Conquered Storm

Kyren used [Spatial Perception] to look over the absurd level of chaos he created. It was hard to explain the anarchy he was observing in his utterly dumbfounded state. The situation just went from zero to one thousand in a heartbeat. He expected a lot of people to come... but never in a hundred years would he have expected this many!

Kassio was encased in a surging sea of people, almost looking like a battlefield. The number of people had to have long broken through eight digits by now, and it was still growing! Flying ships, carriages, mounts, tents, makeshift settlements, floating fortresses, Immortal Souls, people, and many more beings and entities covered the valleys for as far as the mortal eye could see.

He would've earnestly thought that there was no ground under all of them if he didn't see the quickly put together borders, walls, and roads to separate the different factions turfs that were quickly forming. Out of courtesy, the main road wasn't blocked or occupied but it was in a chill-inducing traffic jam with little to no people coming in and out.

Any creatures that reside in the valley or a large chunk of the forest and mountains had long since packed their bags and abandoned ship.

He also didn't notice this beforehand, but the life and mental/soul mana coming from this grand mob felt extremely overwhelming, even for him. It was almost as comparable to the Turbulent World.

Usually, if an element gained a certain density in an area, creatures, monsters, or unique phenomenons (ex: elemental calamities) related to the element in question would start to spawn. For example, in a graveyard, the undead would start to arise from the heavy death mana resurrecting them. But because most of the beings in the mob were powerful, they were able to control the results to an extent subconsciously.

These big shots brought along their private armies to maintain their face and security during this event so most of the people wore uniforms or armor that represented their faction or organization, and it all looked frighteningly expensive. The only ones that looked less like soldiers and more like civilians in the crowd were the players. They were all trying to complete the event tasks to the best of their ability.

The missions they did get, however, rarely involved simple matters. Most factions had mortal enemies or many nemeses within the crowd, and seeing as they were immortal beings, they were usually tasked with causing trouble for their rivals. In this vast world, it was indeed impossible to not make a few enemies or rivals along the way. The player's hands were tied because they also couldn't decrease their favorability with other factions. This resulted in the missions like "running basic errands" and "gathering information" the golden missions sent by divine beings for them.

Despite the local law enforcers and player intervention, fights and heated arguments still broke out all over due to the boiling bad blood between the factions. The common soldiers of factions especially carried the hatred on their faction's rivals to cause trouble, therefore making them the main source of the chaos. The situation was just too much for everyone to handle and if this went on for more than a day or two, civil war would truly break out as the event description stated.

The Empire also sent out gigantic legions of soldiers to help out, but they also terribly underestimated the total magnitude and severity of this event so they were hopelessly undermanned.

The more powerful factions were establishing their own mini territories or turfs that looked considerably more peaceful due to no one wanting to mess with them.

But this was all only happening outside of Kassio. Inside was a completely different story along with the atmosphere. The outer gate's guards couldn't hold back the mob and they were reluctantly let inside the city. As mere plebeians, peasants, and high-class citizens with mouths to feed and lives to live to their fullest, they couldn't afford to offend a soul in the crowd.

Kassio's streets and hotels didn't get too crowded because the super big shots, like the high nobles, were monopolizing the city, not letting anyone in without their consent. If they received Maya's invitation, previously lived there, or also had a respectable amount of influence like themselves, they were let in. But the atmosphere was worlds more hostile and tense than the outside. No one was physically fighting yet because of the super big shot's presence, but petty feuds and agitated arguments were erupting all over. Kassio was a big city that could hold millions of people at once, but right now, it was completely overrun with mayhem and overpopulation.

The citizens were suffering from this, which generated missions for players for protection, errands, etc. Adventures that weren't currently on missions tried to copy the players, mostly to receive more credibility from the guild. The ruling power's forces and the Empire's were more focused on outside the walls so only volunteers made up the majority of the peacekeepers.

He also made sure to take note of any influential beings he saw, having Leo memorize them. His wandering eyes lingered on the three super big shots that seemed to command the levitating ship fleet near the forest's border to the north of Kassio.

'A sweet old lady who seems to be blind, an angry-looking little boy who's a lot stronger than he seems, and a— wow! She must have a lofty charisma attribute for even me to get affected by her appeal. Heck, she's right up there with Rayna! I have a sinking feeling that her personality seems a little foxish and sly though, so I might have to look out for her...' His eyes trailed over them as he used his nonexistent appraisal abilities to try and determine their stats and equipment purely out of interest. He of course failed as they were wearing anti-detection items so he could only determine their A~grade power levels, '*Sigh* I need to get a talent for this weakness of mine..... Hmm, looks like my plan will need to initiate a little sooner than I thought. Hehe, let's hope they don't get too scared...'

After leaving the matter and his peeping behind, his arms wiggled out of their death grips of the girls and he raised them high to stretch. Both his arms had that annoying and electrifying tingly sensation as if his blood circulation was cut off for too long, so he simply willed his cells to distribute faster and calm everything down, instantly wiping that feeling away and completely regaining the control and strength in his arms. The benefits of strength never cease to amaze him.

He gently shook Maya awake as she slowly and groggily looked up at him while adorably rubbing the exhaustion out of her eyes. She leisurely sat upon his waist, on top of 'that' area, in an unhurried manner as she stretched like a lazy cat that had an amazing nap. When more of her mind became aware of her surroundings, she glared at him, letting out a small "Hmph" as she looked away with a puff in her cheeks. She was obviously still upset over last night's events.

Because of her being too young looking, after the toast and a quick sip, he gave her a hard time about drinking and ordered her not to do anymore. She was forced to drink some juice-related beverage that was native to this world as she pouted in a corner. It was still fun for her though, even if she disliked the no-alcohol part, she could still watch her fellow sisters slowly get drunk. Especially drunk Krista, who was the most amusing right in front of drunk Darien.

His hand grabbed the back of her head and pulled her in for a kiss. She was surprised at first but she slowly sank into him, forgetting why she was mad instantly. When they parted, he seductively said, "Forgive me~?"

Her heart quickened and her youthful cheeks turned a fluorescent blue as she averted her eyes elsewhere and let out a low mumble, "I guess..."

"It looks like things are getting a little hectic out there, so let's do it."

Her eyes widened as she's been waiting for those words for over a week now. Draconic Genesis has been preparing for this storm and spared no expense or effort to quell and control it. The bluff they were about to pull at the moment would be monumental, basically fooling the entire Empire. Her heart was now beating in pure excitement at the thought of the spectacle they were going to create.

She jumped off of the bed, paying no heed to the other sleeping beauties, and seized her communication bracelet. She started making calls to initiate plan "Conquered Storm" to all the combat-ready subordinates involved. She was in full business and command mode as she was releasing a flurry of orders into the communicator, no longer looking like she just woke up. She unconsciously trailed off into another room to make it her command center.

Kyren let out a hearty chuckled at her sudden change in demeanor as Rayna and Krista stirred with irritation from being awoken too soon. They simultaneously clutched their foreheads as intense headaches chipped away at their skulls.

He sat up and placed his palms onto the top of their heads in a gentle rubbing manner as he sent mental mana to soothe their minds and life mana to stop any potential sickness or unease while giving them some energy. The only reason he let them drink so much the night before such a massive event like this was because of the presence of magic.

Now feeling rejuvenated, Rayna plopped back down and cheerfully snuggled into him. Krista on the other hand, gasped and pointed her finger at him while scooting away. Last night was a hazy blur, and judging from the current scene, something naughty happened.

"Did you take advantage of me!?! You vulgar hooligan-"

"Tch, what right do you have to call me vulgar when you were, not only seductively clinging on to me last night, but also begging me to allow you to follow us to my bedroom? You were practically on your hands and knees as you chanted... 'Pretty please hubby~! I can service—'."

"STOP!! NO MORE!!!" Foreign memories of her actions last night slowly started invading her brain and her face turned so red that it seemed like it was glowing. Her pride as a pure maiden and an esteemed warrior were in shambles and anger at Kyren soon took over. She had no good reason to be mad at him other than her embarrassment.

She was about to (unsuccessfully) use a combat skill that made her fists magically glow green on him when she remembered something and checked the sheets frantically. She sighed in relief as she didn't find any blood.

He noticed what she was doing and let out a mischievous grin as a smug aura emitted off of him, "Who says we did it here~?"

The realization of such a possibility hit her like a train and conflicting emotions surged through her. As the daughter of a high noble, she was taught from childhood that her chastity was to be saved for her future husband no matter what, so she didn't know what to do or think now that she's finally lost it. Her face became flustered while humiliating and secretly joyous feelings made her unable to mentally function for a split second.

Rayna giggled as she playfully punched Kyren's arm, "Stop teasing her~ You and I both know that you didn't do anything to us..."

When Krista saw his smirking response to her words, confirming that she was just fooled, she let out a loud and irritated growl as she stormed out of the room in the direction of the bathroom, feeling like there was nowhere else to go at the moment. She needed a second to calm down and compose herself while she tidied up her mental and physical state.

Kyren paused for a moment as he realized that this small and luxurious apartment was starting to get a bit too crowded with all these women occupying it with him, 'I'll need to find a bigger place for us. Oh right, I also need to make a base of operations for Draconic Genesis...'

As if on cue to Krista's departure, Maya walked back to his side from her temporary command center with an ecstatic expression on her face, "Everyone's in position, 'Conquered Storm' is a go!"

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

On the flying ships of the Magic Association, Rosalind, Mercia, and Denmark all gazed over the railing of the mothership as they watched the mess down on the surface with grim and ashamed expressions. They've long arrived at Kassio and most of their ships were docked to the ground as they unloaded cargo and troops to establish their own joint territory. They were probably the most influential and powerful factions, however, so once people saw the emblem, even if they hated them, they could do nothing about it.

Their fleet was stationed on the edge of the Keslar Forest, high above everything else. They had a birds-eye view of the commotion down there and they looked down on them all with disgust.

"This display is embarrassing for the entire country... Hopefully this superior doesn't think less of us." Rosalind shook her head in disapproval due to all the petty quarrels occurring. She didn't think to bring along enough forces to exert her influence and stop everything.

"Indeed, this is truly unprofessional and if anything out of line happens to this mysterious organization, the country could be at risk if we're blamed. I wonder how the superior will respond. Will he step in or ignore it?" Mercia felt the same way, but less embarrassment and more anger. These childish people were possibly sacrificing the benefits she could gain by making the organization think less of them!

"Yeah, I also wonder—"

As the two girls discussed, Denmark shivered uncontrollably and leaped back a couple of feet as he looked in all directions, as though someone just blew on his ear. He went on full alert as he summoned his strongest defensive item from his arsenal within his soul realm and raised his defenses to the max. His face turned from ashamed to horrified, like a frightened little puppy that couldn't see the danger that just spooked it.

His paranoid movements and actions were so out of character, that the other two were also spooked and they jumped into action as they also summoned their weapons. They all went into a triangular formation, covering each other's blindsides while looking for the danger. It may have looked like an overreaction, but when you've been through the life or death battles they've been through, it was hard not to act like that when one of them went on high alert.

After a while, Mercia spoke in a quiet and cautious tone, "What's wrong?"

Denmark kept looking around, filled with fear and paranoia, "My gut is telling me something REALLY bad is about to happen!"

"....."

".....How long do we have and how bad is it."

Distress slowly appeared on all of their faces as they also raised their defenses and senses to the max. Denmark has been an adventurer for so long that he's developed a monstrous and godlike intuition that could be compared to a surefire future-sight for any extreme dangers. Even the Emperor himself relied on his unfathomable intuition for important or vital matters. Both women knew this so they were now convinced that something was truly going to happen. But what was strange to them, was that his reaction was way too over the top so it unsettled them.

"I don't know when it will transpire, I just felt something tyrannical glare at me and a sense of absolute doom took over my body. All I know is that something leagues bigger and more powerful than the creature that made my body this way is coming, and really fucking fast!! Shit, I've never felt this scared before in all my years of life!!!"

Memories of the tragic day where Denmark became a child flashed through their minds and now incredible amounts of terror and panic overpowered them. Their defenses tightened even further as they activated every life-saving ability they had.