Dyne was immersed in his calculations when Rena, who was by his side, started to get worried that Dyne didn’t even greet her when he woke up.

“Erm… Little Brother? Are you alright?” Rena asked.

Dyne was startled awake by Rena’s call. He had been so absorbed with the increase in his power from the formation of the Digi-Egg and the dream that he forgot Rena’s presence.

“So-Sorry! I was… cultivating!”

“Oh, no need to say sorry, little brother. I was just worried. Has Jedo told you? The rest went on and began to hunt. There were plenty of Serus that appeared outside because of what happened.”

“Yes. Jedo told me. This will be good! I hope they capture a lot. With those Slimes, they can capture the smaller ones like the Veras and the Gimards.”

“I am hoping too. This Vera alone has allowed me to have magic that can challenge Martial Novices in the Temple! If our warriors in Tristram have this, they will get leaps and bounds stronger!”

“That has always been my intention. These Serus are Sprites that have been created to be barely living. They are perfect Soul Weapons and Soul partners for our men in this unique state. And unlike the rare Soul Weapons back in Merkley and the surrounding places, these are quite common. Once they return from there, we will be moving in a hurry. The way things are panning out, I may need to go to Biron and get what we need. After that, I have to turn that Genesis Tree into a seedling with the Monks' methods. And after that... Rena, we go back to the Cultivation World, bringing our hunters and monks!”

“I’m worried about them… About mom and dad and the town of Merkley.” Rena sighed. She could tell that the world where they were was far from her real world.

“Eh? Don’t be. By my estimates, they’ll be safe for the next weeks.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I estimated the worst-case scenario. The Afarit’s other half will make a move. His half-soul has already told me everything that they have. Did you know that near Merkley is a Dragon Graveyard? There is the corpse of a Dragon there! That Afarit Diablo would have forcibly used that to revert his body. Doing so will come at a great price, as his soul will take longer to reform. But the immediate effect is that it would put this Afarit into a level that should be peak-level Martial Experts.”

“Martial Experts?! Then we should hurry! No one can handle a Peak Level Martial Expert in Merkely or Tristram!”

“Actually, there are. Not just one, but two!” Dyne made a mysterious smile.

“Two? But sister Arya said that the strongest warrior is only Martial Formation rank!”

“Sis, you should know by know that rank isn’t everything. Haven’t I been fighting enemies way above my power?”

“Yes, but little brother, you-you’re a freak! Not everyone has your power!”

“Actually, some have potential similar to mine but only in different applications. Do you want to know a secret? I told you that I managed to meet the king of Martsirt and his son, Jaden, right?”

“Yes.”

“Welp, I did something scary to them, and it changed them.”

“Sister Arya told me. She was petrified about it, and even your ghost ally, Emera, felt fear. King Ciroel has changed his name to Leoric, and Martsirt is now Tristram if I recall correctly.”

“That’s right. I’ll be honest. The me back then was pretty scared of Leoric! Even now, it would take a lot for me to fight him. I could even lose! And there’s his son! He’s not as strong as his father, but he’s probably the strongest cultivator I’ve met in terms of potential.” Dyne chuckled.

Back in the Cultivation World, the days that passed had been very chaotic. The forest of Merkley was now a place of many battles.

In the days that passed, the scouting team had managed to find all the enemies while the teams that rushed directly to Merkley arrived just in time to defend it.

Jaden and his team had attacked the moving Kong Ape armies and stopped them. The missions were so successful that the army had to halt as the three Afarit brothers began to move in unity.

The threat of Leoric was just too much.

With the armies retreating and Leoric meeting up with Merkley, the forest had become a place of various battles to increase territory. But instead of commanding the military forces from the back, Leoric wanted to move into the forest with the desire to ‘add more numbers’ to their team.

In the deep forest, blood continued to flow on the ground. An ambush had occurred. But what was strange was that the ambush only had two people fighting on the front line.

The mages and archers were the support, but the ones that wreaked havoc were only soldiers.

SLASH!

“Retreat! It’s over! We were all going to die! That monster is too much!” A human platoon was being driven back by two soldiers.

SLASH!

The remaining soldier died.

“Should I kill you? Or will you do it yourself?” A sinister voice spoke. The alluring power of the voice had the strange ability to drive people mad.

“Your souls will be in torment. Devoured by the undead that I command. Your choice is to join my ranks!” The man laughed as he walked closer. He held out a strange coffin-shaped amulet and poured his malice into it.

“Ye-yes…” The soldiers that this man attacked were the weakest of the group. The man intentionally attacked and killed off the stronger ones so that only those who remained in this group were weak and cowardly.

“Then arise and walk with me. You are surrounded anyway. Follow me. That is your only hope.” The tall man walked back towards an undead army of powerful cultivation.

The soldiers could only follow. They were surrounded, and while a part of them believed that what awaited their march toward the skeletons would be torture, their cowardice made them take this last option available to them.

Leoric walked towards his army. The dead that he passed by slowly began to rise. They then followed Leoric.

The soldiers could see their former allies rise as zombies and tremble.

The skeletons watched from afar. The days that passed have allowed them to regain their consciousness.

“Our King is growing stronger. His corruption is even affecting the land underneath us.” One of the dead warriors laughed.

“So is our prince.” Another turned to the other side.

A battle was ongoing. The braver ones who did not lose or give in to the fear had managed to fight back. But one soldier fought against them.

Their swords slashed down, and the knight didn’t even use his shield but made a backhand slap on the incoming sword.

CLANG!

The sword slash was sent to the side as the knight stabbed his sword at the last soldier.

“A pity. That soldier was quite strong.” One of the skeletons was praised.

At the death of the last man, a mage hidden in the forest through some strange magic sent his report. He was not from Martsirt or served Arch-Bishop Lazarus or anyone under the command of the Afarit Diablo. It was one of the scouts that Diablo’s brother, Mephistopheles, sent. The humans used one of the portals, which led to a secret entrance that allowed quick travel. And more and more soldiers were arriving in this land.

“Master… Mephistopheles! There are two horrifyingly strong warriors here! They appear to be a low-level Martial Formation Expert but their power and skill! It should be nearing the peak of Martial Formation Experts!” The hidden mage reported.

“Jaden… Kill that pest. I allowed it to live so it could tell fearful tales of our power. But I sense no dark magic happening now.” Leoric ordered the only knight charged with him to fight several Martial Formation Experts.

The hidden image trembled as he heard it.

Jaden wielded his shield, and his Force erupted, throwing him forward toward the direction of the surviving mage.

The mage jumped out of his spot and sent a massive fireball toward Jaden.

With a wave of his hand, a massive force formed the shape of a shield and blocked the attack. This was one of the most basic skills that Martial Formation Knights had. But Jaden's skill utilization was actually on par with those on the Martial Expert Stage!

BOOM!

Jaden moved unhindered and punched at the chest of the mage.

“AGH!” The punch sunk deep, and the bones of the mage broke at the impact. With just one punch, the mage was defeated.

“Kill me…” The mage gave a brave front.

Leoric glanced at the mage, and his eyes began to glow white.

“Finally! A loyal soul! I should test my powers and see if I can corrupt that who have made vows to another!” Leoric laughed.

Emera was watching from the skies. Her ethereal and ghostly appearance made it difficult for cultivators to notice her. She had grown in power that she could resist the power of sunlight.

“That’s two battles won…” She smiled and raced back to a hill hidden deep within the forest.

A camp was there, and it functioned as a small base that allowed them to move and attack incoming scouts. In addition, they had the Emera as a powerful scout that no other human scouts could compare to.

“Luckily, King Leoric has grown very strong.” She raced to the ground and arrived next to her brother, Ussylys. Next to him were Ishreth, the mage, and Ardnula, one of the top warriors of Martisrt, who was in charge of overseeing the operations on this hill.

“We won. But that scouts came from another kingdom! Merkley really has it tough. Not only do we have to face the hordes of Kong Apes, but now, other human kingdoms are moving to attack us!” She frowned.

“If those were just the scouts, we should expect an army of soldiers stronger than what Merkley has.” Ishreth frowned.

“While our numbers grow, the quality of soldiers suggests that we will lose. The Kong Apes, the human soldiers, and the undead. We are still on the losing end…” Ardnula concluded.

“Still. The plan is working! Martsirt is no longer the concern, but this place is. We have also managed to take the attention away from Merkley, and the rest should be continuing the training there. We just have to hold strong and await Master Dyne’s return!” Ishreth declared.