There Are Entrance Requirements???

Numerous Zecian Portals provide access to the Seventh Outerlayer, which must be conquered before reaching the inner layers of Ground Zero. As such, it was easy to get there after the Sixth Outerlayer.

Compared to other floors wherein beasts and monsters lie in wait, the Sixth Outerlayer was like a neutral piece of land heralded by the presence of an Overseer. Hence, access to the Seventh Outerlayer felt faster than the previously conquered territories.

Sheila, Theresa Whitelock, Yukina Medusa, and Yulie Rosethorn— all four of them— were advised to wear hooded robes to conceal their identities from other adventurers.

Personally, Albrecht wasn't that particular when it came to their identities, however, he was bound to work with his ex-members, and for the sake of the mission, he opted to hide his identity, and doing so would snowball into his teammates hiding theirs as well.

Ultimately, three of them were inhabitants of the outerlayers, and it would be weird if they were to show their true selves to the adventurers present. As for Yulie Rosethorn, everyone knew who she associated herself with— Albrecht Stein. That's why her attendance alone would be a dead giveaway to Albrecht's real identity.

With everyone wearing hooded robes that only displayed the lower portion of their faces, the group accompanied Azura Xalthor as he headed to the main encampment of the members of the Rilegarthe Guild.

One might ask what Albrcht's precautions were so his identity won't be exposed. Unlike the four ladies, he went ahead and wore a full-fledged mask so his face won't be seen.

Well, calling it a mask was an injustice since it was just a piece of thin cloth damped on his face and fastened with a string. It was one of those makeshift masks that children wear in their make-believe.

Murmurs could be heard from the crowd while they tried to unmask the new group. Then again, Albrecht's team exuded a foreign and threatening aura, which discouraged the other adventurers from trying to lift their hoods.

Meanwhile, Azura Xalthor simply walked behind the group, as if to imply that he had the group's back and that there shouldn't be any cause for concern. After all, he didn't speak a word regarding the group, all he did was smile all the way, until Albrecht's group positioned themselves in front, right beside the Heroes of Relics.

Their dominance was instantly felt by Sun Wu, the leader of the Heroes of Relics, and he swiveled his head at Albrecht who instinctively turned away even though his face was perfectly covered by the cloth. At this point, Albrecht kept on reminding himself that everything they were bound to do in this mission was for the benefit of the entire world.

There was no space for personal matters in this Seventh Outerlayer Conquer Attempt. As much as he despised the treatment they handed to him, he forcefully put it at the back of his mind so they could wholly focus on the mission at hand.

Other guilds and adventurers were present in the vicinity, but they knew that this headcount was far from complete. There were other adventurers from other places, each standing in front of a Zecian Portal that would lead straight to the Seventh Outerlayer.

Heck, the very first Mystic Rank Adventurer might show up once again and single-handedly clear the Seventh Outerlayer. They could hope that something along those lines would happen, but it was just a far-fetched dream since the Mystic Rank Adventurer was yet to show up in front of a crowd of adventurers.

It is clear that the Adventurer with the Mystic Rank is extremely introverted. No one has ever caught a glimpse of his face or observed him working in a group setting. Even members of the guilds have not divulged any information about him.

"Once again, we're here to conquer the Seventh Outerlayer which would bring us closer to the Great Meteor and bring us closer to defeating the Dark One."

"This is just a mere step to our reclamation, and I'm expecting each and every one of you here to break through your limits and go above and beyond your call of duty. This is not our individual fights, but rather the fight of mankind as a whole."

"Set aside your differences, and lay everything behind before moving forward. Because once we step into that Zecian Portal, there was no going back." Azura Xalthor gave a brief speech to boost the guild members' morale.

All of the other guild members were following his lead, except for Yulie who was nowhere to be found. Asvi Winefield gave the speech on her behalf, wondering if she was on a date with Albrecht or not. Just thinking about it made his blood boil, but he had to suppress his seething anger and concentrate on the mission.

Once the speeches and battle cries were over, it was time for everyone to jump into the Zecian Portal into the Seventh Outerlayer. Fortunately, the scouts pretty much gathered as much information as they could without triggering the Seventh Outerlayer— this meant that the adventurers weren't going into the outerlayer without prior knowledge.

Compared to their previous raids, they weren't jumping on this one blindly— and rightfully so, considering that there was supposed to be a cooldown period should the conquer attempt fail. There was even a presumed deadline which could potentially lead to an outbreak if they couldn't clear the outerlayer in time.

To put it simply, this was by far the riskiest outerlayer they'd ever encountered. With a lot at stake, it was only fitting that they combat it by expending as much manpower as they possibly could.

With the Heroes of Relics and Albrecht's group in the lead, the army of adventurers walked inside the Zecian Portal. Anxiousness started creeping in, but not a single adventurer backed down from the challenge.

It was only when the Zecian Portal started spitting out adventurers that everyone started to slightly panic.

Somehow, the Zecian Portal was choosing eligible adventurers to go inside, which never happened before. Even when the scouts reconnoitered the Seventh Outerlayer, they never experienced such natural selection.

"What's going on?" Azura Xalthor asked as he too, got kicked out of the Zecian Portal the moment he walked inside.