"Let's hide first. Another army has just arrived inside the castle, probably from underground."

"You said you know when the castle will expand." Juwaira was confused. She muttered under her breath, "Two months if I remember correctly."

Abdin merely shook his head. He had no answer to this since he didn't know how it happened or why the castle was behaving strangely.

He led them to one of the buildings nearby and locked them inside. Abdin placed some charms on the doorstep. They locked every window before returning to the sitting room. They were all looking at Abdin, waiting for some explanation and what they ought to do.

"There are at least eight thousand enemies in the castle at the moment. I think they entered from underground.

"I don't know where they are or what they want, but it's better if we don't meet them now.

"We will just wait here until Biyakis comes. The empire won't let demon beasts and ghouls run wild in its territory. It will try and take the castle from the intruders. The two parties will hopefully fight between themselves and we will just wait to finish off the victor. That way, we would recover the castle."

Too optimistic. But he didn't have anything else at the moment. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen.

But Abdin was determined to get something on this army of ghouls by whatever means necessary. Then he would plan his next course of action from there.

"They might have come from Biyakis. Otherwise, how could an army of eight thousand enter the empire without anyone noticing?" Juwaira said.

That was also an option. And it would be the least favorable one for them.

Abdin stood and paced to the window, peeping from the side to avoid being seen. Everything was calm with no sign of anyone else being in the castle. But he knew his soul disc wouldn't mistake such a thing.

"We can only wait and see." He finally said, turning to them.

The room became quiet. Instead of being fearful, most of them looked doubtful or confused.

The expansion, the intruders, an army of eight thousand... It all happened so fast, and even Abdin's countenance was contrary to how they knew it. All the confidence he exuded that used to hold them awestruck and frightened, was gone.

They waited in silence for some time.

About thirty minutes later, Abdin started receiving more messages informing him of more intruders.

His face darkened with every message. He was becoming suspicious that this was a ploy by Biyakis. Though the intruders must have come from outside the empire, as Biyakis had no such amount of demon beasts as the ones inside the castle, but still...

He had thoroughly researched the whole empire before he decided to bring the castle there. He didn't find any unrest or ongoing war at that moment or in any subsequent moments. The last conflict happened six years ago when the empire conquered Dikan, a neighboring empire that shared its longest border with them. Since then nothing of interest happened.

This large-scale kind of conflict wasn't good for his cultivation. How he wished he could just relocate the castle elsewhere. But that wasn't feasible.

First, he had already spent more than a year burying charms in different parts of Biyakis before he found the empire fit enough for his summonings.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Leaving for another empire would require the same preparations.

Second, moving the castle to another empire needed a larger cultivation base - something he didn't have at the moment.

His summonings were a bit special. He had to give them a lot of consideration before finding them an appropriate residence. That was why he made thorough research before deciding to summon the castle here.

Who would have thought things would change this way?

But then, most times, opportunities came in hardship. Something (or someone) brought this army to Biyakis.

If the empire was responsible, then they must be planning something really big. If they weren't responsible, then someone with some serious skills must have been involved.

And anyone capable of rallying such an army to surreptitiously travel to Biyakis unnoticed was surely something. Such people wouldn't go around poking their noses in matters unless they were utterly important.

From Abdin's experience, even high-ranking treasures weren't enough to lure such people. Not even the castle. Something serious was happening in Biyakis and it was hidden from the rest of the world. Even Abdin, with his loop powers, didn't know of such a ploy until now.

A shrill sound pierced their ears at that moment and brought him out of his reverie.

The building shook, and dust fell from the roof. Abdin staggered and almost fell before he held unto the window sill.

A little ahead of their hideout, a serpent emerged from the top of a building. Its head transfixed and eyes staring directly at them.

The serpent wasn't done. It hit the building on its path with its massive body and instantly crushed it. Its real body came into view.

It was coal black with big dark eyes. It writhed and wriggled and threw its head to the sides as if to display its unrivaled might.

A woman sat astride it like a horse. She raised a finger and pointed to their hideout. The serpent opened its mouth to reveal some black flame burning inside before proceeding toward them.

The enemy had finally appeared. Everyone in the hideout was focused on the snake coming toward them. But at that moment, Abdin's spiritual sense alerted him and he quickly spun around. Five people had appeared in the room.

Three men and two women, all of them huge and sturdy like rocks.

They all wore sleeveless robes that showcased their formidable biceps. The women, surprisingly, had much bigger biceps than the men.

Their eyes were full of defiance and hatred as if Abdin was their biggest enemy and they'd come just for him.

On closer inspection, some red dots could be seen in their eyes, and Abdin instantly remembered Laluri - the slave girl that once assassinated him in cold blood.

Seconds passed by as they stared at each other. Abdin noticed that the charm he placed by the doorstep was still there. But that did nothing to keep these people from finding them.

These people weren't a joke. Four of them were at the zenith of the core formation stage, while one woman was just like Silver Mask and Abdin couldn't read her cultivation level.

He turned a bit and looked through the window. The serpent and its rider had stopped in their tracks and were staring at the hideout from a distance.

Abdin smiled bitterly. The serpent had been a distraction to let these people enter the room without notice.

"Who are you?" Juwaira spoke first. "What brings you to Biyakis?" She knew what Biyakis natives looked like, but these five didn't look anything like them.

Instead of replying, one of the men stooped to whisper to the woman beside him.

The woman nodded and spoke loudly to the benefit of everyone. "Kill them all but not her."

Abdin sighed and shook his head. Since it had turned to this, he would just take his weapon out.

He reached into his bag of holding and retrieved a sword. He never would have thought of using it so soon.

"What could have brought the Nánata here?" He asked casually, swinging his sword back and forth without looking at them.

All five of them shifted their gazes toward him. He smiled internally having seen their reactions to the name Nánata. For some mysterious reason, Nànata sought Juwaira out and also gathered an army in Biyakis.

"Kill him first," the woman that spoke earlier said, pointing at Abdin.

Abdin glanced at Juwaira and loudly said, "Don't let them touch you."

The princess nodded. She had also put together what was at stake. These people have something to do with Laluri: they had the same eyes, and both were seeking her.

The two parties leaped upon each other. Two men and the woman whose cultivation Abdin couldn't sense went for him.

Abdin lightly swiped across the room with his sword. Part of the roof instantly burned to cinders even before the sword struck home. The air seemed to clash with the sword and sparks of thunder encompassed the entire room.

The woman halted and pulled the two men behind her. She withdrew a cane and swung it at Abdin's sword.

The cane elongated and snagged the sword. Abdin merely grinned. His sword wasn't a tool that any lowly cultivator could touch. Before the woman could react, the sword cut the cane off and went ahead to slash the hand that held it.

The woman shrieked and drew back holding her maimed hand. Her eyes were full of shock and disbelief.