A Suprisingly Untimely Provocation

After that successful clear of the Shadow Realm Dungeon, Albrecht felt the high of victory. Had he been calm enough to assess the situation, he wouldn't have lost against the guild master. He didn't even use his newfound skill 'Eye of Judgment' at Rhydderch.

Had he done so, he would've received the notification that his stats were significantly lower than Rhydderch. Just from that notification alone, he wouldn't have engaged him in combat.

Albrecht bitterly pursed his lips as he remembered the loss he took during that fight. It didn't even last a minute since he was completely caught off-guard.

One moment, he was bracing himself for impact, the next moment, he was down on the ground, face-first. He had no inkling as to what hit him, but it was obvious that he had lost the match.

Albrecht gritted his teeth. His loss had given him a new mindset. Before anything else, he would master using all his skills. He couldn't bear the System teasing him to no end about his loss. And what would the other Albrechts think?

Fwooosh~!

The sound of the Zecian Portal brought Albrecht back to reality, and he stepped forward. The scenery suddenly changed, and he was thrown by the entrance of the Kingdom of Pantheos.

Usually, a normal person wouldn't be able to pass through the Zecian Portal, but thanks to the Zecian Aura, adventurers could easily step in and out of the portal without acquiring any damage.

"We're here," Rhydderch muttered to himself as he took a quick glance at the Kingdom of Pantheos— a mighty kingdom that had fallen in a single day.

There were countless heroes and adventurers onsite, preparing for the upcoming subjugation. All of them could already foresee their respective kingdoms expanding as they took over the fallen Pantheos Kingdom.

They were fairly certain that the guardian of the Second Outerlayer was the one pulling the strings. Therefore, whoever defeats the guardian will have full control over the reclamation of the Kingdom of Pantheos.

And if it came down to it, whoever dealt the last blow to the guardian, they'll officially be the adventurer to reclaim the kingdom, and he or she would receive superfluous rewards.

The reclamation of the Kingdom of Pantheos is an open quest, that's why most neighboring kingdoms joined in on the fun. Had it been an exclusive quest, there wouldn't be this much chaos.

"You're here,"

Albrecht heard someone call out to him, causing him to inadvertently turn around. It was a familiar voice, and it was probably one of the few people he didn't want to meet during the reclamation.

"Sun Wu, what are you doing here?" Albrecht asked. He emphasized calling him Sun Wu since he didn't consider him the party leader anymore. Why would he give him due respect when he wasn't part of the group anymore?

"How rude," Sun Wu returned, but he didn't want to offend Albrecht that much. According to rumors, he was the one who cleared the Shadow Realm Dungeon.

He didn't want to acknowledge the rumors but if there was a hint of truth in it, then he shouldn't make the bad choice of riling Albrecht up.

"How are your finances coming along? And your diet? Did you gain some weight, Marie?" Albrecht asked. Even though it hadn't been a couple of days since he left, he knew that they were already having a hard time with their financial records and their diet.

Marie didn't actually gain weight, Albrecht was just teasing her to further add fuel to the fire.

"D-did I?" Marie asked, checking her stomach if it was bulging. She had been stuffing herself with desserts recently so she really couldn't tell.

"In any case, I heard you joined the Heroes of Lomenschwaal, as a porter. I wish you luck." Sun Wu said, waving his hand as he turned around.

"If you have the time, feel free to visit the Shadow Realm Dungeon," Albrecht called out, much to Sun Wu's annoyance.

— — —

From afar, overlooking the fallen kingdom, two entities floated right above it. To the naked eye, they couldn't be seen since they were close to the stratosphere while they floated. However, if the adventurers had been paying attention, they would've detected their presence.

"Brother, so many sacrifices!" Anastasia Whitelock squealed in delight as she tried to number the headcount of adventurers with her fingers.

"Yes, it is more than I expected. A final desperate attempt to reclaim their land... but it will lead into hopelessness and despair." Claude Whitelock, the older brother of the Whitelock siblings, curved his lips upward, revealing a sharp fang tooth protruding out of his mouth.

"Any word from the High Elders?" Anastasia asked, her eyes displaying a hint of concern. If by any chance they offended the High Elders, it wouldn't end well for the two of them.

"No, I didn't hear anything from them. Besides, we didn't deviate from the Ironclad Rules. Rest assured, this wouldn't cause us any repercussions, little sister." Claude called out.

Looking over at the fallen kingdom made Claude chuckle a little bit. He couldn't believe that such a powerful kingdom was destroyed in just a day. The humans had been too comfortable lately, to the point where they reverted to the assumption that the kingdom was a safe space for them.

While the neighboring kingdoms were preparing for war, the Whitelock siblings were also preparing for the upcoming skirmish. They had one day to prepare, and their beast army had increased from 2,000 to 20,000.

It was a considerably massive army. Compared to the headcount of the adventurers, they wouldn't even come close to the numbers of the beast army.

Furthermore, the kingdoms weren't going to fight in unison. They were their own separate armies, trying to reclaim the kingdom for themselves.

Rhydderch couldn't help but facepalm at the stupidity of humanity. He was out there convincing the king to plead with the other kingdoms so they would fall under one leadership during the reclamation attempt. However, the other kings wouldn't listen to a single word he said.

Although the ruler of Lomenschwaal Kingdom heeded Rhydderch's words, there was nothing he could do since the other rulers had decided on the matter.

"The hour has come. Everyone at the ready!" Cainsz screamed to the entire adventurer party of the Lomenschwaal Kingdom. There was only a minute left before the fight had begun.

Fwoosh~!

Albrecht, who was standing near Cainsz and Rhydderch, felt a strong wind pressure bearing down on him like a gushing waterfall. He turned upward, only to see that a flying entity was descending upon him. It then swooped and grabbed Albrecht by the neck before lifting him up.

Instantly, Albrecht recognized that the entity was Claude Whitelock. He had no idea why he was furious about him, though. So Albrecht just stared at him while he choked him.

"Give me back my army!" Claude gritted his teeth, tightening his grip on Albrecht's neck as he squeezed the life out of him.