Return of the Mythic Bloodline

After my visit to Sarena, I returned to the castle and called Vyaghra, Jambavan, and Ume to the hall, where they updated me on the current situation.

"The El Dorado organization that ambushed you has been ruling over the Abandoned Lands for more than a decade," Vyaghra began, sitting in his usual chair at the dining table. "They rose to power fifteen years ago when their leader, Nyx, found a Mid-Tier Soul Stone field beneath Dreadspire city—the city in the north of the Abandoned Land and the farthest away from us."

"Mid-Tier?" my surprised voice came from the head seat. "So does that mean the Soul Stones in that city have a different essence?"

"Yes, that is true, but it's not what we are discussing right now," Vyaghra replied, clearly annoyed. "After a few years, when she stabilized her foothold, her web spread to the nearby cities in the east and west, where she found another layer of Mid-Tier Soul Stone crystals—although of lower rank than in Dreadspire city."

"Another layer of crystals?" I shouted, unable to control my excitement.

"Raj, if you scream one more time, I will seal your mouth," Vyaghra muttered, glaring at me.

"Oh—sorry, sorry," I chuckled. "Please continue."

Taking a brief sigh, he continued, "Awakeners in the Abandoned Land need an enormous amount of food to refill their Soulforce. You must have already noticed that your appetite here has increased illogically."

"Now that I think about it, he is indeed correct. The amount of food I eat at one time would have been more than enough to survive for a whole month for the me of the past."

"It's even worse for the Mid-Tier Awakeners. The energy they need to refill their Soulforce can't be replenished by food alone. This place is like a death sentence to them. So when Nyx monopolized all the Soul Stones here, her influence among Awakeners increased tremendously. She stabilized a whole organization with the name El Dorado.

Any Awakener who needed Soul Stones had to make a Soul Oath of working under her for specific years corresponding to the grade and amount of Soul Stones they needed.

There were some Awakeners who didn't like this idea, but they also ultimately had to give in for the sake of survival."

"Even though Nyx is ruthless, it's impressive how she took control over a whole country filled with criminals," I murmured, nodding in reluctant admiration.

"Kid, Ay don't think it's the right place to say that," Jambavan whispered, pointing at Ume from under the table, who was throwing daggers at me with her eyes.

"H-however, she must pay for the atrocities she committed. She is nothing but a heinous villain," I blurted, trying to cover up.

Vyaghra continued as Ume finally averted her gaze from me. "Since she found Soul Stones beneath the three cities, logically she also came for Forlorn City but was disappointed when she discovered only Low-Tier Soul Stones here. Without giving it much attention, she made Victor—the Mayor's son—the manager of the mines here. Except for him, the other leaders of the three cities she appointed are all in the Mid-Tier realm.

The leader of Ashenfall—Kevin—is specialized with a bow, while Hollowreach's leader—Charlie—is a hammer wielder."

"Those two were the leaders of Ashenfall and Hollowreach? They were in a totally different league than Victor. So the leaders of all three cities gathered just to beat me?" I mumbled, rubbing my chin.

"Raj, I think you're misunderstanding something," Vyaghra replied. "Nyx isn't the leader of Dreadspire."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"The leader of Dreadspire is the mortal in the black robe you saw with Victor in the tunnel—"

He stopped mid-sentence, and the three of them suddenly rose to their feet, their eyes narrowing.

"W-what happened?" I asked, confused.

"An army of Awakeners is approaching," Vyaghra murmured.

"And these are stronger than the bastards that came previously," Jambavan mumbled, his face laced with a smirk.

"Am I missing on something?" I demanded, completely at a loss.

"Vyaghra, bring us to the city wall," Ume ordered.

"As you wish, Your Majesty."

Vyaghra formed a claw with his fingers and raised his hand in a smooth arc.

With his hand's movement, our shadows rose upward, engulfing us all.

Within a single breath, I, along with the others, found myself standing at the top of the city wall.

"Hey, can you tell me what's going on?" I asked, obviously annoyed.

"When ya were unconscious, some bastards from El Dorado came lookin' for ya," Jambavan replied.

"I can already guess what happened next," I laughed.

"Look, the bastards are comin' again."

From the far distance of the open ground, around fifty people walking side by side emerged.

"One… two… five… thirty-three… fifty," I counted, my fingers pointing at them. "They aren't as many as I expected."

"Just wait, kid," Jambavan chuckled.

After a moment, another line of fifty people emerged behind them, then another, and another.

Within a couple of minutes, the whole open ground filled with an army of over a thousand.

The walls where we stood shook with their steps as they drew closer to the city.

None—literally none—of them looked like normal humans.

Some had spiked hair, some had disfigured faces, while others had animal body parts, boasting their beast race.

"What the actual fuck!?" Words subconsciously left my mouth as my hand slightly trembled.

"Are you afraid?" Ume asked, holding my hand.

"Afraid? There's no way I'd feel that when literally three ancient gods are standing beside me," I said, a wide smirk unknowingly appearing on my face. "What I'm feeling currently is the excitement of how much my realm will increase when I fight these Awakeners. Just the thought is making my heart race."

"What the hell! Are ya a sadist?" Jambavan laughed.

"Wipe that drool from your face before calling me a sadist."

Jambavan—obviously being a God of Strength—was having a hard time controlling his frenzy.

"Hah! What are you two getting excited about?" Vyaghra scoffed. "They are nothing but ignorant mortals courting death."