“Haa!”

Using a spare sword that she picked up on a whim back at the guild's storage, Alexandra cut through a large bear as if it was paper.

You have dealt a fatal blow

The large bear otherwise known as a King Bear or Ruler Bear was one of the more powerful creatures in this forest with a level of at least 300. This is incredibly high for an area that is right next to a newbie area.

You have eliminated a King Bear, other animals in this area will try to claim rulership in this area when you leave, else they will either hide or flee from you

[Is there any point of this?] asked White who was walking behind Alexandra as she slay monster after monster as she went ahead. Naturally with Alexandra here, White was still forced into the maid outfit and was getting used to wearing it now which scared him a lot.

“Hmm? Yeah there is” she replied without paying much attention.

Alexandra while killing powerful monster in this particular area that was quite far from Witchelm City was also unleashing a powerful aura outwards like a wave of energy in which other creatures with greater senses could feel. As a result, a number of creatures except for plants which couldn't move at all most of the time escaped already.

“This is disappointing, I'm even using 1% of my power dealing with these guys at all” she said while finding and slashing down a Alpha Wolf which was around level 150 with one blow killing it instantly.

“Arf!”

The other wolves that were following the alpha wolf seeing that their leader was slain in one go immediately fled from Alexandra.

[Are you intentionally letting them run away?]

“Yeah, I rather not have to deal with the sudden lost of lives because of me. After a while...in my case a long time, you notice these kinds of things and do the extra measure to minimise the damage you cause by fighting especially in a large scale battle” she explained now almost completely alone with White in this forest that has no name.

[Hmm?]

White looked around since he sensed a large amount of power coming from several directions. There was clearly something going on and he wanted to know what was happening.

[Answer me, why am I here with you?]

“To be by back-up just in case” Alexandra replied with almost a sigh.

[Back-up? A being with your power needs back-up?]

“Hey! I'm not an invincible monster with an infinite amount of ways to deal with things like Eden! Long story short I am currently unable to use 30% of my full power. Heck trying to go to 20% in my current state is difficult enough!”

White looked around some more since the power was increasing in power as it got closer quickly. There was a rare sense of fear in White that never appeared before ever since the Dragon King Festival in which he was crowned the 'White Dragon King of Purity'.

[Answer me, does this have to do with these powers coming at us....or rather you?]

White gave a scornful look at Alexandra since she dragged him into this. It was one thing to fight your own battles with others but completely another to push a battle to someone else to endure as well.

“Well.....have you ever heard of a power called 'Sun Authority'?” Alexandra asked shyly scratching her cheek.

[No.....yes I have though only in the mentioning and nothing more. It is something that was deemed too threatening to be let free after the Gods ascended from this mortal plane]

“Correct! To be precise there are 12 of them in total and are guarded and used by 12 Sun Guardians for all eternity!” she said excitingly explaining it to White.

[….Don't tell me...]

“Yep~ I currently have 3 of them in my possession to use” she replied with cheekiness as if this wasn't her problem at all.

[Are you an idiot...? No....with the power you process you did this intentionally didn't you. I've heard that you have abandoned your Divinity from Eden and gained a new power in it's place. Are the 'Sun Authorities' this new power?]

“Yep and I intent to collect all 12 of them....well that's another problem itself. My current problem is the aftermath of collecting one of them. Besides the 12 Sun Guardians there are also other...Sun Creatures as well that crave the power but could never steal of from them. What do you think happened when they found out one of those Guardians were slain and the Sun Authority taken?”

[They decided to hunt you down...?]

“Yep though that wasn't the real problem I had. Killing small weak thieves is easy, controlling this new power is not. That's why I searched and found out that killing these Sun Creatures makes it much easier for me to control these 'Sun Authorities' I have!”

[And that is why you are intentionally releasing your aura like that as a signal....]

“Of course, insects are attracted to bright flames after all...it's just they don't realise they will be burnt to death when they get close” There was a devilish smile on Alexandra's face knowing that her plan was going well and true right now. White seeing this sighed and thought that Eden had to deal with this kind of person all the time.

“Perhaps I should commit NTR to protect Eden from this person...” muttered White feeling that he should steal away Eden from this woman at all costs though the next moment he regretted saying that.

GRAB!

Alexandra's hand held onto White's head easily as she lifted his body up in the air. This was easily done for two reasons. The first was that White was only at a 160 cm height while Alexandra was at a 170 cm height. The other reason was that Alexandra's strength was literally high enough to crush a Dragon to pieces with her bare hands.

[Agkjwngknwgkubngkb!]

White sent out some incomprehensible words out seeing that his head was being crushed. A few seconds passed and Alexandra dropped White onto the ground as the Sun Creatures that Alexandra mentioned was getting close now. But before they arrived, White sent out some words to Alexandra.

[Is this what people call a jealous and prosessive wife?]

Alexandra almost hit White then but then the powers of the Sun Creatures that came appeared.

C-crack!

First was the ground. It turned pure white and it's substance was immediately transformed into metal as well.

Next was the trees and other lifeforms other than Alexandra and White. They turned into pure white crystals in an instant as well.

Finally it was the clear blue sky. It turned into a greyish but still white colour as if the world turned into black and white.

“....”

Alexandra stood her ground as three creatures appeared before her. The first was a Sun Metal Bear, a fairly large bear that was a living metal lifeforms around level 830 and could not be killed in normal methods. The second was a Sun Crystal Lion the size of a normal grown lion made of transparent and otherwise white crystals at a high purity. Like the Sun Metal Bear, it was not killable in normal ways and was around level 790. The last from the sky was a Sun blaze Eagle that was several times larger than a normal eagle that was made up white flames similar to a phoenix and was around level 800.

[These are.....]

White frowned sensing the amount of power that each of them processed. White himself was at a good level that was in the 900s but these Sun Creatures gave off feelings that they were stronger than they looked and all had powerful resistance to dying.

“Don't worry. I'll take care of them and besides, a Sun Guardian' level is over 900 either way and has a much more powerful defence than these guy” Alexandra said casually to White that was letting out a frightening aura that showed that he was hostile to him.

“You are the one whom slain three of the guardians” said the Crystal Lion to the right of Alexandra.

Alexandra smiled and said, “Yep.”

“Then you are prepared to die for us to obtain a Sun Authority?”

“Not at all.”

“Foolish...you cannot go against all of us even with that minor thing over there helping you” said the Metal Bear as well.

White's anger spiked with that comment and he unleashed his Dragon Aura out.

[Say that again and I will wipe you all out!]

However the Sun Creatures did not even budge one bit with White's threat.

“White calm down. Normal methods won't be able to kill them....permanently. All Sun Creatures have immunity to death as long as there is light. But...there is a way to stop that from happening” said Alexandra holding back White.

She then looked at the three opponents that she needed to fight against and said, “Mine if I equip myself properly? I know you Sun Creature lot have more pride than even Dragons!”

White glared at Alexandra at that comment and then lowered his aura to the Sun Creatures. He sighed and simply but still stayed where he was.

[I suppose me being your back-up involves when you fail to slay them and they steal your Sun Authorities from you right?]

“More or less since I can't use my full strength after all compared to when I was the height of my power with Divinity.”

[And how many Sun Authorities would it take to reach that level again? I know there are different levels of Divinity you can process]

“Hmm....having all 12 of them will put me at a level a bit lower than I used to be.”

[….]

“Also one Sun Authority grants you the power equal to one large ancient Dragon. Quite powerful right?”

[….]

An Ancient Dragon was one that lived a great long life. They were often more powerful than regular Dragons, but below the power of Dragon Kings and Elder Dragons. However no normal Dragon would dare mess with them as well.

'So she once had enough power to rival 12 ancient dragons....isn't that higher than a Dragon King? Higher than me...or perhaps Eden...? No, Eden was already something stronger than a Dragon King to begin with and he only got that title as an extra....'

“Right, don't peek while I change~”

[….]

In an instant, Alexandra changed from her plain shirt and skirt gear and into something more appropriate for battle. First of all, she now wore a long battle dress that was pure white and had gold lacing on the side. On her chest was a thick metal piece which protected her vitals there, on her wrists were guards as well and on her feet were large and yet light boots. All of this was colour coded to be white and gold with the primary being white and the secondary being gold.

Another thing to notice was that there were various rings and she also wore a small helmet that resembled the ones knights used but was open at the back to let her hair flow out.

In her hands was also a pure white sword as well that was a but taller than her at a 190 cm length and quite a wide blade that was more than 30 cm long. The actual blade itself looked like it was carved out of a giant tooth.

“This baby here is one of the greatest works of a Grand Master in blacksmithing. He was quite glad that I gave him the materials to forge this. The base is a Dragon's tooth complimentary from Eden...while he wasn't looking, and there are several tens of rare metals pounded on the outer edge as well which further enchants it” she explained to no one in particular. They were all staring at Alexandra to do something besides talk.

Seeing that the Sun Creatures did not even attack her she sighed and said, “You guys really have too much pride. White get away from here for now. Holy Sun Aura!”

Holy Sun Aura is now active

A pure white aura appeared around Alexandra but it looked like white flames instead of the usual aura that people had. Seeing this Aura, the Sun Creatures immediately became hostile and attacked Alexandra at once without regard for each other at the same time.

“Blaze!” shouted the Flame Eagle spilling out enough flames from it's body that it covered several metres around Alexandra. She used her sword to block the main impact from the attack and her Sun Aura to block the rest of the flames.

Seeing that Alexandra was defending right now, the other two Sun Creatures attacked Alexandra at once as well in melee.

The Metal Bear slashed using it's claws and the Crystal Lion did the same with a leap while Alexandra was covered in the white flames attack.

“Call down the inferno Rays of Ra, the bountiful let be become lifeless deserts. The Phoenix rises and call down the rain of fire. Inferno Sun!”

From the centre of the flames that was the centre of the battlefield currently, another set of flames came out from the middle of it and completely pushed the original flames aside easily. This flame expanded and burst out like a rage sun from the centre of things burning everything around it.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

Both the Metal Bear and Crystal Lion were blown back due to the force of the skill used but were relatively unharmed due to their high resistance to attacks from the same element.

“Damn most of my long range skills are of the 'light' element. This will take too long like I use them...right?” asked Alexandra almost completely unharmed from the initial attack. She had her sword on her shoulder as if she was completely relaxing in this kind of situation.

“Sword Wave!”

From a 'light' swing, Alexandra let out a giant wave of pure white destruction that passed by the Metal Bear and Crystal Lion to hit the nearby mountain that was a hundred metres away completely clearing away the space in between her and the mountain.

Reacting to this large amount of power used under the impression that she would not be able to use it again for a while, all three Sun Creatures blitz rushed her.

“Die!” “Disappear!” “Perish!”

“Sword Wave!”

In close range to her now, the three Sun Creatures were unable to dodge in time and were consumed by the blast that was equal to the one before.

BANG!

Three figures could be seen flying away from the blast. From the three Alexandra picked one to fight against.

“The bird is the most troublesome one in the long run. Crusader Sprint!”

Agility will be doubled for 10 seconds

10 seconds wasn't that much for most beginners but in the long run, 10 seconds was enough to kill or at least critically injured something even if it had higher health or defence especially for Alexandra who boasted of extreme strength with using the sword or fighting in any case.

“Flowing Sword!”

Alexandra activated another skill that increased her sword speed as well on top of her already extreme agility that was several thousand in total.

Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap...

Alexandra in a mere 3 seconds caught up with the Blaze Eagle that was just blown back from her attack.

“Crushing Blow!”

Without mercy, Alexandra stuck down at the Blaze Eagle intending to at least cripple it's ability to fly.

Bang!

However her attack went through it and hit the ground instead.

“Tch.”

Losing this chance to completely finish it off, Alexandra had no choice but to at least spend another second or so to enchant herself to deal with it.

“Holy Blade.”

Holy Blade is now active

- Holy Element is added to damage

- Able to damage creatures without physical form

- Purifying effect now applies as well.

Alexandra selected from all the skills she had with the one that was clearly most effective against these types of opponents. If it was Eden, he could just go into 'Magic King Drive' to erase it's existence while Viv could use his Soul Magic to completely wipe them out as well by targeting their spiritual core.

But Alexandra had one advantage over them, and it was her overwhelming offence against single foes.

“Consecutive 24 Slash!”

Alexandra's blade once more glowed brighter than ever as she attacked the Blaze Eagle a total of 24 times in an instant thanks to her skills.

“Kiaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”

The Blaze Eagle screamed in pain as it was fundamentally hurt from the attacks. While it processed powerful regenerative abilities, it could still be hurt with the right methods and ultimately killed that way as well. Knowing that Alexandra was not something to take on alone like this, the Blaze Eagle tried to flee for now.

“You are not getting away! Light Warrior!”

Light Warrior is now active

A giant hand that resembled light that was gathered together and was condensed appeared and grabbed the Blaze Eagle in one go with it being large enough that it was a person was holding onto a small harmless bird.

“Burn!” shouted the Blaze Eagle intending to erase the 'hand' that was grabbing onto it with it's white flames that was not inferior to a Phoenix. However in response, the hand's power increased more and more until the Blaze Eagle was crushed into pieces.

“Hmp.”

Walking to it's remains, Alexandra took her hand and absorbed the remaining pieces that the Blaze Eagle left behind when it 'died'. If she didn't do this, it could revive later on though greatly weakened.

“You guys didn't help this one....were you planning to try and obtain another Sun Authority while you could?”

Alexandra looked to her left and right. There, both the Metal Bear and Crystal Lion simply watched her kill the Blaze Eagle before their eyes. Seeing this, she sighed since no matter where she went and when; there would always to those who abandon others to get ahead of their own plans.

Increasing the power of the 'Light Warrior' into it's full form as a massive giant that was a hundred metres tall, Alexandra said:

“Do not underestimate me. Something of your levels...I don't even need to use my Sun Authorities against you two.”

Light appeared in the two hands of the 'Light Warrior' and turned into giant blades of light.

“Disappear trash. You have no right to even try to steal from me.”

Alexandra's mood turned sour at that moment and she decided to let out some frustration on them.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

Several hundred metres away from where Alexandra was...

[She is quite powerful....at least on the same level as me in my Dragon Form....and yet she has yet to use her full power...what kind of monster is she? Those foes though weaker than myself are still some of the stronger beings on this continent]

White was observing Alexandra, to be precise the flow of power that was coming out of the direction Alexandra was in. There, two small sparks were running about trying to avoid being consumed by the massive light that was at the centre.

If you look close, you could barely see a giant white figure in the middle of it through sight alone. It was something that was considerably rare to see on the continent even with it's long history. At least it was something that White who was considerably young for a Dragon King never seen before.

[Back then...yes those three were focused on running away from me...]

White remembered back when Eden first brought Alexandra and that other one named Viv with him to meet at the Dragon Crossing Mountains. There, enraged White attacked all three of them and drove them out from the mountains.

[I wonder who was truly spared back then...]

White let out a sad laugh at the sheer ignorance that he had before as well as the shame thinking back on his actions.

[Anyway....she will take care of things here easily....me being her back-up was pointless....better return back to the city then...at least before Eden wakes up]

From his back spouted white dragon wings as the rest of his body slowly transformed from human form to his dragon form. His body eventually after a few seconds changed to the point that he was forced to stand on four legs instead of two.

In that form, he flapped his wings and immediately with great speed, like a beam of light headed back to the city.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

“Ca-captain! A mo-monster appeared!!!” shouted one of the lower ranked guards that suddenly barged into the 'secondary' barrack of the city.

The Captain Guard that had a relationship with the S.S Centre Guild as well as one to Eden as well as relaxing sharpening his sword for use later on. One must always keep the sword sharp, it does not matter if the armour is rusted or broken, the sword comes first. This was one of the lessons that he had learnt from a wandering freeman that fought like the wind and raged like fire.

“A simple monster and your already like this? I can't say I'm a bit disappointed” replied the Captain Guard with a sigh.

“Send out some more gu-”

“Captain! The city is on fire!”

Another guard, one that was more higher ranked than the other also ran into the room as well cutting off what the Captain Guard was about to say. Confused on these two reports and yet knew that they were connected, went out of the barrack that he was in to look north.

“....”

What he saw could be said to come out of a story of the end of the world. The sky was blazed a deep red and that part of the city was completely covered in flames. And in the centre of a red giant made of flames.

“You got to be kidding....” muttered the Captain Guard knowing that this somehow involved 'that' guild. He involuntary let out a deep sigh before addressing the rest of the guards that looked onto him for advice and what to do.

“First....avoid the red giant over there. That thing is a death trap if you get near and is it....firing fireballs around? No wonder why the city is in flames...second is get all of the citizens out of the city or at least as far away from that red giant as possible without endangering them. Head South since it's at the north side of the city. Also, have some guards as well as those freeman that aren't doing anything to pick up a bucket and try to put out the fires. Everything else is on your own discretion! If I hear that you lot are looting the place....'they' will deal with you.”

“YES SIR!!!”

A whole group of around 200 guards shouted those words at once and started running to complete their task at hand. There was another 300 guards at the city though most of them were shattered about, the Captain Guard at least trusted them enough to not do anything stupid in 'their' city.

Taking out his armour, the Captain Guard went to one place alone.

To the Red Giant to confront it.

“I have a duty to protect this city...I made a promise to something worse than the devil to do so...and I will not back down now.”

In his hand, a sword of pure red shone. Before it, all flames were useless; one of the rare and powerful ego swords that had a sword was the weapon that the Captain Guard wield.

But before he got into action, he saw a pure white beam of lightning hit the Red Giant square on.

BANG!

The Red Giant was pushed back a bit by the blast. The Captain Guard could only stare stunned at what he saw next.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

A bit before in time...

White was speeding ahead though not at his top speed back to the city.

[What it that...?]

From the distance view of the city, it looked strangely....red. In fact it looked like the city or at least a good portion of it was on fire.

[Seriously???]

What White saw strangely looked like the end of the world. There was a giant flame giant that was red...yes a red giant at the centre of things that was attacking everything around it. White knew in fact that he would have to deal with it now that he saw it.

[Eden is still asleep I suppose...]

White remembered that during Alexandra dragging him away, she explained that Eden would sleep for a week due to his stamina dropping too low and the need to recover like that. If it was anyone else, they wouldn't died already or at least broken down badly.

[First of all....Dragon Breath!]

White charged up his Dragon Breath in his mouth and then fired it as a beam of lightning at the Red Giant.

Bang!

The attack hit the Red Giant and yet did not deal a massive amount of damage to it.

[Tch, if I could use water element attacks..]

Most Dragons could only use one element though there were some rare ones that could use multiple ones due to mutation. White was not one of them and could only use Lightning which to be honest, isn't that effective against fire.

[In that case, Burst Stream!]

White's body glowed a bright white as he charged into the Red Giant with great speed.

Bang!

[What?!]

White went straight through the Red Giant made of flames completely and shot to the ground taking out a whole house in the process. A bit embarrassed White shot once again hitting the Red Giant a couple of times in a row.

Bang Bang Bang...!

[Damn this isn't working at all...at this rate I'm going lose....wait...this thing is kinda similar to that Sun Creature that Alexandra fought just then...that bird creature that was made of flames....if I use purifying effects....]

White retreated back a bit as the Red Giant noticed him and shot several fireballs that were the size of a large ball taller than a human at him. Dodging these, White shouted and fired:

[Holy Lightning!]

Pure white lightning was once more shot out of his mouth. However this one was different from the one from before as it was in the form of a ball instead of a beam and it also related to Holy Magic in a sense.

Bang!

The attack hit the shoulder of the Red Giant and cleanly ripped through it easily.

“Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!”

The Red Giant let out a scream seeing that White's attack dealt a good amount of damage to it. The place where White hit although not to the point of not regenerating but slowly healed compared to the other parts of it's body.

[Not completely effective against that thing but....!]

Bang Bang Bang...!

White sent out several more of those Holy Lightning Attacks and continued his barrage of attacks even if his attacks were powerful enough to go through the Red Giant and then hit the city every single time...

Eventually after an hour of attacks from White who had to stop to recharge on mana to use more Holy Lightning attacks, the Red Giant disappeared.

[This is....]

In place of the Red Giant, it transformed into an eight headed creature that each was a different colour. It was a Hydra, a legendary creature in any sense and this one had eight heads which made it considerably strong. The more heads a hydra had, the stronger it was, it is said that there is a hundred head hydra somewhere hidden away on a distant land.

“ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!!”

All eight heads roared at once and moved at White who was in the air slight higher than the total height of the hydra which was 40 metres tall.

[Tch]

Using his high mobility in the air, White dodged the heads that came to bite him into pieces. The hydra rampaged without concern of what was happening on the ground only focusing on White which had the power to damage it. However turning into this form was a mistake by White's standards.

[Burst Stream!]

White covered his body in white light once again and burst through the Hydra with great speed and power pinpointed in a small area.

Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang!!!

In rapid succession, White hit the hydra a total of 18 times in a row before it could even react. White's speed was comparable to lightning that struck the ground in thunderstorms and was one of the few beings with speed that fast.

[Dragon Breath!]

White moving rapidly around the hydra that spat out several different elemental attacks at it such as water, ice and even lightning, White used the beam like attack in the form of his Dragon Breath to circle around and rip apart the Hydra's body like a knife cutting through butter.

“ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOARRR!!!”

The Hydra let out one last scream as it fell into pieces and disappeared though not before it destroyed a couple more houses in the process.

[This is....impossible right? What has Eden done....?]

White was more than ever honestly surprised that the being that was the 'core' of the Hydra was one of his now fellow guild mates by the name of Ron. The shameless lackey like person that was pushed around by the others and someone that White did not particularly pay attention much to.

Reverting back to human form since his Dragon Form attracted too much attention, White wondered what happened in order to lead to this result of the city burning and a monster rampaging about.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

“Did it end...?” asked Sain who was one of wise people to get away as far as possible from the 'incident' while he could. Next to him was another person who had this same thought as well.

“Probably....did that Ron person turn into an eight headed creature that looked exactly like a Hydra at the end?” wondered Miriel as well.

“No, it wasn't that he turned into something that looked like one but rather turned 'into one' completely....quite frightening” replied Sain correcting Miriel's view, “To think he had that much power....” Sain sighed when saying this.

Miriel sighed as well and added in, “All of our masters in the guild are monsters...though I didn't think Ron would be the biggest one of the group. I wonder what other secrets they are hiding from us...it looked like that power has some relation to these 'marks' that we have.”

“I certainly hope not....I rather not turn into something like that and be hunted down by the city just like that.”

“I doubt that any of us will turn out like Ron in the end....except maybe Lyndis since she is his apprentice after all...”

“By the way, how do we get out of this situation?” asked Sain blushing a bit red now that he was on that topic.

“How would I know?! Move away a bit more! I look like I'm glued onto you!”

Right now both of them were stuck in a certain position under the rubble of what used to be a house. To be precise, they were in a shop and it suddenly collapsed on them. It would have been more likely to die there than be in this situation where they are literally stuck like that for at least till someone saves them.

“I can't. There's no more room to move from.”

“Are you calling me fat?!”

“How the hell did the topic lead there?!” retorted Sain, he knew that that was a bad topic to be on but to get from there from....well not having enough room was beyond him.

It was only a couple more hours later that they were saved from this situation and result in them trying to never mention it again.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

“Situation resolved.”

Those were the only words that left Anna's mouth as the Hydra fell in battle. On her side was Park and to her other side were a group of 3 people that nearly died this time round due to their own stupidity.

“What do you mean resolved? Nothing has been resolved here...if Eden finds out of this...” muttered Park cursing that he really couldn't stop this in time. He sighed and looked at Gen, Mel and Jenny who were pretty burnt up by Ron when he was on his rampage.

“Too bad that neither me nor Anna can heal you two...just suffer a bit more in this state....still it'll be better than when Eden realises that the city is in this state and we are the main cause here...” said Park depressed on facing an enraged Eden as well.

As if they were still awake, the three that were injured groaned at the same time as if their body knew what was going to happen to them sooner or later.

“Now...how to deal with the aftermath?” wondered Park.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

Meanwhile in the real world...

“Hey~ I found some interesting here!” shouted Maria calling over the other three to her as she put up what was being aired on the large T.V on the wall. The show immediately started as they sat down watching it.

“This is Hyun-li Yun here from KMC Studios, reporting on a sudden monster attack at one of the cities in the western continent. The city in question named Witchelm was attacked by a Red Giant made of flames according to players there and while fighting against a mysterious being in the air, turned into an Eight Headed Hydra and fell soon after taking out the majority of the city with it.”

The woman who spoke on the screen was one of the newer broadcaster on the network and was one of the more popular ones due to her looks and attitude to the game. Next to her was a relatively young man as well with a model face and charming voice.

“Yes, it is indeed unfortunate that such an attack suddenly happen. However reports comes in that players and NPCs alike from the city worked together in kindred spirits to put out the flames that destroyed most of the city as well. Hyun-li Yun, I cannot help but to speculate that this attack is related to a bigger picture.”

“Yes Oh-gum Wo; such an attack is unprecedented even in the long history of the game. Royal Road still remains after 26 years of release to be the most popular VRMMORPG on the market with the majority share in gaming today. There are a few other games that tries to break from the influence Royal Road has with improved technology and ideas but Royal Road still remains strong.”

“I just have to wonder when Royal Road will lose it's massive popularity in the end. With more and more VRMMORPG in the market, Royal Road isn't as unique as before.”

“What? Royal Road still remains as the top since not only it was the first but also because the quality of the other VRMMORPG still pales compared to it. Hundreds or thousands or lesser copies will not stop people from using superior products!”

And so started once again the dispute between both hosts to the show. At this moment, Maria turned off the screen and then addressed the others.

“It seems that we missed some interesting events while still stuck here” she said with great regret. She would have wanted to see the Red Giant or Hydra if she could. However Grace silently sighed in relief since she wasn't there to suffer in it's presence.

“Most likely thing would be us dying again if we were there though” said Ian a bit critical but then he added, “Peter and Hina aren't out of the game...so they survived that incident then?”

“Most likely” replied Mark as well which actually added some credibility to Ian's words even though they knew that if they died then they would be ejected from the capsules.

“Anyway, what have you guys found so far?” asked Maria all of a sudden cutting the conversation like that and moving onto the next topic.

“The prices of metals are decreasing.”

“The prices of weapons in particular are increasing rapidly. Magic item prices are decreasing though.”

“Umm...there are a lot more people spreading out from the centre of the continent.”

Maria pondered for a while and then said, “Right, let's do a little research on other cities on the continent. I would like to see some of them one day with everyone else!” in a cheerful voice that lightened the mood quickly as well.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

As Alexandra was cleaning up the are she fought in...to be precise, the place was turned into metal and crystal; Alexandra decided to just smash everything into pieces so the economics of the game itself if such rare and powerful raw materials were to drop into someone's hands.

“Should I just take these materials to the guild....? It would make Eden after all in the end...”

Alexandra wondered on that point as she saw lots of smoke and flames in the sky in the direction of the city.

“The City...?”

Alexandra had a bad feeling that the city and everyone else in it was wrapped into something bad. Considering the luck Eden had, the city by the time that Alexandra went back would be in ruins.

“Better harvest these materials then to pay for the expense of the repairs....this might be....enough?” Alexandra hoped that the possibly thousands of gold worth of materials would be enough to cover the costs of the repairs and most likely rebuild of the city in the end.

“Better not tell Eden about this then...” muttered Alexandra taking out a large bag to put the metal and crystal in to sell later.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

Leaving most of the work to command the other guards to put out the remaining flames, move the rubble and generally cleaning up the city, the Captain Guard immediately went to the Guild Building of a certain guild that he knew in particular.

“Eden you in?” he shouted while entering the building without as much of a knock.

“Ah, Captain Guard. You're here at last” replied someone who was not Eden. He was a man that looked to be in his 60s and yet as still donned in armour to the point that it wouldn't be strange for him to go out to war. He as an imposing aura around him with his spear at hand all the time.

“Park” the Captain Guard said seeing him instead of Eden, “What happened to Eden?” he asked in the end.

“Over there sleeping.”

Park pointed to the right and there on the sofa, was a sleeping Eden that looked like something that came out of a painting. In fact it looked like a sleeping beauty was bewitched to eternal sleep to the point that the Captain Guard wanted to at that moment to go to him and give Eden a kiss to wake up.

'Wait, what the hell am I thinking?!'

The Captain Guard shook that idea out of his mind quickly. If he did something like that...several people including Eden and Alexandra....his wife would kill him or probably worst. However he did go over to Eden and immediately grabbed him and shook him like he was mugging him.

“Eden! Wake up!” he shouted at Eden but there was no sign of him waking up at all.

“Don't bother. If something like that can wake him up then we would have done so already” said Park with a sigh.

Dropping Eden back down, the Captain Guard looked around and only found the small-

“Don't call me small.”

KICK!

The Captain Guard was promptly kicked at the knee by this sh-I mean perfectly balanced girl in dark purple and black like a ninja. Anyway, there was only the girl that he knew to be called Anna here and no one else.

“Where are the others? I would think they would've fought against that creature” the Captain Guard inquired.

“Out of commission” said Anna which could only be made sense with context.

Park shook his head and then said, “They were the first victims....of Ron's rampage.”

“Ron? You mean that man who looks like a lackey and a pervert that all women hate?” The Captain Guard raised his eyebrow since that Ron looked harmless enough even with his armour on.

“Yes, didn't you know that everyone and everything in this guild is a monster in some way?” asked Park sarcastically.

The Captain Guard frowned and then proceeded to say, “If Ron is responsible then I need to take him in. He has caused so much damage to the city that it is not funny at all.”

The Captain Guard immediately started to walk to where Ron was...though he did not know exactly; he had a feeling that he was located upstairs. However Park and Anna blocked the way.

“Can't let you do that” said Park firmly holding onto his spear and letting out a frightening aura even for the Captain Guard.

The Captain Guard back away a bit and then grabbed the hilt of his sword and asked, “Are you stopping me?” prepared to fight even if it means his death.

Park let out a smile at that point and then said, “No no no, I just can't let non-guild members upstairs due to the rules....or anywhere else in this building for the matter.”

The Captain Guard and Park both calmed their auras down and let go of their weapons. However this still did not stop the Captain Guard wanting to get Ron who was responsible for this incident.

“That reminds me...where are the other three then? You said they were victims....?”

To this both Park and Anna let out a sigh.

“Foolishness.”

“You can say that again. They managed to piss off that easy going and super calm Ron....and what you saw was the result of that. They are still alive...barely so we threw them into the Vortex World to recover slowly....Ron is in the same place as well recovering from the damage he took when White fought him.”

“White?” The Captain Guard had never heard of this person nor knew that this person was part of the guild as well. His impression was that there was only Eden, Alexandra, Viv plus a handful of other people, at most a dozen more.

“The maid that Alexandra brought in.”

“Maid?!”

From the corner of his eye he could have sworn that he saw a silvery white haired beautiful girl in a short maid outfit with frills at the end. He had heard rumours of Eden kidnapping a girl to be his maid...something that was ridiculous due to too many reasons but it seems there was indeed a maid and it was powerful enough to take out that monster known as Ron.

“Anyway, your distracting me. Give me Ron so I can imprison him till his sentence that will be made later.”

“Imprisonment for what?” asked Park in an almost mocking tone.

“For the crime of harming the city...several lives were lost today.”

“I'm sorry for that but he will be punished later.....along with the rest of us by.....Eden. Unless you want to get involved with Eden's punishment as well of course, in that case you are more than welcome to punish us first and leave Eden out of it.”

“I'm sorry to disturb you, I need to help clean up and restore the city” replied the Captain Guard immediately backing out and almost running away from this.

“That was quick” said Anna watching the Captain Guard become busy.

“Well Eden's name does wonder to people considering that he caused worst damage than this on his worst days” replied Park leaving the building as well, “Time to start cleaning up this mess. Make sure you look around and save people who are trapped under rubble.”

“Right.”

[In that case, I will watch over this bui-]

“Need to help” said Anna grabbing onto White dragging him out of the building to help in the rescue efforts.

[Stop! At least not in this maid outfit!]

White's screams were unheard as he was once more dragged into this.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

Dragging White with her, Anna started to run around the place often jumping over knocked down houses while looking for people who were in trouble. Behind her was White who was strangely grabbing the helm of the skirt he was wearing.

“Why?” asked Anna without context of what she was asking for.

[Because this skirt is too short!] shouted White using his mental abilities understanding her question without much to work on.

“Why?”

[Again? Umm....] White wondered what Anna was asking about this time. Seeing that White didn't respond in around 5 seconds, Anna asked again with a bit more:

“Why the skirt?”

That time, White fully understood her question.

[Because Alexandra forced me into it!]

“Why?”

[Again? Please extend your questions a bit more!] begged White not wanting to work like this in these clothes and with a person that barely had proper communication skills.

“Change clothes?”

[Huh? I couldn't find any at all]

Anna went through a bag that she pulled out and took out some dark clothes that seemed a bit small but was the right size for White. Seeing this act, White also tear up and grabbed Anna's hands and the clothes she took out and said:

[Thank yo-]

“No changing from those clothes” said to what seemed to be the devil himself to White. White looked in horror to the source of voice.

“Master Al” said Anna seeing her.

[Alexandra.....]

Still in the armour that she used against the Sun Creatures that were bothering her, Alexandra stood next to White restraining him from changing clothes.

“What's with that gloomy face? It's like you met someone you didn't like” said Alexandra with a amused smile on her face.

[No..um...why are you here?]

“Why? Naturally because I found out that the city was in ruins while I wasn't looking. More to the point, I felt like White was making a mistake here as well.”

'Me changing from this maid outfit to something more normal is a mistake...?'

“Anyway, I'm getting some cries all around the city. We better help them out to relieve some of the tension they have with our guild” said Alexandra now leading both Anna and White in the rescue effort.

'How much longer do I have to wear this embarrassing outfit...?' thought White as he sighed and followed behind Alexandra who was already moving faster than a normal human could as if she was using flash step.

'At this rate...am I really going to be stuck as the maid character?'

[p=center]xXx[/p]

“Captain, did you find out who was the cause of this incident?” asked one of the other guards when the Captain Guard started to order people around the place to make sure that no one was hurt or worst.

“Yes” he simply replied without much energy.

“Then...where is that person then?” asked the same guard. This question peaked the interest of the other guards around as well as they listened in.

“Don't worry about it. It wasn't an act of malice or anything like that...just don't go looking in it.”

“Captain! What are you saying?! We need to bring the one responsible to justice!”

“Even if we are punished with them?”

“Huh?”

The other guards were now completely confused of the words that their Captain Guard were spouting out. Some of them were considering that he was in fact bewitched or at least controlled by some sort of magic.

“Listen here. There are three forces that you must never piss off in this Kingdom. The first is our petty Emperor, next is that Senate of 13 that has power over all nobles and finally....them. That Guild that has connections to both of those powers as well as enough power on their own to cause the downfall of this Kingdom. This incident is connected to them and that is why we, as lowly guards cannot interfere at all.”

“....”

The other guards stood silent to those words. Never once did the Captain Guard actually say those words before and he was mostly all about bringing justice down to evil. However there was something that is straightforward and somewhat narrow minded person fear?

“And don't worry about the punishment bit...when that person wakes up to see the sorry state this city is in, they will wished they have died later on” said the Captain Guard with a bit of satisfaction in his voice.

That person's punishment was one of the worst things you could go through and he knew it. Many of those who were punished by him never dared do anything wrong in their lives ever again...if he spared them.

“If the Emperor is the trunk of the tree...then the Senate would be the branches that connect to the nobles and people while the Guild would be hidden away as the roots supporting everything without anyone knowing....”

The Captain Guard sighed as he continued ordering people to work faster in removing all the rubble in the city and help put out the lasts of the fires.

Onwards?PreviousExitNext

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Author's Notes:

- Word Count: 8300~

- This took a while to write...mostly due to me working on other things and starting a new 1.8 world in minecraft.

- Well this chapter is more or less the results of the last chapter...where Ron gets seriously pissed off and goes berserk. Other than that, sorting out several characters at once is kinda difficult to do...well I can deal with it to this extent. I more or less know what will go on in chapter 4 and somewhat in chapter 5 as well...either way, it's going to take a while to write especially with an exam coming soon next week as well...