After completing all the quests in [Kurast Docks], Fei's Barbarian Character was already level 78.
The only thing that disappointed Fei was that he didn't get any special rewards. It seemed like he could only get special rewards after all other six of his characters passed through the map. After all, he only got his three miraculous skills after all seven of his characters completed [Rogue Encampment].
In order to become a Moon-Class Elite sooner, Fei didn't go back to other characters. Instead, he entered the Fourth Map [The Pandemonium Fortress] as a Barbarian.
It was heard that Archangel Tyrael opened up a gate that allowed the heroes to travel to the final defense line that the heaven had against the hell – [The Pandemonium Fortress]
[The Pandemonium Fortress] was located in the mountains in front of the Gate of Hell, and the terrain was really rocky.
There was only one curly path down from [The Pandemonium Fortress], and it was less than one meter wide and contained thousands of stairsteps. It felt like it was hard to siege at that place.
On the other end of the path, there was a wide flatland called [Outer Steppes]. After that, one narrow path led to [Plains of Despair]. And finally, one narrow path led to [City of the Damned].
It was obvious that [The Pandemonium Fortress] separated then heaven from the hell because of its strategic location.
[The Pandemonium Fortress] was covered by clouds all day, and no sunshine could be ever seen. When Fei walked on the thousands of steps that lead to [The Pandemonium Fortress], he saw a lot of light pink fog. It was heard that these were the blood that was evaporated from the deceased people.
The three most famous small maps in [The Pandemonium Fortress] were [Outer Steppes, [Plains of Despair], and [City of the Damned].
There were a ton of powerful demons here.
There were thousands of Bright Knights who fought for the freedom of humans here, and there were numerous honorable Holy Knights who fought against evil here. Most of these knights all died in the long war, and their blood dyed the land into the color red.
It was sad to see that these knights who died for the honor were used by evil. Their corpses were stained by the power of hell, and they all became monsters and devils. With the blades in their hands, they all became a part of evil; it was sad to see since they were proud of their evil-killing blades before they died.
This was the set up for [The Pandemonium Fortress].
The first thing Fei did when he entered [The Pandemonium Fortress] was to talk to the NPCs. He wanted to see if they had intelligence, and the result didn't surprise him – these guys were all like simple computer programs that ran rigidly. Except for preset dialogues, they couldn't move and interact with Fei like the NPCs at [Rogue Encampment] in Barbarian Mode.
In the golden palace in [The Pandemonium Fortress], Fei found Archangel Tyrael who he had met before. This powerful angel was wearing a set of powerful golden armor, he had a big pair of wings, and he also had numerous white tentacles. Even though he was only a dull NPC, the powerful aura around him couldn't be overlooked. In fact, this golden palace was filled with his distinct pressure.
Fei had to admit that Archangel Tyrael was the most powerful NPC he had ever met.
From this "tentacle angel", Fei received his first quest in [The Pandemonium Fortress] – [The Fallen Angel]. He needed to kill a fallen angel named Izual and end his pain.
This quest wasn't difficult.
Right before the final match of the competition took place, Fei finally killed Izual and completed the first quest of [The Pandemonium Fortress].
Now, Fei's Barbarian Character was level 79.
...
As time passed by, everyone in the Capital and the camp area got more and more excited.
In the next three days, two insane battles would take place. One was between the king of Chambord and black horse Shevchenko, and the other one was between Martial Saint of Zenit, Krasic, and Martial Saint of Spartax, Lkunta.
The kingdom ranking match was the battle between the younger generation and represented the future of Zenit Empire, and the other battle was the battle between the older generation and represented the fate of the two empires. Didn't matter if it was the level of strength or the meaningfulness, both battles were top-tier. That was why everyone was excited.
Since the battle between the king of Chambord and Shevchenko was taking place tomorrow, numerous eyes were monitoring both parties. In addition, all kinds of rumors were passed around.
Some people said that Shevchenko was severely injured by [One Sword] and still hadn't recovered; they suspected that Shevchenko would surrender.
Some people said that in order to have a fair match, the king of Chambord gifted a powerful potion to Shevchenko to help him heal.
Some people said that the rumored potion was actually a poison and Shevchenko was dying...
All these rumors only changed the reward-ratios at all the gambling houses in St. Petersburg. People who sought after profits were everywhere, and it was heard that all kinds of reward-ratios were created for the final match of the competition and the battle between the Martial Saints.
It was also heard that even some nobles and big forces participated in these gambles, and some even said that these gambling houses were set up for these nobles. In fact, it was known that the Elder Princess bet a lot of money on both the king of Chambord and the Martial Saint of Zenit. The Second Prince Dominguez only bet one gold coin on Fei, but he didn't bet anything on the Martial Saint Battle.
What was the most surprising was that both the Fourth Prince Chrystal and the princess of Beag Family Beyonce bet a lot of money on Shevchenko instead.
Since most people believed that the king of Chambord would win the kingdom ranking match, people who bet on him winning would only be rewarded minimally; the king of Chambord's strength spoke for itself.
The Martial Saint Battle was even more one-sided; even the most risk-taking and greedy gamblers bet on Martial Saint Krasic. Although people couldn't tell which Martial Saint was more powerful, the citizens of Zenit chose to believe that the Martial Saint of Zenit would win.
When their home empire was at risk of collapsing, the citizens showed the rare courage and unity.
...
It was the evening.
Inside Chambord's campsite.
Fei was still instructing Inzagi and the [Four Little Dragons].
This was Fei's life for the last two days. During the day, he would instruct his disciples and practice with his subordinates. Also, he didn't forget to help Robbin's father, old Aryang, to heal up. After a few days of healing and a minimal amount of [Hulk Potion], old Aryang's leg muscles grew stronger. Now, he was able to slowly walk around with a cane.
In the past two days, Fei also didn't walk out of Chambord's campsite. Except for resting at night, he was always within other people's sights. To outsiders, they felt like the king of Chambord was really confident in himself and didn't need to worry about the final match.
However, Fei would always get two letters with almost identical information on them.
One was from Paris, and her letter would talk about the activities of the spies from the Holy Church.
Fei had to admit that the Holy Church was a powerful machine. Once it was activated, its efficiency was insane. In these two days, anyone who talked to Fei before was secretly investigated. Even the [Golden Sun Knight] Chris-Sutton who had battled with Fei was summoned by the Bishop of Zenit Regional Church.
If Chris-Sutton didn't love Paris, he wouldn't have told her everything about his meeting with the Bishop. But since he did, Paris got to know that the Bishop wanted to know all the details of Chris Sutton's battle with Fei.
"Alexander, you have to be careful. The Holy Church seemed to have targeted you for some reason. I hope you won't get involved in the hidden battle between the empire and the Holy Church. Even if a Moon-Class Elite got involved, he or she would be crushed into pieces if they did the wrong thing. Remember!"
Paris reminded him in the latest letter.
From the letter, Fei sensed that the relationship between the empire and the Holy Church wasn't good. In fact, it seemed like there was some friction. That was why Paris thought Fei was spied by the Holy Church because of his involvement in the hidden battle.
"No wonder the Holy Church's force is acting very low-key these days. As if they disappeared, the Bishop Sergiyeli didn't even participate in the opening ceremony of the competition. So there is a crack in their relationship, huh?" Fei thought.
It seemed like the situation Zenit was in was even more dangerous than he thought.
Under the calm surface, undercurrents were surging.
The other letter was from that tall figure who would always appear out of the teleport portal. This master warrior was the person who Fei sent to protect old Zolasc and little Modric at the [Letter Office], which was the hidden intelligence agency of Chambord.
This master warrior was actually an NPC at [Rogue Encampment], and that was why he was able to use the teleport portal to travel back and forth.