Ryder appeared in the Cave of Protection. Most of the team members were already awake, but they were sitting with their backs resting against the walls of the cave.

Rale, on the other hand, was standing near the entrance of the Cave, as if he was keeping an eye on the surroundings outside.

"Is there something outside?" Ryder asked smilingly as he stepped towards Rale.

"Your Highness!"

Rale turned back and greeted Ryder. The other team members also stood up and greeted Ryder.

"Everything's fine, right?" Ryder asked him.

"There's nothing strange going on. There is no movement. I did see a few specters, but nothing worth mentioning so far," Rale said.

"Alright, Let's continue then. We will be entering the Inner Portion of the Valley. This should be where the important things start," Ryder told him.

Rale nodded his head as he stepped out of the cave.

Ryder and Rale walked together while the others walked behind them.

None of them knew that the Vampire General was only slightly behind them. There were only 2 hours of distance between Ryder's team and the Vampire General's team.

Strangely enough, the Vampire General was still facing more specters than Ryder's team was facing. It was like the Spectres were more attracted to him.

Ryder walked through the forest, hunting specters and increasing his level.

Only 4 hours had passed when Ryder heard a system-wide announcement.

"The American Server Treasure Ranking has been updated>

"Looks like it's out," Ryder muttered.

"Guys, I'm not hunting anymore. You guys can take the lead," Ryder told everyone. 

Once again, his team surrounded him while they continued ahead.

Ryder opened the Level Rankings to see how everyone else fared.

...

Ryder went through the list while he continued walking ahead under the protection of everyone else.

There was a broad grin on his face as he saw the rankings.

'It feels good to be on the top," Ryder thought as he smiled.

'The others are not doing bad either. Some of them are performing even better than they did in the last timeline.'

"Shu has also gained a few levels since I last saw him."

He closed the Level Rankings. He was about to open the Treasure Rankings when he heard Rale's voice.

"Your Highness, there's a pond ahead. I think you should take a look."

Ryder stopped focusing on the rankings and commanded his men to move aside to let him pass.

Ryder walked closer to Rale and looked at the beautiful crystal pond in front of them.

The pond was not significant in size. In fact, it was only as small as an average size swimming pool.

The pond was frozen in ice. There was something at the center of the pond which seemed like a sword that was stabbed in the ice.

The Sword had a Golden blade and a silver hilt.

"Let me see what that is," Ryder muttered as he walked closer to the pond.

He threw a nearby stone on the ice, but nothing happened. It seemed like the ice was solid.

He tried touching the ice with his feet. The results were pretty normal. It seemed as if the ice was pretty hard that wouldn't break.

He also placed some weight on his foot to test the limits, but the ice didn't break.

Ryder was about to step over the Ice, but Rale stopped him.

"Your Highness, let me step over the ice instead. I'll bring that sword back to you," Rale said.

"Alright. You can take the lead. Just be careful, there might be danger," Ryder said as he stepped back.

It didn't seem like there was any danger from what he had seen. He could still use his Time Rewind if something went wrong, and Rale gets hurt.

Rale stepped over the ice and carefully walked over to the center of the pond and touched the hilt of the Sword.

He was about to pull the sword out. His full focus was on the sword, as this could turn out to be dangerous.

Everyone else was also looking towards Rale.

It was at that time; a blood-red arrow came out of nowhere towards Rale.

Rale sensed the danger as he turned back.

He cast a barrier around him.

The blood arrow hit the barrier. Rale's barrier suffered a tiny crack that automatically recovered, but the blood arrow was also destroyed.

Rale pulled the sword out and jumped out of the pond to the ground.

"Do you really need to hide to attack us?" Rale asked as he looked in the back.

They saw a man walk out of the forest.

The man had long red hair and deep red eyes. He was wearing a crimson robe on his back.

"You are not the Undeads, are you?" Vampire General Viden asked.

"You are strong, but not as strong as the Vampire King is said to be. You should be the Vampire General if I'm not wrong," Rale said as he pointed the sword at Vampire General Viden.

Rale's team members surrounded Ryder to protect him, leaving a small gap in their formation so that Ryder could watch everything.

"You don't need to protect me. Let me talk to him," Ryder said to his men.

The men stepped aside as per Ryder's orders.

Ryder realized after hearing Rale's words that the person before them was the Vampire General, who should be as strong as Rale.

"Vampire General Viden, We are not here to harm anyone. We just want to take something back that belongs to us. We would appreciate it if you don't obstruct our path," Ryder said to the Vampire General.

"Silence!" The Vampire General waved his hand towards Ryder, as an arrow of blood appeared out of thin air and advanced towards Ryder.

Rale moved and appeared before Ryder as he used his sword to intercept the attack of Viden.

"Looks like that's a failed negotiation. We have no choice but to kill you," Ryder muttered as he sighed.