In an underground arena that had been recently excavated, dark hooded intelligent non-human creatures had met up. Twelve beings sat around a circular table that had Aganth depicted directly on top of it. Numerous landmarks were placed down such as the Reuge Institution and the Guren Institution. The map was further divided by the respective territories of the five factions.

A special mark had been placed on a certain wall that met the full force of the clash. There were arrows pointing out a defensive maneuver if the situation led to the worst possible situation. Yet the danger of the breach wasn’t what brought each one of these figures here.

“Any news about the Hatchling? It’s been dwelling inside Aganth for eleven years now.” A minotaur removed his hood, showing his extremely burly face. There was a large scar across his face, making one of his eyes blind.

“The common masses would believe that the Hatchling just recently left but it’s been long gone for a while now. Those humans’ higher-ups' decisions are really questionable. I wonder what they’re planning?” A small creature the size of a small mouse spoke out. Contrary to his small frame, his voice was unbelievably deep.

A feminine lady also removed her robe. As it turned out her upper body might have been human but her lower body was that of a snake. “It shouldn’t have been a problem if only Vzella didn’t get critically injured. I’m more curious as to why he fell. The Salvo Empire might be up to their usual mass-scale brainwashing.”

“The reason doesn’t matter. I don’t trust Alyur will keep her word. She doesn’t view us as equals.” The minotaur spoke again. “Svern, you said you’ve been getting closer to it. What’s the progress?”

“Something happened. I’ve been getting close but it was suddenly enshrouded in some kind of mana-blocking item. Whatever we’re facing against they have cutting-edge revolutionary technology.” Surprisingly, a stationary person from above the ceiling spoke. Roots had fully formed his body. Svern was an ent.

“First it’s those bastards from the Genesis Foundation hiding the Hatchling and now they managed to get their hands on something so troublesome. Annoying rats sneaking their grubby little hands in everything in the world.”

Another man spoke up, he had razor-sharp claws and scaly skin, he was a lizardman. “Bargom, if you’re so afraid of Alyur then why don’t you just join the battle?” Compared to the lizardman’s vicious expression, he was the wisest one out of everyone here.

Bargom, the minotaur, snorted. “Those humans can handle their own. Don’t lecture me, Utlern” He crossed his arms and stared back down at the map before him. He would rather die than bring himself to help his oppressors.

“If there’s nothing else I’ll be taking my leave.” A dark hooded monster didn’t reveal himself. He was the most mysterious one out of everyone here. Although he wasn’t the strongest, he was the trickiest. Even his other companions still haven’t seen what he looked like.

There was only one thing that was sure about this person, his motivation.

“If you aren’t going after the Hatchling then count me out.” The dark hooded monster said his piece and left. No one bothered to stop him since there was no point. There was no doubt that this person was extremely helpful to the Monster Faction. Agitating him would yield no beneficial result.

“If we’re ready to finally get tackle the current issues at hand, I’d like to propose to everyone here a choice.” The oldest one within the group was a sentient bear. It was actually a Runic Bear that had grown sentience after living for so long. “A small… safety net.”

“Rhayic, what are you talking about?” Bargom asked. This wasn’t how this old man usually acted.

[Blessing of Domination | Gain Combat Power: +??? | Rhayic: ???]

Rhayic had his grey and aged body suddenly return its vitality. There was an oppressive aura of complete suppression around him as everyone here warily looked at him. It was clear to everyone that Rhayic had been blessed by a Great Being.

“A Devil? Rhayic, what the hell are you doing?” Ultern, the wisest one here raged. Being blessed by such an inherently evil creature wasn’t a particularly smart move. Although it wasn’t taboo, it was still heavily looked down upon.

Contrary to his overwhelmingly bloodthirsty aura, Rhayic retained his calm nature. “I’m just offering you a choice. There’s no pressure to accept it. All I ask is for you to hear my side of the story. Besides, the Great Devil of Domination also desires to kill the Hatchling. It’s a beneficial contract for everyone here.”

Ultern knew just how severely dangerous the situation currently was. Despite his better judgment, desperation leads people to choose desperate options. “Hear him out.”

“But-” Bargom immediately tried to reason with Ultern.

“Let him speak.”

With Ultern, the de facto leader, finally speaking out, everyone listened to Rhayic’s side. It was going to be a long day for the Monster Faction.

While the warriors of Aganth were slowly growing their strength against the upcoming wave, another troublesome wave faced Aganth. The only question was if this trouble was for Alyur or Aganth, or against everyone else.

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Far too many parts were at play that it was too difficult to understand what the future would unfold. That is except for a particular person.

Ian had been practicing by himself for the past few days with occasional words of advice from Jynnette. He was focusing on mastering [Art of Killing] when he used his special move once again.

[???]

He was looking through his technique when he noticed a particularly terrifying surge of power come from a great distance. Except for him, no one else managed to feel it. Not even Weston was able to uncover it.

“Interesting.” Ian ignored the commotion and refocused on his training. “I wonder what’ll happen to Aganth. I knew there was something going to be big but it feels like everything’s still being built up.”

His eyes didn’t linger around him, merely looking up at the sky. To witness the rise of a great hero was his pleasure. “If I had to guess, either the Vis Empire or the Salvo Empire would send someone who would singlehandedly turn the tides. That’s the logical outcome.”

On the other side of the room, Sammuel was multitasking. He was practicing [Hardened Fist] and refining his mana at the same time. All the while using [Ego: Base]. The reasoning behind this was simple, no matter what would happen in the future, the one thing that he would always forever be able to rely on would be [Ego: Base].

Not to mention that some of the [Assimilation Requirements] required him to level this up. Fortunately, his progress has skyrocketed ever since he got [Ego Delegation]. Leveling up had never been this easy.

[Name: Sammuel Arthus

Ego: Base

Card Quality: Bronze

Star Quality: 2 | 22/50 | EXP: 5.25/100%

Affinity Level: 5.64%

Combat Power: 46.85]

The speed of leveling up had actually exponentially increased due to him being able to practice freely without much worry. Although Sammuel wanted to learn more abilities from Jynnette, he knew that he was already far too busy with what he currently had.

Sammuel finished the day fully engrossed with growing ever stronger. Looking at Xeril’s stats, Sammuel felt the weight of a so-called supreme talent.

[Name: Xeril Earlstein

Card Quality: Diamond

Star Quality: 2 | 16/50 | 98.59/100%

Affinity Level: 34.15%

Combat Power: 126.65]

Xeril was well above his [Ego: Base]. What made this extremely terrifying was that he was only level 16/50. This meant that each level gave him around 8 Combat Power. Granted that it wasn’t as absurdly terrifying as [Ego: Runic Bear] but he was only beginning.

Xeril’s full potential was far higher than [Ego: Runic Bear] would be. After all, base Combat Power no longer meant as much as before. [Skills] were the main focus nowadays. If Sammuel used [Ego: Runic Bear] against the current Xeril without any [Skills] then he would undoubtedly lose.

Sammuel no longer focused as much on the fact that Xeril was going well above him. He had his own path to tread. Looking to the other side of the room, Ian was quietly learning about [Art of Killing] with a satisfied expression on his face.

Ian noticed Sammuel’s gaze and gestured for him to come closer.

“I’m curious, you look so weak right now but the power you held back then was without a doubt genuine.” Ian stopped for a brief moment to let that sentence settle in. “In the next wave, would you mind partnering up?”

“I can’t make any promises.”

“Then let’s see what’ll happen. There are only two days left before the next wave. So, I’d like to offer you some advice, you need to steel yourself.”

Sammuel understood what Ian was trying to say.

“I just don’t be the one responsible for their deaths. I’m not a hero.” Sammuel shook his head.

“Good. You’ll live longer that way.”

They practiced until the fated day.

In the following two days, Sammuel, Xeril, and Ian, manned three different stations far apart from each other. As it turned out, Weston had been watching on and decided that the three of them were suited for other teams.

Xeril had been given the position of General. He was to lead an entire army by himself. Critical decision-making and plans hinged on his choices. Although Xeril was reluctant to accept it, a central figure to raise morale was needed. Xeril reluctantly accepted the position.

As for Ian, his ruthless and decisive decision-making gave him a very keen mind. He was ordered to be a strategist under another General. Yet oddly enough, his words were ordered to have higher priority when emergencies came about.

With these two being in such high positions, it made Weston’s decision to keep Sammuel in the backlines was quite questionable. A decision that Sammuel completely went against.

“Why am I being held back?” Sammuel had been forced inside a cage. It was a special metal that had been reinforced by Weston’s mana. He wasn’t going to be able to break through it even if he used his most powerful attack.

Clenching the cold metal bars, he was being prevented from even participating. This was a gigantic opportunity for him to use [First Kill].

[Condition Cleared: Gain 50 Bronze Ego (50/50) | Reward: First Kill requirement reduced to 80% damage contribution]

[Condition Cleared: Refine Mana | Reward: Unequipped Ego will passively heal]

He had already managed to finish these two quests. One from [Ego Fusion] and the other from learning under Jynnette. If there was a time for him to take advantage of this opportunity then it would be right now. This was unjustified.

Even those on the front lines were dissatisfied with such a move from Weston. He was firm in his decision and refused to budge.

“It was at the request of Xeril for taking up the role of General.” With one sentence, no one could really speak up. They have seen both Xeril and Sammuel manage to kill a creature that had [Blessing of Moonlight] but thinking about their future prospects, Xeril was the clear winner.

“Xeril?” Sammuel looked to where Xeril was. He had turned his head, not facing him at all. Xeril had already made his decision.

As Sammuel watched Xeril’s back, he yelled out to his army, “I don’t need to say anything. Just watch my actions.”

The time had struck down. The second wave had arrived.

Xeril immediately used all of his current [Skills] and dashed forward, well before anyone could react. With a single slash of his spear, a gigantic arc of blood was slashed away. Xeril’s one singular movement had managed to cull countless monsters without being able to fight back at all.

Once Xeril’s army saw this, so what if Sammuel wasn’t going to fight? If Xeril was going to meet the enemy head-on then Sammuel was irrelevant. They all single-mindedly charged forward. They would ride off and join Xeril’s side as they slaughtered those who came.

Sammuel clenched the metal bars keeping him inside. This wasn’t how he thought this clash would go. Seeing as Weston didn’t even hear him out, he closed his eyes and started practicing. He desperately tried to cling to anything to try and join the battle.

Looking up at the skies, Sammuel looked on as a little girl watched from above.

“Alyur, the Great Dragon of Moonlight… There’s a chance…”