Damien sat on a sandy dune, the hot sun blaring down on him. He stretched his legs, scattering the sand around him.

"Are you done yet?" He turned towards Keilan.

Keilan, who was sitting on the bare sand with legs folded, opened his eyes, glancing at Damien.

"Not yet. Give me a minute or two."

"Arggghh! Why are you soo slow..."

The only answer he received was a raised eyebrow.

[Not everyone is an abnormally like you who's capable of regenerating their resources within a dozen minutes.] Gray said.

Damien rolled his eyes, "You'd better be quick about it or you'll be fighting droves of beasts before you know it."

"Colosso was the strongest beast in this territory, I don't see us being too threatened."

Damien moaned, "Dude, don't jinx us. Colosso might have been the strongest beasts in this territory, but there are other territories bordering this, and we sure as hell made a huge bang dealing with Colosso. I don't have the hours to waste dealing with dozens of territorial Monsterlords."

[Ohhh... You'll definitely have more than mid-tier Monsterlords. This territory is close to peak-tier monster territories. I don't imagine their Monsterlords will sit still after the noise you both just made.]

Keilan frowned, "You! What side are you on? One moment, you're siding with me; the next, it's Damien. Pick a side."

[I'm not on anyone's side, I'm just stating facts, that's all.]

"Well, keep your facts to yourself. There's no monster capable of challenging us here."

"Dude, have you seen the chaos and destruction that just took place?" Damien said, waving his hands around their surroundings. "The footprints indentations alone are enough to warrant a couple of monster lords turning their attention here; talk less of the mountains that we're almost leveled."

Although it hadn't taken too long, the destruction caused in the almost an hour or so battle had left huge decorations on the land.

Huge footprints were scattered around the land for miles, leaving deep craters capable of birthing lakes and such.

The mountains. Damien didn't even want to talk about them. From the blows exchanged between the two titans, Damien could see about five spaces where mountains used to be. They were all rubbles now. Some mountains were even lucky enough that they weren't completely leveled, with only half or a third of their body blasted off. The whole battle was sure to have displaced dozens, if not hundreds, of monsters from their homes on those mountains. And the monsters–At least the ones who survived–would begin moving and encroaching on other territories, which would sure as hell create a monster horde.

"I'm done," Damien turned as Keilan spoke, beginning to dust himself as he stood.

"Finally! I thought we were going to spend the whole day here."

"You could if you want."

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

Damien growled, "Don't tempt me."

He stood, moving to stand alongside Keilan, gazing out into the deeper territories.

"What now?"

"We move on, of course."

Damien nodded, "You do know we can't fly again, right? Crossing the land would be hectic enough; flying over the sky with hundreds of monster perceptions scanning the skies would be a no-no."

In response, Keilan smiled, "Aren't we here to sharpen ourselves? What better way to do it than pitting ourselves against the droves of monsters stupid enough to target us?"

***

Prince Vaelion stood on the bridge of the moving skyship, his attention on the distant continent which was soon becoming visible.

The continent shouldn't have been visible due to them still being hours away. But with his spirit lord's perception, he could see farther than most.

Below them–on the sea–he could see dozens of powerful Monarch realm monsters watching their passing and even more powerful perception sweeping over their position. But that was just it, only watching. They couldn't do anything.

On his ship alone, the presence of two Spirit lords blazed alongside more than a dozen Monarch realm Cultivators, who were then accompanied by almost a hundred lord realmers, all alert with their hands on weapons. Only on his ship.

Behind his ship, their escorts followed. A small fleet of almost a dozen ships filled with Monarchs and lords who were also equally trigger happy. It would take the might of a team of Spirit lords to be capable of taking them down.

To quash any further thoughts of attack, a short distance from them flew another fleet: Queen Yuseria's.

The warrior queen of Tyria had caught up with them a few hours past, deciding to keep pace with them. Safety in numbers.

On the fleet, Vaelion could also sense the auras of three Spirit lords, the lady general Nesra and the Warrior queen, herself, including a spirit lady Vaelion didn't really know.

They were accompanied by a fleet almost twice as large as Vaelion's, with more than a hundred Monarchs, and quadrupled that number in lords.

"Your Highness. I am to report that the pathfinders have just sighted the Greensend continent. Your instructions are needed." A Monarch realm Cultivator approached, bowing.

Vaelion nodded, "Take us round the coast of the continent, we're heading to the Coastal city of Cirin."

"As you command, your highness." The man left.

Vaelion turned, watching as the continent drew closer and closer. He was just about to turn and head inside when his eyes caught something.

Frowning, he swept his perception. There, Close to the continent and rippling through the waters was a group of sea dragons.

"Neriel," he called.

The woman immediately appeared, materializing out of thin air and sweeping the air with the smell of roses.

Neriel was one of the most powerful Spirit lords from the Empire of Aetheris. A sun elf –just like him– with an almost golden skin, draped in a blue gown. Her narrow sharp face with raised cheekbones and blue glowing eyes were enough to topple kingdoms. Coupled with blond hair so blond, it shone golden under the afternoon sun.

Looking at her, one would take as her a harmless person. He pitied anyone who would make such a mistake.

"You called?"

In answer, Vaelion pointed at the group of sea dragons.

Neriel frowned, "Hmm. Sea dragons shouldn't be this close to the continent."

"That's what I thought. And it doesn't look like they were just passing by. This looks like a scouting group."

From what his senses could perceive, the group consisted of about six Monarch dragons and two Spirit lords.

"Definitely a scouting group. And one prepared for battle," Neriel confirmed. "The question is, why are the Sea dragons scouting Greensend?"

"I don't know, and I do not want to find out. Put us on alert two."

Neriel turned towards him, "Are you sure about that? This is just a scouting group."

The Dragon Spirit lords had already sensed them, turning their serpentine heads towards them and soon turning away.

"Yes, I'm sure. I'm not worried about the scouting party, what worries me is what's coming behind."

Neriel nodded, her will immediately sending out orders. The reaction was immediate.

Soldiers were roused, rapidly donning armours and manning the weapons constructs on the side of the ships.

The same was repeated across the whole fleet.

"Good. Though I'm sure they already know, just in case, send a warning to Queen Yuseria."

"What's got you worried? It can't just be the scouting group," Neriel said, her will already sending the message.

"The whole planet is on stand-by, waiting for the first person to act. We're stepping into the belly of the beast and I do not want to be amongst the first casualties. Just take it as a sign of caution."