Han Ling opened his eyes, seeing Aiko opening hers in front of him, her dark eyes fluttering slightly before widening as she looked around. There were right inside a forest filled with multicoloured trees and lush pink coloured grass. “Why are we here?” She looked around once before turning to Han Ling. “Why did you bring –”

She gasped.

Han Ling peeled off the skin off his face, revealing his bare face for a split second before he placed a black blank mask on his face. He kept his cloak since the Gorgon’s Fury set wasn’t really fit for him. “Alright I’m ready. I’ll send us in now.” He looked up to see Aiko covering her mouth with her eyes sparkling.

“Princess?” Aiko snapped out of her shock, coughing softly as she looked at everywhere but Han Ling, pulling her hair behind her ear. “Why do you wear a mask if you have such a handsome face?” she muttered, to which Han Ling heard every word.

“Handsome? My face is handsome?” Aiko stared at Han Ling like he was an idiot, “You are probably the most handsome man I have ever seen. I would marry you on the spot if I could.” She paused, her face turning beet red, she covered her face with her hands, “I DIDN’T MEAN TO SAY THAT!” Han Ling laughed out loud, a happy, carefree laugh.

“What did you mean when you said, ‘if I could’?” Aiko’s face turned a shade redder, “FORGET ABOUT IT!” Han Ling chuckled again, finding her expression extremely adorable, but he gave up on teasing her and just raised his hand.

Aiko took it and they flashed in a purple light again.

This time they appeared right in front of a large mansion like building created with stone bricks. The moment they appeared, a group of guards approached them, at the lead was Lightning Prince. The once arrogant man was calm, his hair was now black and his temperament much better than before after his defeat by Han Ling.

Lightning Prince noticed the black mask, “Blood Mask! Just in time! We need you in the war room!” Han Ling tilted his head to the side, “What happened?”

Lightning Prince shrugged, “I’ve only been tasked with guarding, I don’t know what’s going on inside except its important, so its better you go as well.” Han Ling nodded turning to Aiko, “I think its better if you follow as well, since I have feeling its about alliances…” Aiko raised her eyebrows, “How do you know?” “Just a guess.”

They made their way up, and after a few minutes, they were right in front of a large wooden door, behind it was hushed talking. Han Ling knocked on the door before entering, and he inwardly sighed at the sight inside.

On the right there was 3 significant figures, the first was the Pope’s direct general, the Holy Crusader Siegfried. He was a tall young man in a white gold armour from head to toe, he wore a knight-like helm with small slits for sight.

Next to him was another important figure in the Itone, the great general of the Kaisaris Dynasty, Choro don. Then next to him was the regal, silver haired Alyndra, the princess of the elves of Isbel. Following Alyndra was the representatives of Kitsune and Komainu, Grandmaster Kashikoi and Head Chief Hoko, respectively.

On the left was Qian Xun of the Humble Sage guild, next to him was Kazuto, a Russian representative from Kulak Boga, the top Russian guild. Following him is a Korean woman with a cold glare and a hard demeanour.

Setting at the lead of the table was a haggard looking Narukami, his fingers pressing his temple. And behind was Sojobo, looking slightly amused.

The room went silent at the sight of Han Ling and Aiko, Sojobo broke the silence first, “Blood Mask! Great of you to join us!” Narukami glanced at the blank mask and waved, “Have a seat, Blood Mask.” Then he saw the girl next to Blood Mask, “Aiko? Why are you here with him?”

Aiko quickly reacted, “Greetings, I’m the princess of the Wave Kingdom, Aiko, Han Ling has created an alliance with the kingdom and we have joined the Thunder Sword alliance.”

Narukami widened his eyes and smiled, “Good! The more the merrier, please sit down as the representative of the Wave Kingdom.” Han Ling took his seat next to Narukami, and Aiko sat next to Chief Hoko.

Sojobo coughed to get everyone’s attention, “I shall now start the first official meeting of the Thunder Sword Alliance.”

Everyone Han Ling already knew introduced themselves, until the Russian and South Korean representatives introduced themselves.

“I am Cherenkov, the Guild Leader of Kulak Boga, representing the nation of Russia.”

“Kim Gyu Ri, Guild Leader of Quaking Dragon, representing South Korea.”

Then they moved on to the Itone side.

“I’m Aiko, Princess of the Wave Kingdom.”

“’I’m Grandmaster Kashikoi, the representative for the Kitsune.”

“I’m Head Chief Hoko, representative for the Komainu.”

“I’m Alyndra, First Princess of the Elves of Isbel.”

“I am Choro Don, the 5th Ranking general of the Kaisaris Dynasty.”

“The Holy Crusader of the Holy Empire Siegfried”

Sojobo nodded, “Now that the introductions are complete, I will first address the issues we face.” He addressed the people, “The old monsters of the Realm have awoken, King Kobra has awoken from his slumber along with The First Founder of the Vampires. We have gathered the news of a giant walking mountain heading towards the Undead Empire, as well as the Spider Mother ravaging the countryside of the Beast Empire.”

“That leads to the next problem, the Goblin Empire has recruited the Giants of the North, and they have declared war against the Thunder Sword Alliance. The Vampires have also declared war with us, which is why General Choro Don and Crusader Siegfried is here for.”

Choro Don stood, his voice a deep baritone. “The Kaisaris Dynasty has conquered a kingdom of Lizardmen and have set up a defensive line against the Beast Empire. But even with our preparations, we fear we have underestimated the Beast Empire’s strength. So, I come here to ask for aid from the Thunder Sword Alliance, to join the alliance as well.”

Siegfried then stood, “The Holy Empire faces the same issue, despite our upper hand against the Undead Empire, we are worried of volatile enemies that may appear, spelling doom for the Holy Empire. Hence, the pope has tasked me to create an alliance with the Thunder Sword Alliance.”

Both Choro Don and Siegfried turned to Narukami for his opinion, the king of Jiron stared into space, silent for a good while before speaking, “Blood Mask, what do you think on this?”

The others widened their eyes in surprise, all heads turning to the man sitting quietly next to Narukami. “I believe an alliance is unwise at this stage of the war.”

This shocked the others and Siegfried asked out loud, his voice a little constrained, “And why is that?” “The relationships between the three monster empires are only rivalries, if the Kaisaris Dynasty, Holy Empire and the Thunder Alliance were to join hands, there is no guarantee that the monster empires won’t do the same.”

At this everyone’s expression darkened slightly, “Everyone has a good idea how strong three empires will be, so I recommend holding on for a week or two.” Siegfried raised an eyebrow, “You have a method to deepen their rivalry?”

Han Ling’s eyes glimmered, “There is an artifact that all three sides would die to obtain. I have learned much in the Realm of Monsters, and I have found a secret the Goblin Empire would kill to keep.”

The others leaned forward, interested in this artifact.

Han Ling smiled under his mask, “You’ll know when the chaos erupts.” He turns to Choro Don and Siegfried, “I’m sure you wouldn’t want to see an alliance of three empires, do you?” Their expressions turned grave, and Choro Don sighed, “I must admit that you speak the truth, with the alliance of three empires, we’ll be destroyed in a few days.” He rubbed his face in helplessness but stood and left without another word.

Siegfried stood as well, bowing to Narukami and the others before leaving. “Now all that is left is the members of the Thunder Sword Alliance, I have a few things I wished to discuss with you all if you would stay and listen.”

“As King Narukami knows, I have an ability to see parts of the future, which is why Jiron was able to counter the Goblin invasion a month ago.” Almost everyone in the room raised their eyebrows, Kazuto openly gasped, “That makes so much sense!” Then he realized his outburst and apologized with a mumble.

Han Ling continued, “A few days after Jiron successfully countered the Goblin invasion, I got a glimpse of a second invasion, hordes upon hordes of green skinned orcs will pour out of a portal, they would ravage the entire continent, nations like the Wave Kingdom would be swallowed whole, the people used as breeding tools for their next horde…” The others solemnly listened, but Kim Gyu Ri spoke up, a trace of suspicion on her face, “What if you have some other ulterior motives, trying to trick us?”

Han Ling raised both hands as if surrendering, “Jiron successfully countered the Goblin army with my intelligence, its already been a month since then, and I haven’t done anything that would threaten the kingdom.” Narukami spoke up, “I can vouch that Han Ling really does have the ability to see the future, he accurately predicted a group of goblins hiding in the mountains that would devastate Stormval if left alone.”

Kim Gyu Ri was silent for a while before nodding. “I shall trust the Lightning Emperor.” Han Ling helplessly wring his hands, you don’t trust me? Well then again I wear a mask and she has no clue who I am…

“I have already prepared a few islands that will act as the Thunder Sword Alliance’s base of operations in the conquered blasted islands. Take Aiko with you when your ships plan to sail towards that direction.” The representatives nodded silently, only Aiko frowned slightly but didn’t say anything. “That’s all I have to say now, I will leave in 2 days to find the Kyofu No Kakashi and bring it to our side.”

With that Han Ling disappeared in a purple flash. Kim Gyu Ri narrowed her eyes, “Can he be trusted?” Narukami nodded, “He’s been of great help to Jiron, a few days Storm Haven was besieged by the Vampires, their own Duke came to finish us. If Blood Mask didn’t appear in time, we’ll all be destroyed.” Cherenkov widened his eyes as he remember something, “My guild got word of a super expert that saved the elites of Jiron, that person was him?!”

Narukami nodded with a helpless smile, “He was the one who killed Duke Alvarez. He’s much stronger than I am.” Head Chief Hoko growled, “To be able to defeat The strongest duke in the Vampire kingdom, he’s quite strong…”

Grandmaster Kashikoi chuckled, “With someone as capable as him, we’ll be in good hands.”

Aiko sat at the end of the table shocked at the achievements of Han Ling, she mumbled, “I didn’t know someone nearly the same age as me would be so different…” Grandmaster Kashikoi overheard her mumble and stared at her with wide eyes, “You’ve seen his face?”

Aiko shuddered, feeling the gaze of everyone on her, “W-Well, when he brought me here, he changed his mask in front of me and I had a look…”

Immediately the others pestered her on his looks…