Over 36 hours pass as we venture forward at a much faster pace than before, targeting only territories with skills I need.
We avoid all black zones that don't have physical proof around their borders of wild beasts inside and accept every premium quest we co across to obtain more and more bio maps, expanding the view in our minimap.
I thodically run down my status list, upgrading every single skill possible to [Divine Grade] and every single elental summoning skill from Superior to Supre.
The only two elental skills I'm not able to upgrade are [Light Summoning] and [Dark Summoning], as they are far more rare than the others.
My other skills are easier to find, except for the much rarer abilities like Item Storage Spatial Magic, Appraisal, Conceal, Equivalent Exchange, Telepathy, Lie Detector, Imbuent, and Dungeon Walker. Telepathy and Dungeon Walker are demon-only skills, while the others are human-specific skills.
There are no demons in this wilderness, and the humans that are in safe zones mostly have combat elental skills, as they were the strongest Lords on their world.
Despite this, I acquire four new skills. [Smoke Screen] is similar to dark mist but uses shimring mana particles to create an area that overwhelms the senses, blocking perception skills from pinpointing the caster's location.
I receive [Laser Creation] from a territory full of a golem race made of a translucent, crystal-like body. So of their strongest store built-up mana inside their bodies and release it in compressed and refined rays.
A mutated 2nd Class Ant monster from a premium quest, very similar to the Lord I t in the first safe zone, grants an [Exo Skeleton] skill that not only adds a layer of protection around my body but also increases my strength and movent speed with visible tendrils of energy on the outside of my body.
Lastly, another unique 1st Class monster from a premium quest, which looked like a steel ball with a single eye, used a skill called [Select]. It allows the caster to lock onto a system user and always be aware of their location, no matter how many perception blockers they use or how much distance they travel.
It is similar to the ether commands I placed on the wolfn, but only mana based. Giving similar results to my geolocator perk in my Rising Emperor's Domain. However, it does co with the added perk of a swordsmanship-like ability to always feel the perfect path to a selected target's weak point.
Each of these new [Divine Grade] skills grants True Core abilities, but I'm not able to test anything out without blowing my cover... I keep traveling toward the center of the Grand Citadel.
In addition to this, mine and Ava's item storages are filling up with all kinds of dead soul weapon artifacts and parts of monsters that have been fully saturated with ether, allowing them to stay in one piece from their original bodies in mutated states.
Many of the 2nd and 1st Class artifacts are of a similar quality to so of the items Asic and Torvak gave after completing their avatar builds for my Soul Sword to devour.
––
I keep a close watch on the two wolfn who have been transported below the wilderness, but they do not budge for over a full day...
It's as though they're in so kind of holding cell, hardly moving more than a dozen ters in any direction. However, after a certain point, they begin to descend even further, and the ether commands I programd into their avatars are being manipulated and weakened.
If this were intentional, I had set self destruct commands to erase all evidence of tampering, so whatever is weakening this connection is the result of a full overhaul of the Lords' avatars.
While my curiosity about what is happening below builds, my excitent for nearing the inner point of the wilderness grows as well.
We've traveled at a far faster pace this past day and a half, moving through hundreds of bios and tens of thousands of kiloters. Over a dozen premium quests were fulfilled, and we cleared over twice as many random black zones that were clearly monster-infested.
With these rewards and by trading in various safe zones during our travels, we managed to stack up a few thousand bio maps and even found a clear pathway to what many call the Great Wall.
I can see its edge clearly in my minimap, and at this rate of travel, it's about one full day away.
From the descriptions of many 3rd and 2nd Class Lords in the safe zones of these higher-grade bios, the Demonic Servant that showed a hologram of the Grand Citadel was not lying about one thing.
There is certainly a massive pillar blocked off from the outer wilderness. It is rumored to rise high into the sky and connect with the top of the do, as many have tried to fly over it and returned unsuccessful.
It is supposedly made of the sa ether commands as a black zone, but inverted to keep all Lords—intelligent or not—from entering whatever lies inside.
"Just a little further." I smile once this final piece of data is shared with , and we leave another safe zone, heading straight toward this Great Wall.
––
However, despite this progress, other variables are shifting around the Green Zone of the Upper Realm.
The first is the fact that many of the 1st Class Demonic Servant Admins that stand at their posts across the outer walls of the Grand Citadel are getting an abnormal amount of quests fulfilled and black zones cleared in a small area of the Wilderness.
While it is not entirely uncommon for a rogue 1st Class Monster to go on a rampage and kill everything in its sights for many bios in a row, there is a clear pattern here of an intelligent Lord to be the mastermind behind it, and ssages on a private admin chatting channel for this small slice of the wilderness beco active; beginning to share their surveillance data to find the root cause.
In the anti, Seraphel is near his breaking point again. There is only so long he can use the suppression technique to keep his High Noble Radiation from leaking out at full blast. Even with small breathing holes in his physique, radiation still seeps out from the Sea of Corruption for over a million kiloters.
Luckily, no civilization is close enough to sense it, but the wave threatening to break out of his physique is far stronger than the first. What Ember theorized before was right.
Just spending a few weeks with the Rising Emperor has strengthened his will. The strength of one's Noble Vibrations is determined by many factors, but one is the unwavering confidence and belief in one's existence and goals.
After millennia trapped beneath the Ellipsia Citadel, after losing another war and watching all his allies killed before his eyes once again, this mythical creature's trust in himself—and the system itself—wavered.
Though, after having his unbreakable seals dissolved by a human of all races, the bright blue Wyvern glowing beneath the sea has gained the will to fight one last ti and give it his all.
–
Ember keeps his senses keen, watching the generals continue to climb the tower, but his eyes keep shifting toward the nsa Citadel.
When he sent out a scan earlier to check on Seraphel, he lightly probed this citadel as well, and in doing so, he discovered the identity of the Noble Demon that watches over it.
At first, Ember assud there might be so kind of automated surveillance system, but once he gets a good look and recognizes the demon present, he knows that no such system is necessary.
Sisco Vermillion... The only other Noble Demon beneath the family head. At first glance, one would assu that this Noble is of equal or similar strength to the forr Lord of the Ellipsia Citadel, Andras Vermillion.
However, Ember rembers this demon from his last visit to the Upper Realm, before the Green Zone's complete takeover—when this demon's na was Sisco Morvale, a Commander in the old 4th Great Family's army, serving beneath Miriel when he was a General.
Ember does not share this information, keeping the true potential of this demon a secret and waiting for them to make a move first before jumping to conclusions.
–
In the nsa Citadel, atop an enormous central tower overlooking a bustling city center full of intelligent Lords from 5th to 1st Class—comparable in size to Ellipsia's free business markets—this demon in question watches the clouds slowly drift by outside his top-floor viewing window.
A day and a half ago, the High Noble's radiation from an old registered point where the Wyvern's Citadel once stood reached his senses, and this Noble Demon responded with proper protocol.
Though, not protocol from his family head here in the Green Zone. Rather, orders that were given to him before this family was even founded—orders from Lucian Morvale himself.
All updates regarding the Warlords, and especially the Wyvern's lost Citadel, are to be rerouted directly to the mastermind behind this Realm's takeover.
Miriel is convinced that nothing from the Lower Realm could ever challenge him, and the other family heads do, in fact, believe he is strong enough to hold his position. Even the Vanguards fear the potential of his power and do not see him as physically weak.
Though, his ntal state is where cracks may lie. The power he holds is very dangerous, volatile, and at tis unpredictable. So it is only natural that failsafes and spies are scattered throughout the Green Zone to ensure his ego does not ruin them all.
This is why, after over a day of waiting, Sisco finally receives a ssage back from a private line connected to the Morvale Family Head in the Cyan Zone of the Upper Realm.
"We have little ti to speak before the Realm link breaks. This is normally only used for family heads. You have brought it to my attention that the Last Wyvern broke his seal...?"
The Noble Demon stands over 16 ters tall, with four white horns curling upward from his head—two smaller ones at his temples and another two larger ones curling backward like armor for his skull.
The demon's True Core is fully saturated, and he uses a perfect vibration suppression technique to keep his power under wraps, or the entire citadel below him would fall unconscious.
He replies, looking in the direction of the Wyvern's fallen Citadel. "Indeed. It should not have been physically possible to break those seals without killing himself, yet I've just felt the release of a High Noble's Will. Other than myself, there should be no others with this capability in the Green Zone of the Upper Realm..."
There's a pause, no reply, so Sisco sends another ssage back.
"Andras has been killed, as you must know, and that new Noble Demon has ascended. Could this all be connected? Are we being betrayed again... Has the Fallen One returned?"
There is only silence for a few more seconds as more green clouds slowly drift by, but Lucian finally replies.
"I don't believe he has... I read Drako's history file, and the testing he underwent in the Lower Realm confird his dragon was not a traitor. He even killed off three of the Warlords in Ellipsia. While unlikely, this does not an he is uninvolved. I do have a legitimate lead to follow instead. The Scarlet Clan of the Berserker Race has interfered with my search party that was ant to survey Kelfar... the howorld of that Wyvern. My orders are to awaken the Dark Army in the Fortress to deal with Seraphel, and I want you personally to round up every Berserker in the nsa and Ellipsia Citadels for interrogation."
Sisco hesitates to reply as he feels their link beginning to weaken, and Lucian gives one last ssage.
"Do not concern yourself with Miriel. I will handle breaking the news to him... He cannot be distracted, and must make sure the Grand Citadel is not compromised."
"Understood. Your orders will be fulfilled."
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