AN: I am sorry, guys.
*****
'How...'
'How is...'
'How is this possible?'
'She is only about the same age as me and the others. Yet...'
Arthur tried his best not to move his eyes away from Fiona's face.
It wasn't that he had never seen a woman with such a large chest. His master was such one person.
It was just that he had never seen anyone at his age with such a massive bust.
In the end, while he tried to change his character over the years, he wasn't able to change his core. At least, it wasn't easy to do.
Fiona continued to feel uncomfortable under Arthur's stare and couldn't tell why. Still, she decided to wait for the response of the silver-haired boy in front of her. Even she had to admit that the boy before her outclassed her brother in appearance.
It wasn't every day you saw a boy with long silver hair, not to mention that the confidence Arthur unconsciously radiated and the pride hidden within his bones could easily draw the opposite sex's attention even if he didn't intend to.
However, even after a full minute of waiting, Fiona didn't receive any reply, causing her to frown slightly.
While she knew she was very beautiful, she didn't think it was to such an extent that the latter would be stunned into silence. Especially considering the golden-haired girl beside his group.
Even she had to admit that she paled to her in terms of bearing and aura. As for her appearance, she still had confidence that she wouldn't lose to anyone, at least not badly.
As if he could sense Fiona's rising displeasure, Arthur quickly cleared his throat before putting on a serious expression.
"Why don't you return with us to the palace? Then we can talk more about your family's heirloom."
Fiona's eyes widened slightly in surprise and even her family and her elders shared similar reactions.
"Are you sure?" she hesitated before asking.
Now that the Ancient Enigma City had been wiped off the surface of the earth, her family had nowhere to return to. Of course, that was no big problem for them. With their strength, it wouldn't take them long to find a new location to establish their base, or at least steal one that is already occupied.
Besides, they didn't want to impose on the Goldsborn family. News of what happened would soon spread, and considering the gravity of the situation, with the appearance of a giant, it was expected to draw a lot of attention from the hegemon forces of the dark galaxy.
What did that mean?
There was a high chance the main branch of their family would catch a sniff of them.
And that might implicate the Goldsborn family even with a monster like Sylvia at their helm.
Arthur simply shrugged before throwing a look at Martin.
Martin hesitated slightly but after pondering about it for a little while longer, he slowly nodded his head.
"Sure. It would be our pleasure to receive the Enigma family."
Since he had somewhat succeeded in his mission of keeping the main forces of the Enigma Ancient family intact, he didn't see why they should not invite the other party to their kingdom. Not to mention they could use this opportunity to foster the relationship that was just beginning to grow between them. If they could have one of the unaffiliated major forces of the Goldsborn world ally with them, the endless benefits it would bring outweighed the potential dangers.
The only regret Martin had was that he wasn't able to save the inhabitants of the Enigma Ancient city.
The massive aerial mounts the Goldsborn mages had brought with them spread their wings as both groups climbed onto them.
Due to their large numbers, the mages who had broken into the red core stage had no choice but to fly after them.
Like this, both groups flew to their new destination.
The Goldsborn Kingdom!
.....
On a desolate mountain that dominated the horizon, its jagged peaks cutting into the sky like the teeth of some ancient beast, lay a simple manor.
The manor appeared like a speck amidst the enormous mountain that stretched for hundreds of miles.
Within the manor's main hall sat a few figures around a round table.
Each chair the individuals sat upon resembled actual thrones used by famous kings in their palaces.
Five of the seven chairs were already filled, while the two chairs at the opposite ends of the round table that were even distinguished from the other grand seats remained empty.
"The demons have struck again. In less than a day, millions of lives were reaped before the kingdoms could act." A burly man with red hair surrounded by bright yellow flames voiced out in a deep, angry voice.
"Calm down, Jack." A soothing voice responded to him from the opposite side of the table.
*Bang!*
Jack slammed the table as his flamy hair danced behind him, his spittle filling the air.
"You dare tell me to calm down? We have lost countless lives for goodness sake! The people are getting restless and it is only a matter of time before chaos erupts. This unknown force emerged five years ago and even after all these years and after allying, we still can't put an end to them. Not much is known about them. If things continue this way, the people will eventually lose trust in us."
The light blue-haired woman facing him calmly brought out a small cloth before wiping the spittle on her face. Done with that, her eyes seemed to shine with a soft blue glow that contrasted with Jack's flamy hair that lit up the hall.
"Sit your butt down, Jack!" Despite the words that came out of her mouth, her voice remained calm and soothing, a gentle look still plastered on her face.
Jack's expression changed slightly before he harrumphed and quietly sat down. His flamy hair returned to its original docile state, and the surrounding temperature that had risen several levels slowly returned to normal.
"Now..." The blue-haired woman smiled lightly; however, her eyes, which had turned cold, didn't reflect her expression. She glanced at the three other figures before her, her luscious red lips parting slightly:
"While I dislike this smelly gruff, I can't help but agree with him this time."
She decisively ignored the look of displeasure on Jack's face as she continued:
"These demons, as we call them, appeared five years ago, not long after one of the four kingdoms, the dark kingdom, disappeared overnight."
The faces of the other figures in the hall became grave as they remembered that incident five years ago.
While the blue-haired woman said the kingdom disappeared, these grand figures didn't believe so; after all, only the people vanished, with the kingdom's buildings and wealth remaining intact.
Countless clothes filled the capital streets and buildings, and the only thing occupying them was some ashy remains.
This has led to several conjectures over the years with the likely scenario being that they disappeared somewhere. After all, if they were dead, they would leave behind corpses or at least a semblance of them.
No one tried to correlate the ashes to the missing people- at least, no one dared to-as the implication of such a thing was simply chill-inducing.
Another thing that shocked the major forces and was hidden from the public was that the bottomless abyss behind the towering walls of calamity that the dark kingdom has guarded since immemorial also disappeared without a trace.
What was once deep glaring darkness was now a normal inhabited land that was no different from the usual ground.
This mysterious incident sent the other kingdoms and ancient family into panic for some time, and the appearance of the demons not long after that only served to escalate their unrest.
Not long after, an alliance was formed among them to deal with the situation.
All the major forces combined their information networks in the hope of swiftly dealing with the situation, yet even after five years, all they knew could be summarized into three points:
-The lost prince of the vanished dark kingdom has something to do with the demon's appearance.
-The demons could corrupt a person's essence and turn them into their own.
-The demons appear no different from normal humans and the only way to tell them apart is by releasing their tainted mana.
That they didn't have much information on their enemy was a big shame for these leaders of the major forces.
After allowing her words to sink deep into her colleague's head, the blue-haired woman continued:
"I am afraid this situation is beyond our control. Rather than wasting time and endangering our people, I suggest we report this matter to the higher-ups!"
*Ba-dum!* *Ba-dum!* *Ba-dum!* *Ba-dum!*
Barely a second passed after the blue-haired woman ended her words when she heard her heartbeat playing like music right beside her ears.
At the same time, her calm expression finally broke as her face contorted into a deep scowl.
Gritting her teeth, her eyes involuntarily shifted to the other male who had yet to speak within the hall.
The black robe covering the man's body could barely hide the deep muscles hidden within them. With long black braided hair that fell to his back, and a dark face covered by similarly braided beards, the man's brownish eyes fixed onto the woman's blue eyes as he locked his fingers together and rested them on the round table.
"Do you know the implication of what you just said?"