Zodiac city, an hour before Emery's arrival.
The two Magus Alliance spaceships orbiting around the planet descended from the sky, covering the vast cloud expanse with their massive appearance. As their shadows loomed over the city, an announcement prohibiting half-bloods from leaving the planet echoed loudly in the air.
The response from the other side came as quickly. A cacophony of deafening roars exploded into the sky as thousands of warriors shot off, unleashing their resolution to do whatever it took to bring their king back home.
Riding on the back of her red Salamander, Grand Magus Lilith sped through the air at breakneck speed. The determined look on her face told that she was ready to force the Magus Alliance spaceships and even destroy them if needed.
Her courageous advance, however, came to an abrupt halt by the unexpected arrival of an authority figure at the supposedly closed teleportation gate of Zodiac City.
The Supreme Commander of the Magus Alliance, Jesper Hoffin.
The young-looking man with short dark hair casually flew into the air, slowly making his way toward the sky above the Zodiac City palace's courtyard. Despite his nonchalant attitude, his presence alone was enough to make thousands of strong warriors sweat their backs.
The man went up to the flying dragon, seemingly without care of the chaos around him. With just a slight glance, the salamander was rattled, forcing the female dragon grand magus to dismount her ride.
With a sharp gaze at the other party, Grand Magus Lilith said, "Are you going to stop us?!"
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtUnfazed by the aggression, the Supreme Commander calmly stared at her and replied, "I do not wish to fight, but if you are not following my command, then I'm more than prepared to teach you a lesson."
"Huh!!" A scoff of disbelief came out of her. "This is Zodiac City! Our City! You are not in charge here!"
Calmly the Commander replied, "Lilith of the Dark Salamander, the alliance has been ignoring many of your transgressions. This time, we will not! Stand down or face the consequences!"
"Haha… No… I will not!" Replied the female dragon half-blood with a smirk.
A moment after, two figures flying over, approaching them: elders of Zodiac City; Elder Sinure of the Bird bloodline, and Elder Kurma of the Tortoise bloodline.
Both of them were also well-known figures in the Magus Alliance. Looking at them, he calmly said, "Tell me... What is your goal here? For what purpose do you gather your warriors?"
Without giving them time to reply, he proceeded to add, "Your King is enjoying time with old friends in Golden City. There's nothing to be alarmed about."
Grand Magus Lilith looked like she was about to unleash her rage upon hearing those words, but Elder Sinure stopped her before she could do so. He then looked at the dark-haired man and spoke in a calm tone.
"Commander, this is, unfortunately, the result of the lockdown. Because of it, we have minimal knowledge of what goes on outside. We even have limited access to the tournament where our young ones compete for the finals." Staring the man in the eye, he said, "We want you to either lift the lockdown or let our king return to us."
The Commander was silent for a second before calmly shaking his head, "Heed my word, your king is fine, and he will be back in a few hours. Now disband your army."
Once again, Grand Magus Lilith was agitated as she shouted, "Huh! If you think your words and title mean something to us, you are severely mistaken!"
The man glanced at her and heaved a sigh, while rubbing his forehead, "Then tell me what really rattles all of you like this. There must be something. It's stupid for you to oppose me without reason."
The silent elder of the Tortoise bloodline finally opened his mouth, saying, "We have received information that you and the Old Devil worked together to take down our king and that our city will come next."
Hearing that, a chuckle escaped the Supreme Commander's mouth. He then said, "Summon the one who spoke of this."
"We can't. He's currently in Golden City trying to rescue our king."
The chuckle stopped as the man looked at the tortoise elder, saying, "Alright. At least tell me who it is. Certainly, you three will not accept words from nobody."
There was no immediate response, and it looked like the Tortoise elder wasn't willing to reveal the person. This of course, made the Supreme Commander annoyed. In his eyes, he had been generous to these people, but they didn't reciprocate his goodwill instead.
"I'm at the end of my patience. Stand down now or face the consequences!" The man said with a hint of anger. "I'll give you one minute to disperse these troops!"
Seeing the situation go awry, Elder Sinure decided to step up and said, "It's not a nobody. It's our Tiger Elder Shan."
The Supreme Commander looked at the bird elder before bursting into laughter. "Hahaha, Your Tiger Elder has an even worse record with the alliance. He is a liar!"
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThe man's insult and condescending look finally broke Grand Magus Lilith's limits. She snapped her head at her two comrades and said, "Did you guys see? They clearly disrespect us! We have to show them that we won't back down!"
Elder Sinure was silent and didn't seem like he wanted to act. But then, Tortoise Elder Kurma calmly said.
"We have taken the vote. There is no place for doubt."
Right after saying those words, shiny green scales appeared on the elderly man's body, covering his four limbs like armor. Brilliant light emerged from his hands as he prepared to cast spells.
[Emerald Tortoise Transformation]
Seeing this, the Dark Salamander broke into laughter. "Hahaha, Kurma! I knew I could count on you!"
Immediately after, she activated her transformation ability as well, blazing dark flames engulfed her body while glistening black scales appeared on various parts of her skin.
[Abyssal Dragon Transformation]
The intention of the two was clear, they were ready to fight.
In response, the Supreme Commander began stretching his body, and with a smile, he nonchalantly said,
"When this is all over, just remember it's you who asked for it."
Knowing he could not stop the fight that was sure to ensue, Elder Sinure did what he needed to do. He swiftly cast a spell that created a mist-like energy that spread over a radius of several miles, blanketing the sky and separating them from Zodiac City.
It was a spell to protect the city from the inevitable monstrous battle.