"Understanding the history of this world is really necessary!" Reed said with some resignation as she raised her head to answer the question.

"Don't forget the true purpose of this journey. If we have to face their king directly, it may not be so easy! Thankfully, we're not fighting alone. Understanding the historical roots between the countries on this continent will greatly aid our future actions."

"As for Mia, her flying speed while carrying a human is too slow, it's really a waste of time. Moreover, after leaving Crescent City, she still has more important matters that require long-distance travel, so Judith doesn't need to go back for now. Besides, her staying here is also useful for us."

"That's right, I did say I'd come with you all, of course I won't give up halfway. But the situation in Parristol..."

Actually, Judith didn't want to leave here in the first place, so she had no complaints. But after seeing the devastation of the city, her expression became even more grave.

"Could this earthquake have been a plot by the monsters? We're so close on this mountain, yet barely felt any shaking!"

Recalling Mirium's previous conversation with Arick, I too had some suspicions on our return journey, but was too focused on Reed's safety at the time to dwell on it much.

"But where did Cysper and Mike run off to?" Cyra asked impatiently as she looked around. Logically, Cysper should be here after exchanging back with her, but we saw no sign of them.

"It seems they left too, and..." Yulanda hurriedly answered, glancing hesitantly at Reed.

"What, they took off too? Where did all these issues come from!?" Cyra jumped up angrily. Her concern was understandable - apart from me, there was no one else above the 6th rank present in monster-infested Parristol, which was quite dangerous.

However, everyone seemed to forget Cysper's bizarre limitation of not being able to go too far from her.

"It's okay, maybe they just went to scout the nearby area and will be back soon!" I reassured them, turning to Reed. "Am I right? What did they actually go to do?"

"Indeed, I sent them away, but it's nothing major..." Reed didn't hide it, but suddenly turned her body away from us as she replied.

"Don't forget Cysper's identity as the Pope. Given Parristol's complex situation now, I told him to return to the Holy Capital for a while."

"What? How could you do that! That's too much, you tricked all the experts away! And the Holy Capital is so far from here, how did you manage that?"

Okay, Cyra was jumping even higher now, pointing at Reed in disbelief.

"Of course it's thanks to my Sage's Stone! I finally managed to combine it with the teleportation array. Plus the spatial coordinates Mike provided us, so opening a teleportation channel from here to Jethrobaines was no big deal!"

Judith butted in proudly, not seeing my sideways glare that almost wanted to strangle her. I was just considering whether we should storm Chromos Tower together on my way back, but now that plan was completely ruined.

"The uprising in Parristol this time is no simple matter. Like that earthquake just now, didn't you all find it rather strange?"

Sighing with her back to us, Reed suddenly changed the topic to the earthquake, pointing to the ruined city in the distance.

"We're so close to the city here, yet barely affected at all. What does that suggest to you?"

"A seal!" Judith blurted out the answer before I could respond.

"After discussing it, we all agree there's probably something huge sealed underground in Parristol, but it hasn't been fully unlocked yet. No one knows exactly what it is, even that undying Pope has no clue. Let's see if he can find any clues after rolling back to the library in the Holy Capital!"

"You can't be serious? Don't scare me like that, if some ancient demon lord really emerges, we're all doomed!"

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Cyra was stunned again. Truth be told, my mentality wasn't much better, as I knew Judith wasn't just fearmongering.

During our encounter with Mirium in the city, she and Arick did mention the word "seal". At the time I didn't pay much attention, but recalling the faint glow seeping from the cracks in the ground, my spine couldn't help but shiver now.

"Why don't we tactically retreat for now? Avoid their forces until this demon lord is defeated, then we can counter-attack later!"

This was Cyra's suggestion, in line with her usual style. As if there really was a demon lord sealed beneath the city.

"But..."

Gazing at Chromos Tower still standing tall amid Parristol's ruins, I felt rather reluctant to leave. We'd already come all this way, just one step away.

"If you want to stop them, there's still a chance," Reed glanced at me, pondering for a moment before speaking.

"After Cysper and the others left, a group of monsters just passed through here earlier, heading towards Sun Lake behind us. There may be some secret related to the seal over there."

That group was the reason Cyra and I rushed back here in such a hurry. But they had already left before we arrived, at most just passing through without detecting Reed's well-hidden camp.

As for Sun Lake, we had heard a brief introduction from Alfreed and the others during our time in Parristol City. It was one of Parristol's famous scenic spots, corresponding to Moon Lake in the south. But unexpectedly, not only had Moon Lake become a monster haunt, Sun Lake hadn't escaped their attention either?

Wait! Was Reed implying those two lakes were actually the key to the seal?

I suddenly realized it. The monsters had occupied Moon Lake, resulting in the big earthquake. Now monster traces appeared at Sun Lake too - seeing it this way, it was highly suspicious. No need to say more, we had to stop them!

"Then the problem is simple! If we stop them from fully unlocking the seal, won't that resolve everything?"

Hearing this, Brennan immediately rubbed his fists eagerly, having wanted a fight ever since obtaining the phoenix, but either lacked the opportunity or the opponent wasn't suitable.

"Exactly! If we stop the seal, it might even solve the problems behind Parristol's uprising at the same time!" Judith chimed in.

It was obvious the monsters' involvement in Parristol's independence plot was likely centered around this seal. If we disrupted their plans, everything would become much easier.

"Alright, alright, since we've already anticipated their actions, there shouldn't be any major problems!"

Seeing everyone's fearless attitude, Cyra's retreat suggestion was naturally no longer appropriate, though she still sidled over and whispered to me.

"I'm making a huge sacrifice this time, you'd better protect me well! My rest life depends on you!"

"Don't exaggerate, don't worry!" I couldn't help but smile wryly. This girl was clearly aiming to slack off legitimately, but of course I wouldn't actually let her fight those monsters, so I hurriedly nodded in agreement.

Based on our earlier observations, the monsters heading to Sun Lake didn't seem too powerful, mostly just grunt-types. It was just unfortunate that the heavy-hitters like Mia, Cysper and Mike weren't here. If they joined the battle, I might even be able to rest on the sidelines.

Sun Lake wasn't too far from our location, in fact it was quite close. Just take off and you could see an elliptical large lake emerging from behind the mountain peaks in the distance.

Apparently Sun Lake used to be perfectly circular, but a later earthquake caused a landslide that buried part of the lake, leaving only about half the area remaining now.

"It seems those monsters are gathering by the lakeshore, not too many in number!"

We could vaguely make out campfires on the shore from afar, though their exact types were unclear. Those fellows were actually just sitting around roasting food, so brazen!

"I'll go check out the situation, you all hide in the nearby forest and prepare for a surprise attack!"

Brennan volunteered for the scouting mission. Reed and I nodded in agreement - monsters could sense light elementals, so using a light elemental concealer every time was impractical. It woul be much easier for a human.

However, when it came to assigning roles, I suddenly realized my options were limited. Looking at the remaining few, apart from the two two-winged angels, Yulanda and Judith's ranks were not that high either, Judith was even only at the 3rd rank...I immediately felt a wave of helplessness.

How did our dream team turn into this novice setup? This wasn't a training ground - if they forcibly took the field and something went wrong, it could truly be fatal!

"You all just cheer from the back, Brennan and I should be enough," I finally had to shake my head and make this decision.

That guy Reed couldn't even be bothered to give me a word of encouragement, immediately burying her head in a book without a sound.

"Do your best, if it doesn't work out just retreat. We can always teleport away!" Judith, you call that encouragement? I was at the 6th rank at least, and had mastered the Water Abyss Sword - a few 5th rank monsters shouldn't be an issue, right?

"Um...Feliciana, you must keep an eye on Brennan! He's quite reckless, I'm worried..."

Yulanda hesitated for a long while only to say that? Hearing this, I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"He has the phoenix beast by his side. Even if not at the 6th rank, his strength far surpasses the 5th!"

That said, we were fortunate that the troublesome foes Mirium and Arick were unlikely to appear by the Sun Lake, otherwise I wouldn't have dared to rashly charge forward like this.

"Luck is on our side! There are only six monsters by the lake, and they don't seem to be on guard at all!" Brennan excitedly urged after completing his scouting from the forest.

"Their ranks should be around the 5th as reported. With Feliciana here, it'll be easy!"

"Let's go! I'll take the lead, you follow right behind!"

Hearing this, I nodded without hesitation and took the first step flying towards Sun Lake.