Elden Royal City, the Dragon Hunters camp.
The eighth-level Knight King Raymond frowned. A letter had appeared on his desk, a letter that came out of nowhere.
What it said shocked him—dragons! In the south of the Elden Kingdom, the Beast Mountains had dragons! And there were two!
What a ridiculous message, and there was even a memory crystal to prove it, but the images were very blurry, which made Raymond, as one of the Dragon Hunters, really annoyed.
Just then, a voice broke Raymond's thoughts.
"Your Excellency, Knight King, bad news. The Demon Abyss shook again, and creatures from another world broke out." Fifth-level Holy Light Knight Agwa came to report, covered in blood and terrified, and he had none of his usual grace and calm.
"Keep your knightly manners and confidence," Raymond said, unhappy. "What is Judgment Knight Leo doing? He's a level six knight and can't handle a few demons and devils?"
"Reporting to you, Knight King, Lord Leo died in battle," Agwa said sadly. "This time the Demon Abyss tremor brought out a seventh-level demon. Lord Leo fought with his life to suppress it, but a few demons still got away. Luckily, Grand Knight Odell came in time to seal the Demon Abyss for now, but he didn't have the strength to chase the demons and devils that escaped. He told me to report to you."
"The light of knights will always shine on him and his family! I swear on my honor as a knight, those demons will pay in blood!" Raymond stood up and used the most formal knight salute to honor Leo's merits, then looked at Holy Light Knight Agwa and said, "I'm giving you a secret mission. Go to the Beast Mountains in the south of the kingdom and check if any dragons showed up. If you really find traces of the dragon race, pull back at once and rush a message to me."
"I will obey your order, Knight King." Holy Light Knight Agwa went down on one knee and solemnly accepted this secret mission.
While Agwa headed to the Beast Mountains in the south of the kingdom, the Shadow City went through a big change.
The Shadow City, at the city gate.
The nobles who were waiting at the gate for their heirs or core family members to come back as full mages got shocking bad news: more than a hundred people who took part in the mage trial all died, and even the fourth-level mage Carl Howard was not spared!
The nobles couldn't accept the news that their talented family members were dead. After talking together all night, they decided to join up and ask the Governor's residence for an answer. After all, the Governor's residence was the only ruler in the Shadow City, and a single noble house couldn't go against it.
Governor's residence, reception hall.
"Mrs. Howard, we offer our condolences for the Governor's passing and we are very hurt," the nobles' representative Gareth Edwards said with a sad face. "On behalf of the nobles who lost their talented family members, we want to know the whole story. Please tell us in detail, or we can only use our own power to investigate."
Lina Howard still stayed graceful. Her chest rose and fell hard with anger, and a light flush came to her pale face, all showing how angry she was.
"Gareth, are you here to question me?" Lina Howard took a sip of tea to calm down and said coldly, "You should know how those gifted family members got their talent these years. Looks like you don't plan to work with us next year."
"Ma'am, we don't mean that at all. Please don't get us wrong," Gareth said calmly. "We just want to know if it was a natural disaster or man-made. If it was man-made, and Thunder Wings happens to be passing the Shadow City, we plan to ask them to handle it."
Thunder Wings is a notorious bounty hunter group. To finish a job, they'll do anything. If the target offers more money than the pay, they'll kill the employer without a second thought to get the higher reward. But their strength and skill are real.
"It was done by a little bastard who can control fourth-level beasts. It started because his talent was taken from him. He didn't die and came back for revenge." Lina spoke calmly, but she hid some key info, like the death of the fifth-level mage Salior and the appearance of a dragon.
"Ma'am, as far as I know, his name is Daniel. His talent was put into your brother. People like us got hurt for nothing," Gareth said, choosing his words. "We hope to get some payback, like more spots. Of course, whether you agree or not, Daniel is our common enemy."
"Next year's spots can go up by fifty," Lina said with a smile, but her eyes were cold and ruthless deep down. "The fifty spots will be split by how much each side contributes in this action. The Governor will not take part. I only have one demand. Daniel must die, and his head has to hang in the Shadow City for all to see."
"Ma'am, thank you for your generosity. We are always the best allies," Gareth said, excited. "Thunder Wings will set out today. Please send another Governor order to have the guard army help, just in case."
"I will issue a Governor order and a bounty order. The bounty will be paid by the Governor's residence," Lina nodded and said calmly. "I'll wait for your victory at the Governor's residence. The celebration feast is ready for you anytime."
"Thank you very much for your strong support, ma'am. Then I'll take my leave," Gareth said with a polite bow.
What he didn't know was that Lina Howard had no faith in their plan at all. As for adding fifty spots and sending two orders, it was just to make more people die in this action—so she could activate the Bloodthirsty Magic Array. The Bloodthirsty Magic Array needs a lot of fresh blood to activate. Its use is to send a message across a super long distance.
...
Sunrise Town, night.
"Scree—"
A long cry cut through the night sky. A huge shadow suddenly dropped into Daniel's yard.
"What's going on? Why did griffin come at night?" Daniel woke from sleep and hurried into the yard.
The griffin kept flapping its wings and pointed at the northern sky, letting out anxious low cries: North. People. Many. Close. Weapons. Danger!
Because Daniel once got Akasha's Blessing Light, he accidentally mastered beast speech. He got what the griffin meant right away. He quickly woke Abraham and Alexander. "Still sleeping? The enemy is already at our door!"
"Awooo—!" Abraham dashed into the night and soon came back, letting out an anxious howl at Daniel.
After Alexander stood up, his nostrils flared nonstop, and he gave a low growl.
"At least fifty people?" Daniel understood the two beasts through his Beast Speech Mastery. After a moment's thought, he said, "Looks like those nobles came for revenge."
He ran straight to the ground-dwelling scaled beast's burrow behind the yard and called urgently, "Max, up, now!"
That was the name Daniel had given the ground-dwelling scaled beast. As soon as he spoke, Max scrambled out of the burrow. Under the moonlight, its massive body cast a huge shadow on the ground.
"Max, quick, dig a tunnel under the village center right away—big enough for all the villagers to escape! Hurry!"
"Rooaar—" The ground-dwelling scaled beast nodded to show it understood, and its two giant claws began tearing into the Max at speed.
As a fourth-level earth-type beast, its tunneling efficiency was astonishing. It finished before Daniel even got through notifying the villagers, and it even used its faint command of Max's power to reinforce the passage.
Daniel sprinted toward the village center, shouting as he ran, "Everyone, get up! Don't pack anything—follow me now!"
"Daniel? What happened?" Elder Kodelon was the first to rush out, asking anxiously.
"Someone's going to attack the village—they're already on the way! Stop packing and run to the village center. There's a tunnel there!" Daniel said urgently.
Sophia ran up to Daniel, nervously asking, "Enemies? What enemies?"
"No time to explain. Sophia, help me look after everyone!" Daniel squeezed her hand and urged, "Everyone, keep up! No time—we'll talk after!"
With Daniel's constant urging and Elder Kodelon's help, the villagers, though full of doubt, chose to trust Daniel and followed him into the underground passage.
The ground-dwelling scaled beast restored the entrance and used Max's power to make it look undisturbed. Daniel and the beasts moved to the chokepoint road leading from the Beast Mountains into the village.
"Da-da—"
Before long, brisk, orderly hoofbeats came from afar, followed by a chorus of voices.
"They're here." Watching the flicker of torches in the distance, a cold light flashed in Daniel's eyes. He ordered flatly, "Abraham, griffin—one of you handles ground watch, the other air watch. Alexander, Max—you're with me to set traps. Since they've come, be ready to make sure none of them leave."