's face twitched when he finally understood the reason behind Xeeno turning over here for help.

''What is exactly happening?" Alex inquired.

While looking at Alex, Celesta took out a small bottle about 5cm tall. There was some sort of powder inside it.

''This is?'' Alex inquired as he observed the small bottle.

〖Probably, that Aurora grass thingy.〗Silveria immediately made the connection.

Alex inwardly nodded and waited for Celesta's explanation.

''It's a powder made from a medicinal herb called Aurora grass. It's an ingredient used in medicine for some infectious illnesses, but it has a characteristic of only growing in places high in magic power such as here.''

''Because of the Underwater dungeon, huh?!" Alex finished what Celesta wanted to say. Blue Ivy being a coastal city, had an underwater dungeon, a pretty high-level one; if not because of lack of time, Alex would have loved diving into this underwater dungeon; he wondered what type of monsters were there in this dungeon.

''Exactly, as I was saying, this Aurora grass is used to treat infectious diseases such as Magic fever. Xeeno is experiencing high Magic fever at the moment, an extremely contagious disease that normally shouldn't appear in Xeeno but only occur in warm and humid areas where you would never have to wear long-sleeved clothes.

''Please enlightened me; I'm clueless when it comes to stuff like that,'' Alex admitted his lack of knowledge on this matter; Celesta smiled before giving Alex a brief summary.

Magic Fever, it is a so-called feverish illness, an illness that would affect people below a certain level of magic power. Conversely, if the person had a certain amount of magic power, they wouldn't need to worry about it.

However, the level of magic power needed to ignore it varied depending on the surrounding environment. Even if it was safe in one area, it could potentially be highly infectious in others. It was basically an illness that was only seen in tropical areas.

There was a medicinal cure for it that could be made using a medicinal herb called Aurora grass. If the medicine were used, patients would recover in a night. The incubation period of the illness was about one week. If no symptoms showed after that period of time, it meant that the magic power of the patient had been able to suppress it.

''So, their stocks of Aurora grass have run out hence their turn over to Blue Ivy which possess a lot of Aurora grass.''

To Alex's words, Celesta nodded.

''Normally, Xeeno shouldn't have this illness; there must be a reason. However, first I want to know why I'm called here, surely not because you wish to tell me these things.'' Alex looked at Celesta, urging her to go straight to the point.

Celesta's face turned serious as she said.

''I want to borrow your strength, as I had said when you walked in. Would you please lend us your help? I want you to bring aurora grass to Xeeno using gryphon. There are three reasons for you to be nominated for this quest:

First: You possessed a high-level Space ring; you didn't hide it.

Second: We need the strongest adventurer currently available, and you fit the criteria, and lastly, not the least, I want you to investigate what happened on the other side; you're the only one capable.''

Alex nodded. Although he understood the reasoning behind him getting nominated for this emergency request, he wouldn't accept it if the benefits weren't to his liking, not enticing enough. So, he asked.

''What benefits do I get?"

Celesta smiled before whispering something into Alex's ears; the latter smiled.