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C421 - Beast Skin Tent

The tent was massive, reaching 10 meters into the sky and 20 in every other direction. Though it couldn't be considered to be lavishly decorated, everything was neatly arranged and not even the fibers of the beast skin carpets swayed out of proper order.

The lights were dim, but warm and a smell of harmonious nature hung in the air.

In truth, it seemed more like the abode of a war lord than an Empire's prince. But, it exuded an air of dominance and demanded absolute obedience at the same time.

Numerous young faces all turned toward Noah at once and rose from their seated positions. Not a single one showed even a hint of disrespect. In fact, some of them looked on with trepidation.

Noah maintained an even pace as he made his way to the head of the table. It was only after he sat that the others followed suit, a heaviness reigning over the atmosphere.

This wasn't the first time Noah had led an expedition. With their talent, many of them had entered Zones and Invalid clearing teams with him in the past. They knew how he operated and how meticulous he was. Stepping out of line wasn't acceptable.

This was why the tent had been completely silent before he entered and, even after he did, it remained as such.

Noah glanced toward the three dimensional map that spread out across the table.

This map was actually the representation of top of the line nano technology. Under normal conditions, it would blend into the table and be invisible. However, after observing a target, it would perfectly replicate a scaled version. In fact, if fitted with all the bells and whistles necessary, it could even provide live observation of a target.

Unfortunately, they had only been able to deploy a small portion of this technology. Unlocking the full scope of its abilities would require deploying Force Disruption Towers all across this second moon. But, that obviously was not possible for now.

After a long while, Noah finally spoke.

"What is the report on their strength?"

"According to our scouts, they are infinitely close to a Fourth Dimensional world in strength, Your Highness. The main targets to look out for are those they call the 'Demon Lords', the 'Knight of the Round Table', and the 'Three Star Magi'. Aside from this, the most powerful existences on this moon are characters they know as 'King Arthur', 'Queen Guinevere', 'Lancelot' and 'Mordred'."

The youths looked toward each other with weird gazes. Did they get dropped into a fairy tale or something?

Though they had been briefed on the truth behind the appearance of this second moon, it was still too hard for them to accept. How could stories become real? And if stories could become real, where exactly was the blurred line between reality and fiction?

However, considering the identity of the young woman who had spoken, none of them dared to make jokes about it easily. If Noah was the one they feared the most, this young lady was very much a close second.

She had a slender little button nose and short cropped hair that made her look quite adorable. That coupled with her short stature of barely 5'4" and her petite frame made her seem like a treasure everyone wanted to protect…

That was until you heard her cold voice and saw those piercing blue eyes. She seemed to bore into your soul with her every action, shocking your system with ice.

This young lady was the youngest daughter of the Grand Prime Minister Scarlet family, Jessica Scarlet.

Much like Governor Duke was a fusion of the Governor and Duke titles, the Grand Prime Minister was a fusion of the Grand Duke and Prime Minister titles. While there were eight Governor Dukes, The Empire only had two Grand Prime Ministers. And, while the territories of the Governor Dukes were out of the Capital, the Grand Prime Ministers had the most prestigious Province as their stomping grounds.

Jessica was too young to be in line for any hereditary titles and was technically not meant to gain much power from her family as a result, but her own abilities spoke too loudly.

Still, despite the fact she was more than worthy to fight for the position of Grand Prime Minister in the future, she had practically been a glorified secretary to Noah since she was 13 years old. Even now that she was almost 23, she hadn't deviated from this role at all.

In fact, the only difference between her past self and her current self was that she had swapped out her usual gray pantsuit for a flexible leather patched armor. From afar, she looked no different from a female sniper to assassin, even down to the numerous knives strapped across her body.

Despite her small stature, she had quite a good figure as well. This much was clear even when she wore those gray pantsuits. Not that anyone dared to looked, anyway…

Maybe Jessica was the only one who could read out names like 'Mordred' and 'King Arthur' without bursting into a fit of laughter. It was clear that she found nothing funny about it. Or maybe she didn't have much of a sense of humor to begin with.

"Infinitely close to the Fourth Dimension?" A young man asked. "How did they manage to pull this off?"

The other youths nodded. They too were curious about this. From their understanding, this world shouldn't be so strong. After all, it came from an SS-grade Zone.

"It's impossible to tell so early on." Jessica replied coldly. "Our best guess is that their Force seems to be several times thicker than the norm. It is likely that they have a technique able to thicken Force beyond the normal limits. This much has also been partially confirmed from other avenues of intelligence."

After allowing the youths to murmur amongst each other for a while, Noah finally spoke again.

"Our target is the Demon Empire. What are the main pitfalls?"

"The first is their numbers. The second is our ignorance. The last is their terrain advantage." Jessica replied efficiently.

"Their numbers aren't only made up of Demon Lords, but also large hordes of demonic beasts. They seem to have some methods of controlling these hordes, though not with great accuracy.

"Secondly, we are ignorant of much of their methods. They seem to employ a branch of Force Arts for what they call 'magic' or 'Mage Arts'. We are still gathering information on this. I suggest that we send a few ambassadors to their Kingdom and form friendly relations.

"Lastly, the terrain. Their so-called Demon Empire's core is located within a mountainous region. It's almost impossible to launch a large-scale attack."

Noah nodded, tapping lightly on the table. His mind spun quickly, his gaze locking on to the mountainous regions Jessica mentioned.

A suffocating aura exuded from the young Prince. At that moment, many around him could hardly breathe. Seemingly used to such a thing, they could only clench their jaws, waiting for it to pass.

Finally, the tapping stopped.

"Forming diplomatic relations is not a bad idea, but it will take too long. Imperial Grandfather granted us three months at most to complete this mission, we can't afford to waste it.

"Since there is no path of attack through the mountains, we will make one. Implement the detonation plan of 2097.

"Jessica, you will lead your squad to deal with the demonic beasts. The more you pull into our control, the better. You have two weeks.

"Finally, send an ultimatum to this King Arthur.. It's either he helps us to level this Demon Empire, or, after we're done, he'll be next."

To be continued