When Lockes woke up, the thick white fog that had been before his eyes had turned into a brilliant blue sky.
The noisy sounds of people surrounded him. Looking around, he found himself in a town.
“I’m not dead?”
“Of course not.”
A familiar voice came from his side. Lockes realized he was being carried on someone’s shoulder.
*Thud!*
“Ouch!”
Seeing that Lockes was awake, Qiaolin dropped him.
“Where is Aurora? Did she escape?”
The Vampire youth stood up and questioned Qiaolin.
The man paused for a moment, his expression darkening as he reached out toward Lockes.
“Let me show you something.”
“What?”
*Whoosh!*
As soon as Qiaolin’s palm touched Lockes, the boy felt a warm current envelop him. Then, his vision shifted abruptly.
A second later, he was standing beside the man atop the city wall.
Lockes instinctively looked down.
He saw a crowd of people and horses gathered before the city gates.
Squads of soldiers clad in black armor were pouring into the city.
On a patch of open ground a bit further away, tents had already been pitched everywhere.
“Foreign enemies?!”
Lockes immediately entered a combat stance, but the exhaustion in his body caused him to stumble, nearly falling over.
Qiaolin reached out to steady him.
“Apparently, Aurora made some kind of deal with these people. It’s the Black Fang Legion of the Balta Kingdom. This is going to be a problem.”
***
Meanwhile, inside the main tent of the Black Fang Legion.
“General Mode, the agreement we reached was not this! Your soldiers do not have the right to enter Lin City!”
The red-haired girl glared at the man sitting in the high seat. He didn’t speak, instead shifting his gaze to the advisor at his side, Wiggins.
“As far as I know, Lin City is a human city-state, is it not? My soldiers are all humans; why can’t they enter? They can spend money in the city — that is their personal choice.”
“Wha… What?”
Aurora stood there, stunned. She had never expected such an excuse.
“We saved everyone’s lives from the jaws of magic beasts, and you agreed to trade with us. Is there a problem?”
Wiggins narrowed his eyes, smiling faintly. Aurora couldn’t find the words to argue.
The man’s expression and tone were like those of a cunning, venomous snake.
During their earlier retreat, their path had been blocked by a powerful force, and they had then been attacked by magic beasts.
The Black Fang Legion had stepped in to save them.
After some communication, she learned that this army from the Balta Kingdom had come to the Celtic Forest under the Khan’s orders to hunt a Level 7 Magic Beast.
However, they had encountered a natural disaster midway, cutting off their supply lines.
The army needed food, so they proposed a trade with Lin City, using the various magic beasts they had hunted.
Initially, Aurora had agreed to the trade.
Then, they requested to set up camp 500 meters away from Lin City — which was practically at the foot of the city walls — for the sake of “convenience in transporting supplies.”
Aurora had refused that request. After all, they were a military force.
Having them so close to the city without warning would cause panic among the citizens.
After signing the trade agreement, she had assumed they would purchase grain and then leave. In reality, they had other intentions.
“This city is under the protection of the Demon King. If you attempt an invasion, the Demon Race will not let you off.”
“Heh heh heh, rest assured, Lady Aurora. We just want our soldiers to relax. We won’t hurt the citizens of Lin City, nor will we plunder your property. Their entry into the city is purely of their own volition.”
No matter how grand Wiggins’s words sounded, Aurora felt a faint sense of unease.
Consequently, she forbade anyone belonging to the Black Fang Legion from carrying weapons into the city.
“It seems this little girl is quite the handful,” Mode grumbled under his breath.
“I am no ‘little girl.’ I am 300 years old.”
Aurora overheard his whispering and said in a heavy voice, “In 3 days, I expect your side to withdraw from the territory of Lin City.”
“We will abide by the rules of the treaty.”
As Aurora left the main tent, the atmosphere in the room turned much darker.
“Truly cautious. She isn’t giving us a single opening,” Mode said.
“But all of this was expected. 300 years old? To think she’s a member of the Demon Race born during the Era of Heroes… It’s a pity the Hero didn’t wipe their kind out entirely.”
Wiggins sighed with a smile, then continued, “At least she opened a crack for us. In 3 days… we shall see.”
***
After Aurora returned to Lin City, she met with Qiaolin and Lockes.
“Aurora, are you okay?”
The Vampire youth rushed forward anxiously to check on her.
Only after seeing that she had no injuries did he breathe a sigh of relief.
“Don’t worry. I’m a Healing Mage, so of course I wouldn’t get hurt.”
Aurora smiled, then suddenly remembered something and asked, “Was that Level 7 Magic Beast dealt with?”
“What are you thinking? When a group of Mortal Ranks fights a King Rank, we should thank Odin just for getting out alive,” Qiaolin laughed.
“S-Sorry! It’s just good that you’re all okay!”
Aurora’s face flushed. She had truly hoped Lockes and the others would be safe.
Facing a Level 7 Magic Beast should have been a death sentence, and she knew who had saved everyone at the critical moment.
“This was all thanks to Mr. Qiaolin, wasn’t it? You’ve really helped us too much.”
“Hmph…”
Though he didn’t want to admit it, this human was indeed strong. Lockes knew deep down that he was only alive because of Qiaolin’s help.
“So, what exactly happened? Why did you come out of the Black Fang Legion’s tent?”
Qiaolin asked.
“Eh? You actually know who they are?”
Aurora was a bit surprised, but considering he was human, such knowledge wasn’t too strange.
“The situation is like this…”
Aurora explained the sequence of events to the two of them. Lockes immediately declared that they should kick those people out of Lin City.
“They’re clearly taking advantage of us! What trade? They obviously want to occupy this place! Those human barbarians are base and vile; we can’t trust them!” Lockes cursed.
Aurora quickly waved her hands, signaling him to stop talking.
“Hey, Lockes, Mr. Qiaolin is still right here…”
“I agree with Lockes. The people of the Balta Kingdom are indeed untrustworthy,” Qiaolin said, nodding.
“Great minds think alike.”
Lockes crossed his arms proudly, his manner looking exactly like Demigula’s.
Now Qiaolin finally knew who had been hunting magic beasts on a large scale in the Celtic Forest.
The Black Fang Legion was one of the top fighting forces in the Balta Kingdom.
Their average strength was above 3-Crown. Although a King-level Powerhouse wouldn’t be threatened by numbers alone, it was a different story for those at the Mortal Rank.
Even the restored One-Eye would have been somewhat wary of them in order to protect the other magic beasts, let alone when it was previously weakened.
“But we can’t fall out with them yet. This legion is the elite of the Balta Kingdom, with thousands of soldiers at the 3-Crown and 4-Crown levels. If they were to attack the city, they could probably seize it in less than 1 hour,” Qiaolin warned.
One had to realize that even the highest-ranked adventurer parties — like the ones Aurora had hired — usually only had one or two 5-Crown powerhouses in a ten-person team, with the rest ranging from 3-Crown to 4-Crown.
If they planned well, such a team could even clash with a Level 6 Magic Beast (early King Rank).
But the Black Fang Legion had thousands of men.