In order to minimize contact with the bubbles, the nobles had to think of a way to create a path of their own. Following the normal, designated road toward the Burrowing Valley would not be ideal for them, so the nobles had to get creative.
Out of several paths they created, the first one is the Lilyang Mountain.
Ahead of them are six bubbles that are connected to one another, with five of them being in a trading treaty that made them prosperous and developed. One of them is a high-priority bubble called the Rigna Island, an important bubble within Marquess Darius’ territory, two miles beside the Lilyang Mountain.
It’s a floating island, but that doesn’t an it was safe from the Voidal Monarch’s destructive trait.
The Rigna Island is located on the left side of the Lilyang Mountain.
Logically, the nobles could go over the right side of the mountain to avoid implicating the island.
However, four out of the six bubbles were located on the right, so it’s not preferable.
So, Empress Morgana decided that they would go over the Lilyang Mountain in a straight line.
For the nobles who could fly and move freely, this would not be a problem.
But it was a completely different thing for the legions who needed to ascend the slope while maintaining a fixed formation and also watch over the horde to make sure that they did not derail to either side—and beco a problem for the nearby bubbles.
It’s going to be a challenge, yet there’s nothing the legions could do other than follow their instructions.
April, who was located at the back near the arrowhead formation, glanced at Rex.
She noticed him stealing glances at Haxel with a wary gaze.
’Rex is not soone unreasonable,’ She thought inwardly, piecing the situation with what she knew. ’He risked his life—saving the Mahkam Ruin. If there’s a problem during the knight assembly, and Sir Haxel disapproved of his participation, he wouldn’t go that far.’
Recalling how Rex looked back then when he confronted Haxel, her brows dipped into a frown.
At that mont, she could feel the bloodlust coming from Rex.
It was clear that he was about to kill Haxel, which would be an exaggeration for a simple disapproval.
’Empress Morgana must’ve chosen him for sothing more than an additional knight and also as a way to coax Princess Davina to participate,’ April stared at Rex aningfully. ’No... He must be chosen by her for sothing. And sohow, that made him go against Sir Haxel.’
"Voidal monsters! Guard the flank!"
Haxel’s voice thundered as he pointed to the side.
He noticed several hundred voidal monsters attacking their Seeker Flare, voidal monsters that were attracted by the commotion they were making. All of them were charging and clawing the barrier, giving the Seekers a hard ti.
Since the Seekers were forced to combine their Seeker Flares to create a massive one, it was very hard to maintain. It took imnse concentration for them to maintain the massive Seeker Flare and move at the sa ti.
Adding the attack from external voidal monsters would cause a collapse.
Instinctively, April unsheathed her nodachi and charged at the voidal monsters.
She didn’t need to summon her Soul Artifact since these voidal monsters were mostly Pawns.
Reacting and moving as fast as her were several dozen soldiers who separated from the formation to help her. But as she was running ahead, eyes locked onto the voidal monsters outside, her steps ca to a gradual slow.
Soldiers brushed past her with resolute determination to take out the attacking voidal monsters.
A thought seed to be disturbing her right now.
’Sir Haxel is Rex’s enemy... which makes him my enemy too. I stopped Rex earlier—and he listened. That alone must’ve told Sir Haxel there’s sothing between us.’ April hesitated, turning to glance over her shoulder. ’If he realizes I’m aligned with Rex, then if I turn my back on him...’
April was thinking that Sir Haxel would use her against Rex sohow.
But when she fixated her gaze on him, she noticed him talking with a soldier beside him.
A knight with a plud helt, the second-in-command captain.
It seed like they were discussing sothing important.
But, despite being the one who raised the alarm about the voidal monsters targeting the Seeker Flare, he doesn’t seem to have his focus on it at all. His focus was elsewhere—drifting toward sothing that was entirely different, perhaps even unrelated to the attack.
’What are they talking about?’ She thought inwardly. ’Can Rex see them?’
She shifted her gaze toward Rex and quickly realized he couldn’t see them from where he stood.
Then, she noticed Haxel handing a pouch to his captain.
April couldn’t see what was inside, but it was clearly sothing important and shady.
Once he got the pouch, the captain nodded, and for a second, his eyes t with April’s.
A smile crept on his face before, out of nowhere, he disappeared.
"Lady April! We need your help!"
Snapping from her trance, April gazed ahead and saw that the other soldiers were being overwheld by the wild voidal monsters. She needed to help them, but on the other hand, she also needed to go back and see what that pouch was.
Clicking her tongue in displeasure, she charged towards the soldiers, helping them guard the flank.
Monts later, as Marquess Darius inford, they neared a mountainous region.
Ahead was Lilyang Mountain.
One could already see the mountain’s shadow slowly coming to view despite the Black Rift’s shroud.
Rex looked to the right and saw several clouds of smoke rising skyward in the distance like a column.
It was the four bubbles nearby.
All of them used sothing to release smoke, signaling their position to the legions.
Quite a convenient initiative from their part.
Rumble!
A loud, thunderous crash that quaked the ground could be heard from ahead—along with the roar of the Voidal Prince. Clearly, these ripples were the sign that the nobles—and the White Mask had begun ascending the massive Lilyang Mountain.
Soon, it would be their turn to ascend the mountain.
He hasn’t made a move yet. He had been passive, only commanding his soldiers when needed.
Rex was completely alert.
If Haxel wanted to make his move, then this would be the perfect opportunity.
Ascending the slope would be hard for the legions, and there will be bound to be mistakes.
But I can’t afford to be passive.
"Get ready! Sheathe your weapon and use your free hand to support the soldier in front of you!"
As soon as Rex commanded that, he imdiately charged life energy.
He wasn’t preparing to attack, but instead, he was tapping into the Dark Auctoritas Echo’s power.
Once the Echo appeared and flooded him with its power, he channeled the surging energy toward his core—then guiding it upward, letting it ignite the inside of his throat like a furnace. Then, Rex tilted his head skyward and howled.
Aooouuu!
A thunderous howl carrying the heat of the Echo reverberated through the air.
Rex had increased his mastery over the Dark Auctoritas Echo’s power inside the Forsaken Power to the point that he could utilize it freely. Back during the Naless Dragon Arena, he used its power to keep himself awake and strong by inciting his anger.
He converted the physical pain he was feeling into fuel to increase his rage.
It was extrely effective, as that would allow him to properly take advantage of his Werewolf side.
And now, he did the exact sa thing to the soldiers.
But instead of converting pain to rage, he hypnotized them to activate their fight-or-flight response.
At the sound of Rex’s howl, a surge of adrenaline coursed through the soldiers’ veins, helping them go past their physical limits, right before they began ascending the mountain. Fueled by that burst of energy provided by Rex, they moved in perfect formation, shifting seamlessly from flat ground to the steep slope.
All of them drove forward with renewed strength and unity, including Haxel’s forces, of course.
Rex couldn’t trust any of them.
But limiting the boost to only half of the soldiers would only make the formation uneven.
Just then, a free soldier approached Rex.
He noticed this soldier to be Minx, the one whom he had fought earlier before departing.
As it turns out, Minx wasn’t in Gallick’s legion, but in Haxel’s legion instead.
It made him wonder whether that provocation was also caused by Haxel.
"Sir Rex..." Minx started, not even turning to look at Rex properly. "I think sothing is going on."
"Sothing is going on?" Rex looked at him with doubt. "What do you an?"
Considering the possibility that Minx was working with Haxel to screw him over, Rex didn’t trust his word one bit, especially when Minx ca to approach him—randomly like this. It was too suspicious, but Rex was going to hear what he had to say.
"Sothing is going on with the horde," Minx said, frowning. "I can’t quite tell what, but I can feel it."
"Explain properly if you want to say sothing.
"Just that so of them were moving weirdly. Not normal. I’ve dealt with voidal monsters all my life as a soldier, so I know how voidal monsters normally behave. And this... the ones at the center don’t behave normally."
Hearing this, Rex frowned.
Minx didn’t seem like he was lying, but he could be good at lying.
However, it’s worth investigating.
Rex looked ahead and scanned the horde with the System, setting the filter to only sense anomalies.
As the System scanned the vast horde—thousands upon thousands of voidal monsters—another figure approached from the side. It was April. She had been fighting on the flank earlier, evident from the red sars across her armor and skin.
Only now, with the legions and the horde beginning their climb, did she finally have a mont.
Regardless of what happened earlier, April didn’t hesitate to approach.
Unlike earlier, which was a personal matter, this involved the mission, so she can’t hesitate.
"Sir Rex," She greeted politely.
Rex raised a brow, asking her what she had to say without uttering a single word.
Instead of saying it aloud, she approached closer and leaned to his ear.
"Sir Haxel gave his captain a pouch earlier," She whispered. "I don’t know what it was, but I thought you should know. Both of them looked shady, and that captain... he smiled at when he was caught."
Just as he heard that, Rex’s heart skipped a beat.
Rex spotted dozens, perhaps even a hundred voidal monsters at the center of the horde that was marked by a blue arrowhead hovering above their heads by the System. All of them were detected as anomalies, matching the exact criteria he had configured earlier.
Anomalies that might prove to be disruptive for the mission.
BOOM!
A loud booming sound thundered from above, shaking the entire mountain.
It was the nobles.
Knowing how hard the ascent will be for the legions, one of them, Princess Davina, from the energy that the blast emanated, cut the mountaintop with a single slash. It rattled the mountain hard as big boulders fell from above.
Expecting this to happen, the Seekers readied themselves to protect the legions.
But then, out of nowhere, one of the Seekers grunted in pain as blood burst from her mouth.
Boom!
At the sa ti, the ground on the right side of the legions collapsed, causing the soldiers there to slip and slide down the slope. So of the soldiers tried to catch them, desperately trying to keep the whole formation intact.
However, doing that made it worse as more slipped and fell.
Rex looked up and saw the Seeker Flare had grown thinner due to one of the Seekers being hurt.
Boulders crashed and rolled on the slope, heading straight at them.
Seeing this, Rex could only turn to Haxel, glaring at him since it must be his doing.
As expected, Haxel was already looking at Rex with a wide smile that stretched across his face.
"Damn it! How did the Seeker get hurt? And how did the ground collapse?!"
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