Do you even know what that meant?

A few hours later…

"Holy crap? A Behemoth? No worries, no worries, those things can't fly…"

More than half a day later…

"Holy shit! An 11-Tier Venom Wyvern? A 12-Tier Venom Wyvern Monarch? And so many of them?! Run, run, run—!"

One day later…

"What the hell is that? Hiss… A 13-Tier Phoenix? Phew, we're good, it's not chasing us. Cicero, fly faster!"

A day and a half later…

"Hiss… Nearly a hundred 9-Tier Genies and 10-Tier Master Genies here? They shouldn't be able to catch up, right? Phew, looks like they're not interested in us!"

Almost two days later, in a massive basin on the outskirts of Sylvanwood, a Green Dragon silently descended.

No one noticed its arrival.

"Damn, that was intense! I had no idea Sylvanwood was this huge. Behemoths, Phoenixes, Venom Wyverns, Venom Wyvern Monarchs—this place is a death trap! It's like playing with my life!"

Ethan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, still shaken, then turned to Cicero beside him. "Cicero, you're gonna have to rest for a while."

As a hero, Ethan had the ability to store his units within his 'system.'

In gaming terms, it was basically spatial magic.

Since Cicero, as a Green Dragon hero, wasn't suited to be seen in public just yet, he had to be hidden for now.

"Grk, grk…"

Cicero nodded rapidly, like a woodpecker pecking at a tree.

Whoosh!

In a flash, he disappeared into Ethan's 'spatial magic' to rest. The past two days had been exhausting—he needed a few days of solid sleep to recover!

Ethan took a short break himself. Then, with a flash of white light beside him, an 8-Tier Silver Pegasus Knight appeared.

"Honored Lord!"

The Silver Pegasus Knight swiftly dismounted and gave Ethan a formal knight's salute.

In the world of Glory Lords X, every unit had its own independent life, complete with a name and history. But there was no way Ethan could remember the names of all his troops.

Especially now that he was a lord!

As a lord, all he needed to do was coordinate with his heroes.

"Mount up. Let's see if there's anyone around here." Ethan instructed the Silver Pegasus Knight as he climbed onto the mount.

"Yes, my lord!"

The Silver Pegasus Knight nodded, mounted up, and took off to scout the area.

Meanwhile, on a narrow mountain ridge in the distance, a five-man squad was stationed.

Suddenly, one of them—a young man with a bright, sunny face—widened his eyes in shock and exclaimed, "B-Boss! Look! Someone's coming!"

"Voidwalker, did you not sleep well last night? This is the Sunfire Basin on the outskirts of Sylvanwood! The place is crawling with 3-Tier, 4-Tier, even 5-Tier and 6-Tier units! There's no way anyone would be here!"

A burly, bearded middle-aged man waved dismissively, clearly unconvinced.

Hiss…

But just then, a sharp intake of breath came from beside him.

"B-Boss! There really is someone! And they're a top-tier powerhouse! He's riding an 8-Tier Silver Pegasus Knight straight toward us!"

"What?!"

"An 8-Tier Silver Pegasus Knight?!"

The burly man's pupils shrank, his expression shifting dramatically. He spun around just in time to feel a powerful gust of wind crashing down from the sky.

Boom!

The burly, bearded man staggered backward, barely keeping his balance as he took several steps back.

At the same time, a majestic and powerful Silver Pegasus landed gracefully before them, its presence commanding attention.

A voice drifted down from the Pegasus' back.

"Sorry about that. You guys okay?"

"N-No problem…" The burly man shook his head, but his face was filled with shock as he stared at the Silver Pegasus Knight before him. His heart pounded wildly in his chest.

Holy shit… It really was an 8-Tier Silver Pegasus Knight!

Could this guy be one of the S-rank powerhouses from the Monarch Leaderboard?

But… his face didn't look familiar at all. He was sure he'd never seen him before.

Just then, Ethan dismounted from the Silver Pegasus Knight, his expression friendly and approachable as he greeted the five-man squad.

"Hey there, I'm Valkarion."

"V-Valkarion… H-Hello!" The burly man quickly nodded, then introduced himself and his team. "I'm LoS_Blackblade. These four are my squadmates—LoS_Voidwalker, LoS_Starlily… We're a Gold-ranked squad from the Legion of Shadows guild. We're here in Sunfire Basin for some leveling. Nice to meet you!"

Within the Legion of Shadows guild, a Gold-ranked squad was considered mid-to-high tier.

To even qualify as a member—let alone the leader—of a Gold-ranked squad, you had to be an elite among elites. The kind of player who stood out among thousands.

Their combat skills and in-game strength were top-notch, with at least 5-Tier units as a baseline.

Especially LoS_Blackblade—in smaller guilds, even the management would treat him with respect.

Wherever he went, he was considered a pretty big deal.

But right now?

Right now, he was terrified.

And who could blame him?!

An 8-Tier Silver Pegasus Knight—do you even know what that meant?

Even in their entire Legion of Shadows guild, there were probably no more than thirty players who had access to such a high-tier unit!

If this guy wanted to start a fight, he could probably wipe out their whole squad single-handedly.

How could they not be scared?

They had brought nearly all their best gear and resources just to grind levels in this insanely difficult Sunfire Basin. If they lost everything here… they wouldn't even have time to cry about it!