Right now, amid the surrounding chaos and panic, the cities located in the northeastern part of the Kingdom were practically jumping at shadows.
Unlike the hearsay from other places, they could truly flee from the alien races that had already occupied the Loluste Domain and were rapidly spreading outward!
Logically, there should have been even more refugees from the northeast than in the East Capital and North Capital, and the situation should have been even more chaotic.
But strangely enough… despite the massive number of refugees fleeing their hometowns, the cities’ populations… hadn’t actually increased much.
The people inside the cities were even fewer than in the Crystal Capital.
And if some outsider who wasn’t afraid of death asked about this, Gelake, the captain of the “Battleaxe Mercenary Group,” who had already packed his things and was preparing to leave the city, would definitely tell them…
“Perhaps those refugees were devoured by the alien races that broke into the Human Kingdom before they even set off!”
“And… this Safaliu City alone could never stop those monsters.”
“So he had to run… run as far away as possible!”
“Preferably… to the Royal Capital… no! To a city further southwest! And then never come back…”
As the captain of a hundred-man mercenary group, Gelake was once a force to be reckoned with in the northeastern part of the Kingdom.
A few days ago, when rumors of the alien invasion were growing louder and louder… the Battleaxe Mercenary Group was entrusted by the City Lord of Safaliu City to investigate the situation.
If he had a chance to do it over, Gelake would absolutely refuse this request from the City Lord.
Because… just the investigation alone had completely shattered his proud Battleaxe Mercenary Group!
On the second night after leaving the city, they suffered a devastating attack!
That night, the sky was covered by dark clouds, and not a single star or moon could be seen.
And in this dim environment, the ground began to shake violently.
A piercing sound like a bird’s cry came from overhead: “Caw——!”
“Everyone on guard!!”
The battle-hardened Battleaxe members instantly snapped out of their nighttime lethargy, all of them rising and grabbing their weapons.
Bila!! The first thing they did was find nearby companions and form a battle formation!
As the captain, Gelake was protected in the very center by all the members, ready to give orders at any moment.
Originally… Gelake, like the other members, was cautious but not nervous.
They all believed this was just one of the countless dangers they faced in their mercenary careers.
And they were quite confident… that they could overcome this crisis, create more legends, and make an even greater name for themselves in the northeastern part of the Kingdom.
“Everyone, pay attention! If the aliens really dare to come…”
“We’ll give them a cold heart!”
“Haha! That’s right! Where the Battleaxe goes, we never lose!!”
Clang! Clang!
The mercenaries struck their shields with their axe handles, their morale high.
Gelake was quite satisfied with this.
Fearless mercenaries were the foundation of invincibility!
But just as a satisfied smile appeared on his bearded face…
“Gaa…!!”
A sharp crow’s cry pierced the sky!
“Huh?!”
“Uwaa!”
“What… what was that?!”
Patter! Crackle!
A single black shadow flashed by…
No, rather than flashing by, it was more like it directly pierced through their entire battle formation!!
Rip… Blood, severed limbs, and internal organs splattered onto Gelake’s just-smiling face.
The bright red color gradually turned his expression into one of confusion… making him look somewhat ridiculous.
“How… how is that possible?”
“Gaa…” With a low crow’s cry, a one-sided massacre under the moonlight began.
If Gelake had to choose a word to describe it, perhaps… “smashing an egg against a rock” would be appropriate.
“Where… where are you?!”
“Come on!! Come on! Face me! Fight me!”
Thud! Thud…
Plop…
That night, he was mad, fearful, and despairing… His companions fell like harvested wheat.
He didn’t even know how he survived.
When he came to his senses, the screams around him had disappeared.
In the blood-soaked forest, it seemed… he was the only one left alive.
He ran out of the forest screaming, with a speed and dishevelment he had never experienced before in his life.
When he returned to his senses, he was already in Safaliu City… He must have looked really pathetic.
Because the City Lord of Safaliu City looked at him with shock, confusion, and disgust.
If it were the old Gelake, he might have angrily glared at the City Lord in front of him, told him he was fine, and sternly reprimanded him for his rudeness…
But… now Gelake couldn’t say any of those things.
The Battleaxe Mercenary Group was finished. Other than himself… there were no survivors.
Gelake had no idea why he had managed to come back alive.
He just wanted to leave immediately… right now, leave this place, leave this terrifying place.
Leave this city, leave the northeastern part of the Kingdom, run as far away as possible!!
Thinking this, Gelake instinctively lifted the bundle on his shoulder.
Just as he took a step…
“Caw…” The next second, a crow’s cry sounded right by his ear!
“Eek?!” The burly man, nearly two meters tall and with arms thicker than a girl’s waist, was so frightened that he crouched down with his head in his hands…
After more than ten seconds, he dared to tremblingly look up… At the direction of the sound, there was a black crow perched on a tree branch… tilting its head to look at him.
Just… an ordinary crow?
Phew… Scared me to death… I thought it was…
Whoosh——!!
“Hey… did something just fly by in the sky?”
Someone around muttered in confusion.
“I… I don’t know. I didn’t notice.”
Listening to the discussions around him, Gelake was now drenched in cold sweat.
Rumble… And the next second, the ground began to tremble…
“An… an earthquake?!”
No… it didn’t seem like an earthquake, but…
Gelake stiffly turned his head and looked behind him… in the direction of Safaliu City’s northern city wall.
They… were here…
……
Whoosh——!
Letting out a long breath, Ileya slowly opened her eyes.
For the past few days, she had been truly diligent, almost constantly trying to refine the “Divine Blood” within her body.
But the effect was extremely weak.
In fact, this “Divine Blood” couldn’t be easily absorbed like the Death Aura.
After all this time of refining, it only made that clump of dark-gold “Divine Blood” look slightly… like it had some “scratches”?
No, no… maybe it was just her imagination. That thing was still inside her, as if it hadn’t decreased at all.
Could it be that her method was wrong?
“Ah…” Letting out a slow sigh, Ileya decided to set this matter aside for the moment.
Instead of obsessively targeting this thing, it was better to stabilize her own realm.
With this thought, Ileya flipped off the bed and jumped down, stretching her somewhat stiff limbs.
Having slept in carriages so much lately, returning to her soft, large bed instead felt a bit uncomfortable.
Knock, knock, knock… Just as the Lady was stretching her muscles, a knock suddenly came from the door.
“Lady!”
Then, Yumina’s voice sounded from outside.
“Lady Shu asked for you~”
Mother?
Ileya was momentarily stunned. Usually, when Mother wanted to see her, she would come to her room in person.
This time, she had Yumina inform her. Had something happened?
“Let’s go.” Ileya was wearing her home clothes as she opened the door.
But she saw the twin-tailed maid in front of her… looking troubled.
“What’s wrong?” The Lady frowned slightly and asked.
“Nothing… nothing much~”
The twin-tailed maid quickly waved her hand, but seeing her like this, Ileya could guess that something had happened to this girl…
But she wasn’t willing to say it directly.
For now, though… the top priority was to confirm what had happened with Mother.
So Ileya didn’t press Yumina about this matter. The two of them quickly arrived at the study of the castle.
Knock, knock, knock…
“Mother.”
“Yaya, come in.” Lady Shudrian’s voice soon came from inside.
Before even opening the door, Ileya’s Soul Perception detected that there was more than just her mother in the study.
There were… a total of five presences.
One of them was her mother.
Creak…
The door swung open, and Ileya saw Lady Shudrian seated in the main seat.
In the secondary seat sat a man in silver armor with a brown crew cut.
He had ordinary features except for a claw-shaped scar on his face.
The Lady also knew this man, and in a sense, she was quite familiar with him.
“Lady.”
The moment he saw Ileya, the man slowly nodded in her direction.
The Grand Commander of the Crystal Capital Garrison, in Ileya’s earlier words, was her old butler’s “first dogleg.”
Also the man bestowed with the surname [Bateos].
Diman Batios.
And there were two others…
Ileya’s red eyes swept over the remaining two seats. The moment their eyes met, the two men instantly trembled all over!
Such authority… it was as if they were being stared at by the Red-Eyed Marquess.
“Dakru, Lord of Black Iron City…”
“Mofite, Lord of Gray Rock City…”
“Guihaipu, Lord of Hard Steel City…”
“We pay our respects to the Lady!!”
The three City Lords stood up simultaneously and bowed to Ileya, not daring to show the slightest contempt or disdain because of her reputation as the “First Playboy.”
Nor did anyone feel the slightest displeasure because Lady Shudrian had summoned this Lady before discussing official matters.
The so-called “First Playboy”—only a fool would only focus on the word “playboy.”
True smart people would keep their eyes on the word “First.”
And how many fools were there among those who became City Lords?
Without sufficient capital, how could one become the First Playboy… and “the Uncrowned King of the East” was enough capital.
So, contempt? Disdain? Scoff?
No, no, no. They, these old foxes who had been living off the eastern region, would be eager to curry favor with her; they would never have such thoughts.
“Hmm.” This Lady was indeed similar to the rumors: proud and arrogant.
She merely responded faintly to the City Lords’ goodwill, then turned her gaze to Lady Shudrian in the main seat.
“Mother, what happened?”
Whoosh… “The entire northeastern part of the Kingdom has fallen. Within seven days, four cities have been lost.”
Lady Shudrian took a deep breath, and her blue eyes held an unprecedented gravity.
“Their attacks and attitude… are much tougher than we imagined.”