[Dragon Empire - Academy's Dungeon Hall.]
The red light of the dungeon gate pulsed with a rhythmic menace, casting long, bloody shadows across the anxious faces in the hall.
"It seems that old woman have gotten a student." Hayatobi said, staring at the gateway before them, his usual playful demeanor replaced by a contemplative silence.
"Old woman? You mean---" Gaga muttered, his eyes widening as he made the connection.
"Yes, the master teacher in the Sword empire. The only one whose strength rivals mine." Hayatobi answered. His voice carried a note of rare respect. In the hierarchy of power within the Three Empires, few stood at the pinnacle. To find an equal was both a joy and a threat.
"Wow... Who is this lucky person?" Merlot asked, genuinely curious. The "Old Woman" of the Sword Empire was notorious for refusing disciples for decades.
"I don't know, but with the Intel I got, she Is from Earth." Hayatobi answered, moving his gaze on the students who were still in the hall. They were staring at the red gateway anxiously; some had nothing to do, paralyzed by the sudden shift in their reality, so they just sat down and looked, hoping for a miracle.
"From Earth... But that woman way of doing things..." Gaga trailed off, a shiver running down his spine.
"I know, Gaga. She breaks people into their strongest form. I am sure she will use all means necessary to make her student stronger than all academic students." Hayatobi sighed, a heavy sound in the quiet hall. "But the process is extremely painful."
He imagined the grueling, bone-breaking regimen that the Sword Saintess was famous for. It wasn't training; it was forging.
"Well, with her personality, she already achieved it. That's why we can get this information." Merlot muttered, crossing his arms on his chest. The results spoke for themselves if the intel was already leaking out.
"What about you, Lord Hayatobi? When will you be taking a student?" Gaga asked, turning the spotlight back on the strongest man in the Dragon Empire.
"In one week, the Glory Flag competition will start. I will know then." He said, his eyes narrowing slightly as he watched the gate.
Suddenly, the oppressive red hue of the gate flickered. It didn't turn back to blue, but the intensity vanished, leaving a dull, lifeless grey.
"Huh? They did it?" Merlot was stunned. It had barely been an hour.
"It's not positive..." Hayatobi's face darkened. "They just entered the dungeon. They couldn't have located the Boss this fast! Something is wrong in there." He said with a deep frown.
____
[In the dungeon.]
The forest was a nightmare of twisted roots and oppressive heat.
TAP!
Carl landed silently at the foot of a massive, obsidian tree, staring at Daniel in front, who had his hand raised in a fist—the universal sign for halt.
"Hold on, there are five ahead of us." Daniel reported, his voice barely a whisper. He moved his Archer Gaze on the five scaled humanoid dragons patrolling a clearing fifty meters ahead. Their armor was natural chitin, glistening with heat, and they carried jagged spears.
"We can't get around them, it'll only lead us to more." He added, scanning the perimeter. The forest was crawling with them.
"So what's the plan?" Grace whispered, turning to Carl. She wiped sweat from her brow, her staff glowing faintly.
Carl stared at her, then at the five monsters ahead. The five were clearly above Lv50, their heavy footsteps vibrating through the ground. And they were five.
"This is bad, even with our skills, I don't think we can fight them without the fight drawing all the surrounding monsters." He turned to the group, his face grim. "From the start, we have been moving discreetly, and we passed more than twenty of those things, if we fight now, we will be surrounded." He said. It was a classic pincer movement waiting to happen.
"Yes. We need distraction, at least something to give us an opening." Gabby said.
"Correct... Does anyone have anything that can distract them?" Carl asked, checking his inventory.
BOOOOM!!!
The ground shook violently, leaves falling from the trees.
".....?!!!"
The team of ten froze, turning their heads to the distance, towards the center of the forest where the Bone Throne lay.
"That?" They all turned to Daniel.
Without hesitation, Daniel moved his gaze to the sound. His eyes glowed green as his vision bypassed the physical obstacles, piercing through the thick trunks of the trees until he came to the opening at the edge of the forest.
"Huh?!"
He stared at the huge plume of smoke rising into the blood-red sky. Standing before the smoke, amidst the devastation of a crater, was a figure with a stretched-out hand. It was a lady with long, flowing white hair that seemed to defy the gravity of the explosion.
"Who is that?" He muttered to himself. He tried to zoom in, to get a clear look at her face.
But the moment he focused, she snapped her head over her shoulder, staring straight at him—across miles of distance. Her eyes were cold, piercing, and terrifyingly aware.
"What the?!"
Daniel gasped and quickly drew back his gaze, blinking rapidly as if burned.
"What happened?" Janet asked in shock, seeing the scout recoil.
"Someone is already at the other side, and it seems she is fighting the monster on the throne... Not only that, she's a student from the Sword empire, judging with her white uniform and golden lines, she is an elite student." He reported, turning around to the group, his heart racing. "She sensed my gaze instantly."
Carl nodded, processing this new variable. A third party. An Elite from the rival empire. Before he could strategize, his enhanced senses picked up the thundering of footsteps—dozens of them.
"Everyone! Hide on the trees!!"
Without hesitation, the whole ten leaped into the air. Utilizing their agility skills, they landed on high tree branches, merging with the shadows. They blinked and lowered their gaze to the ground.
Below them, a stampede ensued. Monsters upon monsters—dragon-men, lava hounds, scaled beasts—rushed past them, ignoring the hidden students, heading towards the explosion like moths to a flame.
"Reinforcement? That student must be powerful." Mitsuki stated in surprise. To draw the aggro of the entire forest meant she was a catastrophic threat.
"I think that's all, let's go... Follow behind them, make sure to keep a fifty meters distance." Carl ordered. It was risky, but the path was now clear. He leaped to the next branch, the group following behind him, shadowing the army of monsters.
___
[Entrance of the forest.]
BOOOOM!!
The shockwave reached the edge of the lava field, ruffling clothes and hair.
Hitachi, Mirabella, and their group looked up, staring at the pile of smoke rising in the distance.
"Seems we finally located them." Zoginoi said, adjusting his glasses.
"It's not them." Mirabella stared at her system's holographic screen. The blue dots representing Carl's team were moving, but they weren't at the epicenter. "They're heading towards the location." She added.
"That saves us the trouble... Catch up." Hitachi finally muttered a word.
The moment it dropped, his body lost cohesion. He shattered into dark smoke, a swirling vortex of shadow that shot into the sky and flew away with terrifying speed.
"....?!"
Mirabella was speechless, staring at the smoke trail that cut through the red sky over the forest.
"The young master is so impatient." Zoginoi chuckled lightly. His body dissolved into a swarm of black butterflies, beautiful and eerie, which quickly fluttered away, following Hitachi's smoke trail.
"My goddess, are those two even humans?" Cupcake asked in shock, her feline eyes wide.
Mirabella picked up the cat on her shoulder and held her in her arms, feeling the soft fur against her skin. A competitive smirk touched her lips.
"They want to play, let's play then."
WHOOSH!!
She activated her spatial skill. She, Cupcake, and Elizabeth instantly vanished, teleporting away in a flash of light.
The next moment, the earth bridge Zoginoi had created lost its magical binding. It groaned and shattered into rocks, falling into the magma below, sealing the path behind them.