Swooping down from the sky came a giant bird that had a wingspan of 160 metres. It looked quite similar to an Eagle, only, it was multiple times more domineering and was far more elegantly shaped. Furthermore, its feathers were completely white with an undertone of gold, and they were alight with golden coloured flames. Lastly, it had 2 eyes that were similar to Liyanda’s (completely gold and blazing), but it also had a 3rd eye on its forehead that was very similar to Jörma’s Eye of Petrification, but instead of red, it was a pale blue. It too carried the distinct impression of flames.

Without a doubt, this was a very interesting figure.

Other figures that were clearly of the same species were following it from a distance, however, not only were they much, much smaller, but their feathers, although similarly alight with golden flames, were only pure white in colour and had no golden undertones. Neither of them had a 3rd eye either and their 2 regular eyes, which were also gold, still retained a normal white sclera and bold black pupils.

Looking at all of these birds, it didn’t take much to guess that the Heavenly Sun had adopted a new species.

The giant bird finally landed not too far from the Heavenly Sun and bowed down to it immediately, keeping its head down in a show of subservience for a whole 5 minutes before standing up tall again. Looking at it now, not only did it have a large wingspan which only a legendary bird like the Phoenixes and the Purgatory Vermillion Birds had when they entered the 4th Realm, but it also had a respectable height of 56 metres. This bird was completely awe-inspiring.

But somebody seemed to disagree.

“Hey, Eagle. Now that you’ve finished acknowledging the Lord, get out of my way. You’re blocking my sight.” a bold female voice spoke, not a single ounce of awe or respect to be found.

The giant bird twisted its head to gaze at the tiny female to its side. In the next moment, it suddenly began to transform without warning, rapidly shrinking in size until what remained was a 2.2 metre tall male human.

But of course it wasn’t a human. And if the fact that the man had just transformed wasn’t a dead giveaway, then surely the flaming white-feathered wings that were protruding from his back was.

In this form, the bird-now-man had long white hair that had golden undertones just like his feathers, and he was incredibly handsome. But other than the wings, the man’s only other beast-like feature was the talons that replaced a normal human’s nails. Of course, the 3rd eye was still there, but considering the fact that it was very obviously an Evil Eye, calling it ‘beast-like feature’ was a bit inappropriate.

Right now, all 3 of those eyes were narrowed as he focused his attention on the female human before him.

She had long wild golden hair that tumbled to her ankles, a delicious figure that could entice any man and blazing eyes that were completely golden. She gave off the demeanour of an unruly and domineering woman, but this coupled with the pure seduction of her body only caused one to want to subdue her and possess her.

“Liyanda... How many times must I tell you not to call me that?” The man said with a deceptively cold voice as he advanced towards the girl, stepping so close until they could feel each other's breath.

“Well I just said it. What are you going to do about it?” Liyanda replied without a hint of fear as she stared into the man’s eyes that were just like her own (minus the third one).

The man raised up his hand and caressed the woman’s cheek in a slow, sensuous manner. It looked like a loving move, but in just a single second a bead of blood had appeared and was now trickling down her face.

“Hmm…” the man hummed as he watched the blood drop off of her chin. “If you were anyone else, I would have already eaten you.” he said bluntly. Then he dropped his hand and backed off. “But of course I won’t.”

Liyanda suddenly smirked. “Wow…~ The little eagle that I saved that day has become so bold. Whatever will I do.”

“Golden Roc, Liyanda. Golden Roc. I am no longer an Eagle and have risen far, far above my past self. At least acknowledge that.” The man responded, indifferent to the girl’s apparent amusement.

“Sure, sure, Pharaoh. Sure.” Liyanda said flippantly. But then her face suddenly became serious. “So…? How did it go?”

Hearing her question, Pharaoh closed his eyes and sighed before seeming to gather himself again. “I had to kill a few of them to make them take me seriously,-” Liyanda’s face tensed. “-But eventually, I did get to meet the Phoenix King. And as could be expected, he was quite furious with what I had done and almost attacked me.” Liyanda’s frown grew. “But, when I explained myself and my reason for coming, he directly punished those trashy guards of his without hesitation. It was quite amusing~” Pharaoh said with a smirk, the first show of emotion since he had arrived. But it slipped away in the next moment.

“Anyhow, the arrogant King actually agreed. As a matter of fact, he even took me to meet the 9 Flame Queen and both of them have agreed to help when the time comes. What’s more is that they both spoke of gaining help from other Continents, something we had not thought of before.”

Liyanda’s already-luminous eyes brightened further. “Wonderful! I was still worried before, even after knowing that the 2 other rulers of this Continent were likely to aid us. After all, if what that Duck said was to be true, the being known as Envy has already conquered an entire Continent with his army and he’s only going to get more powerful. If he’s truly set sight on our Continent like the Duck said, then we are really in deep trouble.” Liyanda said. “Though… I’m surprised at how easy it was for the Phoenix King and the 9 Vermillion Bird to agree to help us. Did they not doubt you at all?

Pharaoh shook his head. “A little bit. The Phoenix King only asked me for Envy’s appearance and I told him what the Duck told us. From then on he believed me completely.” Then he seemed to realise something. “Hey, do you reckon they know each other? They’re both Phoenixes after all.”

“It’s very likely…” Liyanda said absentmindedly, then she shook her head. “In any case, all we can do now is continue to raise our strength. Whether we gain extra help or not is up to the other 2 Rulers.”

“Right…” Pharaoh said and then turned to look at the Heavenly Sun Flame. “I will do anything to protect my lord, even if I have to ignite this Eye of Cremation and blow myself up to do it.”

He then turned back to look at Liyanda, who was staring back at him. All of their eyes burning with zeal.