Near the outer wall of Withered Tree Fortress, the night was deep and still.
The camp lay in absolute silence, with the vast majority of Serpents already asleep.
After confirming that no one was watching him, Charles imdiately set out, accompanied by his mystical beast.
Before departing, he deliberately left Max behind.
"Stay here and pretend that I'm still around. Don't let anyone notice anything suspicious. If you do get exposed, escape imdiately—I'll co back to clean things up," Charles instructed.
Max gave a firm nod.
It followed Charles's orders with complete seriousness.
Right before leaving, Charles hesitated for a mont—wondering whether he should inform Connell of his plans.
In the end, he decided against it.
Connell was, at best, a partner.
What Charles was about to do carried certain risks.
If Liam knew, it might only increase the danger Charles was facing.
Therefore, acting alone was clearly the smarter choice.
With mousie's help, Charles slipped past the guards stationed throughout the camp.
Eventually, he successfully exited the fortress from the southwest corner.
Outside the camp lay a vast desert.
Although so plant life survived near the periter of Withered Tree Fortress, it could only grow in close proximity to the stronghold.
At the very heart of the fortress lay a natural spring.
It was this spring that made it possible for Withered Tree Fortress to exist as the Serpent Empire's primary frontline defense point.
The Serpents were indeed drought-tolerant—but even they required a reliable source of drinking water.
After traveling for roughly an hour, Charles finally let out a sigh of relief.
He had put a safe distance between himself and Withered Tree Fortress.
"I should head back to check on the Desert Goblin nest,"
he muttered to himself.
Without hesitation, he began moving in the direction of the Desert Goblin lair.
His goal was not only to assess the current status of the nest—but also to return to the cursed underground lake hidden within it, a place radiating ominous magical energy.
Upon reaching the entrance of the Desert Goblin nest, Charles quickly and silently dispatched the Desert Goblin sentries.
Then, using mousie's special ability, he slipped into the nest in the form of a shadow.
As he navigated through the tunnels of the Desert Goblin lair, he quickly noticed how heavily fortified it had beco.
Each branching corridor was guarded by a significant number of Desert Goblins.
"Looks like my last visit truly rattled them,"
Charles thought to himself. "They've tightened their defenses significantly. This mission is definitely going to be more troubleso than I hoped."
He was already keenly aware that this operation would be anything but smooth.
But Charles had no intention of giving up on his mission.
After slipping through one branching tunnel after another, cloaked in shadow, he finally arrived at the underground dark lake—the one pulsating with cursed energy.
To his surprise, there were barely any Desert Goblin guards stationed here.
It seed even the Desert Goblins didn't consider this place worth defending.
"Perfect. I can observe the lake in peace."
And so, Charles settled near the lake's edge, carefully watching it for a long while.
He noticed that the curse energy within the lake seed to be constantly fluctuating.
That ant the curse wasn't sothing accumulating gradually over ti. It felt more like the lake had possessed this power from the beginning.
"Could it be that the lake itself is generating the curse?"
Charles ford a theory—but just as quickly, he dismissed it.
"No... that's impossible. A lake shouldn't be able to create a curse on its own. There must be sothing within the lake—sothing that's producing the curse. The lake is rely acting as a vessel for it."
Drawing from the knowledge he had acquired in the grand library of Serpent's Eye Lake Oasis, he ca to a more plausible conclusion.
But that realization made things far more complicated.
If the curse within the underground lake of the Goblin nest was produced by so substance or artifact—
Then could the cursed lake beneath Serpent's Eye Lake Oasis be the sa?
Could it be that the ancient historical texts of the Serpent Empire were completely wrong?
Or worse—
Had the first emperor of the Serpent Empire deliberately spread false information to deceive the world?
A flood of questions swirled in Charles's mind.
Furrowing his brows, he pondered in silence for so ti. Then, he decided to set those thoughts aside for now.
His imdiate goal was to extract so of the curse energy from the lake.
If he could identify the properties of the curse, he might be able to discover a way to neutralize it.
With the help of his mystical beast, Charles soon collected a sufficient amount of cursed energy.
"The longer we stay here, the greater the risk. Since we've got what we need, it's ti to leave—fast."
Charles made the decision to exit the Desert Goblin nest without delay.
The Desert Goblin Queen was simply too powerful.
He hadn't truly defeated her during their last encounter.
In fact, if not for Rainbow's Dragon's Aura, he and Connell wouldn't have even had a chance to escape.
Slipping once more into the shadows, Charles vanished from sight.
With mousie leading the way, he moved swiftly toward the surface.
As Charles continued making his way toward the surface, he happened to pass near the area where the Desert Goblin Queen resided.
Just as he was slipping by, he suddenly heard human voices.
"Stop."
He quickly whispered the command to mousie.
Finding a concealed patch of shadow, Charles pressed his ear against the stone wall.
From there, he could clearly hear everything happening inside the Queen's chamber.
Faintly, two human voices ca through.
"Your Majesty," one voice said, "we've co here seeking a partnership. We need to train in the Atacama Desert in order to grow stronger.
You, on the other hand, want to defeat the Serpent Empire and expand your power. I believe a collaboration between us will allow both of our goals to be achieved more smoothly."
Charles imdiately found the voice vaguely familiar.
It was the first speaker who had proposed a direct alliance with the Desert Goblin Queen.
The Queen didn't respond right away.
She appeared to be carefully weighing whether these humans could be trusted.
Then another voice spoke up.
"Your Majesty, I understand that you have little reason to trust us.
That's why we've brought a handwritten letter from the Crown Prince of the Stellar Empire himself.
Surely, Desert Goblins and the Stellar Empire have cooperated for quite so ti, haven't they? At the very least, you should be able to trust the Crown Prince, right?"
As soon as this second voice rang out, Charles's expression darkened.
If the first voice was just vaguely familiar, the second voice was unmistakable.
There was no way he could misidentify it.
It belonged to none other than Andrew—
A Level 4 Beast Master from the Ancient Academy, and a long-ti adversary of Charles.
Andrew had interfered in multiple operations Charles had carried out in the past.
Were it not for Charles's quick thinking and formidable skill, Andrew would've already caused him serious harm.
Charles could hardly believe what he was hearing—
That soone from the Ancient Academy had arrived this quickly.
"These people really are like a ghost that refuses to leave."
"They've already failed so many tis, and yet they still won't give up. And now, they're so shaless they're willing to ally themselves with Desert Goblins just to stop ?"
Rage welled up in Charles.
He had assud that, after defeating many of the Ancient Academy's top talents in the Divine Beast Domain, they would back off for a while.
But clearly, the Academy had no intention of giving him even a mont to breathe.
There could be only one explanation—
Soone behind the scenes was pushing all this forward.
This had Everett's fingerprints all over it.
Just as Charles seethed with rage, the voice of the Desert Goblin Queen echoed through the chamber.
"The Stellar Empire can be trusted. What exactly is your plan?"
The Queen's words ignited visible excitent in Andrew.
He imdiately responded in a tone full of flattery.
"Your Majesty, your wisdom is truly unmatched! Our plan is actually quite simple.
The only reason the Serpent Empire is still able to fight is because Serpent's Eye Lake Oasis remains untouched.
My companion and I are going to launch an attack on the Oasis. In doing so, we'll need your assistance.
Once Serpent's Eye Lake Oasis is destroyed, the Serpent Empire will collapse rapidly.
Then both the Stellar Empire and your Desert Goblins will be free to claim the spoils of war."
There was nothing particularly sophisticated about Andrew's plan.
But that didn't matter—because it posed a very real threat to the Serpent Empire.
The empire's forces were already stretched to the brink.
If a new front were to open, even for a short ti, it could trigger a total collapse.
The Desert Goblin Queen didn't hesitate in the slightest.
"No problem. I will support your plan. When do you intend to begin?"
"We need three days to prepare. On the third day, we will launch our attack on Serpent's Eye Lake Oasis.
At that ti, all we need from you is for your forces to join us in action.
We'll handle breaching the defensive walls. Once they're down, your warriors can charge straight into the Oasis.
Everything inside will be yours to pillage."
The Queen was clearly pleased with Andrew's reply.
"Excellent. Make your final preparations quickly. As soon as you're ready, I'll dispatch my warriors."
With the agreent sealed, Andrew and his companion turned to leave.
Charles didn't linger either.
He signaled mousie, and the two of them swiftly retreated from the area.
He had made up his mind—
He needed to return to Serpent's Eye Lake Oasis at once.
No matter what it took, he had to ensure the safety of the Serpent Empress and Zara.
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