The phoenix island glistened beneath the full moon like a jewel atop the clear blue sea. A couple of ships sailed toward the island to conduct business with the phoenix manor. To the naked eye, phoenix island looked no different than before. However, the entire island had a defensive array that formed an energy dome around the island. Lord Julius, the leader of Phoenix manor, spared no expense in increasing the island's security. He was one of the few who made enemies out of Ghost while still a Body Strengthening stage warrior. At that time, Julius never considered GHost the Dark Lord, the most feared person in the world.
"Is this the place?" asked Vedora sitting atop Gaya's shoulders. A big burly figure standing almost seven feet tall hovered behind Gaya with a giant ax on his back. The big man's eyes glistened like rubies under his dark hood.
"I doubt they would give us a warm welcome, so we should let ourselves in," Gaya said coldly.
"What a pity! That fool should have accepted our offer," Saber sighed. Two days ago, Gaya sent one from the dark army to Lord Julius regarding a meeting between him and Gaya. She wanted to establish an alliance to distribute the Red Bliss, Michael's new brew, throughout the Elon and Ozer continent. Despite what happened to her during her last visit to phoenix island, Gaya decided to forgive Julius and be a better person. To be honest, Gaya needed Lord Julius's connection and his operation to distribute the Red Bliss efficiently. Not that GAya could not build a distribution system, but it would take at least a year to create a large-scale operation like Lord Julius's. The dark army needed a revenue stream as soon as possible. So Gaya had no time to create a distribution system from the ground up.
For some reason, Lord Julius did not only refuse to meet her but also hung the messenger to death as a warning to the dark army. Now that Lord Julius had dared to kill the Dark Lord's man, Gaya decided to visit him personally. As she slowly floated toward the island, Gaya took out a golden scroll and tore it in half. Countless golden pecks of light scattered from the scroll as they formed a glowing rune in the air. The rune vibrated for a moment before dashing toward the island.
Gaya watched the rune fly until she saw the rune hit an invisible wall and create ripples in the air. The rune was stuck to the energy dome as Gaya tore another golden scroll. Just like before, another rune appeared from the specks of light and flew straight to the rune. When the two runes came closer, they merged to form a glowing sword that cut through the energy dome. Once the sword created an opening for Gaya, she squeezed through the cut with the big burly man. The golden sword formed from the runes vanished after a few seconds as the cut in the energy dome slowly closed itself.
"I know Elidyr's rune will work," said Sarba.
"Shh," Gaya shushed them as she noticed several guards flying around the island and soldiers patrolling the island on the ground. The weakest of the guard seemed to be at the Core Formation stage, and the strongest was at the Half Immortal stage. As Gaya expected, the Half Immortal was a beastman. He had the lower body of a muscular human and the upper body of a wolf. With crescent-shaped blades, the wolf-headed man led a group of Soul Refiners around the island.
"Do you want me to take care of him, my lady?" the man hovering behind Gaya asked in a thick voice filled with blood lust.
"I like your enthusiasm, Bear. But let's greet Lord Julius first. If the wolf intervenes in our business, you can have him," said Gaya.
"Hrmm," Bear nodded. Gaya could have taken anyone from the vampire squad, but she chose bear for his method of killing. According to Trista and Bartender Donovan in the vampire tavern, Bear was the best man for the job when one needed to make a bloody statement. His monstrous physical stature, coupled with vampire traits, made Bear a ferocious killing machine. To be honest, Gaya couldn't wait to see him in action. They had big plans for the vampire death squad, and this was Gaya's first test to see how they operate in missions.
pαпdα`noνɐ1`сoМ Blending with the darkness, Gaya slowly flew toward the lavish phonic manor surrounded by majestic waterfalls and red maple trees. With a flick of her wrist, Gaya took out a sparkling silver potion from her space ring. She chugged the potion down her throat and tossed another one to Bear. He caught the potion with his big hand and looked at Gaya with a bewildered look on his face.
"Drink this. It will mask our scent," said Gaya. Since Lord Julius was a beastman, he hired most of his guards from the beast kingdom. These beastmen relied on their sense of smell more than their sight and hearing. That's where this potion came into the picture. Drinking the potion would completely mask all the smell coming from their bodies and make them invisible to the beast men's noses.
Once Bear emptied the potion into his mouth, he wiped off his mouth and followed behind the Dark Queen. Normally, the guards would have noticed if someone flew toward the manor, even if they were dressed in black to blend in with the darkness. However, Gaya's Half Immortal cultivation stage with Cosmic energy and Bear's vampire trait made them fast enough to avoid all the guards outside. Thanks to the potion, even the Half Immortal stage wolf failed to sense the intruders.
Instead of foolishly barging through the front door, Gaya targeted the open window on the fourth floor of the mansion. She was able to fly straight through the window, slightly adjusting her body, but Bear couldn't get his body through. So Gaya had to look around the empty room and help Bear get through without breaking the window.
"I would have preferred the front door," Bear growled.
"I know, big guy," Gaya patted him on the shoulder with a chuckle.
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Meanwhile, Lord Julius was discussing the recent events with the elders in a lavish hall. A golden chandelier hanging from the ceiling lit the hall brightly with its warm light. Narrow, washed glass windows were bordered by drapes colored the same orchid as the banners let the dazzling moonlight, adding another layer of charm to the hall. Julius sat on a radiant throne of porcelain between two lion statues. The elders had dark lines on their foreheads as they tried to form a plan to face the Dark Lord's wrath. Contrary to their advice, Lord Julius killed the Dark Lord's minion.
"Lord Julius. I have sent a messenger to the beast kingdom, asking the beast king for his help. While we wait for his response, why don't we inform the Guardian Guild and the Supreme Guardian about all this?" A short-haired man with a brown goatee said.
"We beastmen do not need the help of a human, no matter his status. All humans are the same," Lord Julius growled.
"Once the beast king sees my letter, he will contact the beast clan and send us the harbingers. We can hold the fort until then,"
The elders weren't completely on board with Julius's plan to go against the Dark Lord. To be honest, most of them wanted to accept the Dark Lord's offer instead of going against him. If Julius had accepted the offer, they could have asked the Dark Lord permission to conduct business in the Southern continent. At the moment, the Dark Lord's forces controlled the sea around the Southern continent. Since Lord Julius and Ghost had a quarrel during the annual phoenix manor auction, they avoided venturing to the Southern continent, fearing the Dark Lord's wrath.
Lord Julius, on the other hand, went against the elders' wishes and kicked a golden opportunity out the door. As merchants, they knew the importance of expanding their business. Even if they had nothing to gain, they would have accepted the offer just to avoid the Dark Lord's wrath. But Lord Julius did just that, and now they had to fear for their lives.
"No disrespect Lord Julius, but have you thought this through? Even if the beast king sent us the harbingers, I doubt they could go against the Dark Lord. I think we can all agree that killing the messenger was unnecessary, if not outright foolishness," The elder who spoke his mind was a beastman with a fox's head. He had orange-hue fur and a bushy tail sticking out of his back.
When Lord Julius heard his words, his eyes burned with rage as the elder cowered in fear. Among the beastmen, fox kind was not famous for their valor like lion kind. Hence, Elder Zod felt a chill running down his spine once he saw the murderous look in Julius's eyes. Just when Elder Zod was about to apologize to Lord Julius for his braze words, all the leaders in the hall heard thudding noise outside. Their animalistic ears twitched as they heard heavy footsteps sounding louder and louder with each passing second.
Lord Julius rose from his throne as the marble door at the end of the hall shattered into chunks and pieces. The explosion caused a cloud of dust and smoke to envelop the doorway. As a result, the elders immediately tensed, preparing to defend themselves. Soon, they saw two shadows through the smoke. The elders almost jumped back when they saw a severed head fly through the smoke and land right beneath Julius's feet.
Their heads turned to the head at Julius's feet. But when they heard a melodious whistling, they slowly turned around to see a young woman wearing black armor and a seven feet tall giant with a bloody ax walking out of the smoke.
"The Dark Queen," The elders immediately recognized the young woman and began to tremble in utter fear. Just the mere sight of the Dark Queen made an elder faint in terror. Under their shocked gazes, the Dark Queen calmly strolled toward them, whistling a strange tune and cracking her knuckles. She didn't bother to mind the elders but kept her unwavering gaze on Julius.
"The Dark Lord sends his regards, Lord Julius," Gaya said before nodding at Bear. The next thing the elders saw was the battle ax flying toward Lord Julius and impaling his chest to his very throne. The giant ax almost split Julius's chest in half. Blood oozed out of his chest as the light of life vanished from his eyes. Gaya gave no chance for Julius to explain or even open his mouth because she was there to send a message, not to converse. Judging by the horrifying looks on the elders' faces, she could tell her message reached them alright.
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