The big city was quiet and calm for the next few days.
Borl didn't trouble Kieran anymore but Kieran still caught a glimpse of his figure at Harvest Inn— it was Lawless' usual gathering anyway, both of them didn't talk after exchanging gazes.
Time flew faster after that.
After the dungeon cooldown was reset, Kieran chose to enter after double-checking his equipment and items.
[Entering single-player special dungeon!]
[Dungeon difficulty: 6th dungeon]
[Background: The Prairies men were defeated but Riverdale hasn't returned to its peaceful state, many malicious figures started to place their eyes on the capital…]
[Main mission: Ensure Mary ascends to the throne as Queen in 30 days (0/30)]
[Temporary language pack, disappears upon exiting the dungeon]
[Clothing, backpack, weapons, and other items remain unchanged. Temporarily altered appearance returns to normal upon exiting the dungeon]
[Note: This is a 6th special dungeon. You can fail the Main Mission, but you will have to pay 600 Points as a penalty and your highest attributes will drop by 2 ranks If your points are insufficient, the system will deduct from your equipment. If your equipment is insufficient, you will fail]
...
"Ascend to Queen?"
Kieran wasn't surprised about the main mission.
After James IV appointed Mary as the heir of Warren, Kieran knew the day would come sooner or later, especially with Mary as the vanguard, was breaking through the Prairies main camp, everything started to follow a clear path.
Of course, Kieran also expected troubles within.
The nobles that ran from Riverdale.
The reinforcements from the south and north and those hiding in the shadows.
All of them were trouble, especially the latter.
So far, Kieran only came in contact with the declined Viper Sect and Raven Sect, what about those other sects that didn't fall?
Or more accurately, what will their stand be if they knew about the Dragon Sect secret on Mary?
"I'm afraid that the greedy eyes are watching her."
Kieran understood the greed that lurked in a human's heart.
"Never satisfied", it could be used to describe humanity's greed most of the time, including Kieran himself.
The only difference between him and others was the different decisions made.
After a deep breath, Kieran sized up the tent before his eyes.
Based on the arrangements, he was sure it was the tent that he once stayed in before he left the last time.
It seemed like this time, he didn't leave for a long time, at most a day or two, which explained why the soldiers in the Warren campsite were still cleaning up the battlefield.
Kieran then used Fire Raven to verify his guesses.
Starting from the ruined Lightning Fortress, groups of Warren soldiers were cleaning the battlefield and brought back tons of weapons, equipment and… captives.
The invaders still had lingering fear on their faces, especially when they saw Kieran walk out of his tent.
"T-The Devil!"
Amidst the panicking voice, the first captive that saw Kieran was frightened enough to a fall while the rest traced the voice to its source.
Voices of panic then sounded off like a ceaseless wave.
All of the captives didn't care about the swords and knives pointed behind them by the Warren soldiers and wanted to escape, however, their hands and legs were tied up by a long rope, thus rendering their escape impossible.
In the end, all of them fell on the ground because of the messy pulling from all directions. A whole bunch of Prairie captives just fell on top of each other but despite the ugly position, they were still struggling to crawl away.
As long as they could get away from the Devil, even if they had to wriggle away without limbs they would do it, let alone having their hands and legs tied.
None of the captives wanted their soul to fall into the Devil's hand.
Death wasn't scary, the scary thing was they couldn't be at peace after death.
The unusual commotion amongst the captives shook the soldiers escorting them but they soon reacted to the situation by beating them with their sheathed blades.
Amid the beating sounds, the Prairies captives were beaten heavily, their faces were swollen by the hits and some even lost a couple of teeth.
The soldiers didn't hold back, just like how the Prairie invaders didn't show mercy when they slaughtered the Warren soldiers.
Both were enemies to begin with, it was not possible for them to show mercy to each other.
With a hundred-year-old grudge infused into their minds, both sides were fatally incompatible.
"My lord."
As the little commotion amongst the captives quickly calmed down, the soldiers looked at Kieran and bowed with reverence.
They knew who was the one responsible for winning the war and allowing Warren to emerge victorious.
Each of the soldiers would never forget the monster that clouded the sky.
None of them could forget the gigantic magma body that slaughtered his enemies.
All of the soldiers were grateful in their hearts, they were grateful that Kieran was on their side.
In fact, not only the soldiers, the officers and generals felt grateful. There was another one in the campsite right now who felt the same way as well: the Son of Dragon.
The young Duke of Zilin received the respect he deserved but most of the respect came from his dukeship and the fact that he stepped forward to help in the war.
As for his real strength?
No one really stated it out loud but everyone knew it in their guts, including the duke himself.
When the Duke of Zilin heard the commotion, he stepped out of his tent and saw the black figure bathing under the sunlight.
The feathered mantle on his coat was reflecting the sunlight, making it look golden with a dash of red.
It was eye-catching and blinding to look at, even the duke skipped a breath upon viewing the scene.
He felt like something had changed in Kieran.
It wasn't very clear but the instinct in his bloodline told him how powerful the person before him was.
The person was even stronger than the Prairie King!
"As I expected of the highest ultimates of the Viper Sect."
Obviously misunderstood, the young duke walked over to Kieran with a smile.
He once again thought of the writings kept secret in his family: snake ascending to a dragon.
Unconsciously, the young duke's eyes at Kieran became more passionate.
He even thought of what to say in his mind and if it doesn't go against his code of honor, the duke would pour in every effort in exchange for Kieran teaching him the secret technique.
But when the young duke arrived in front of Kieran, extending his hand and ready to speak, Kieran turned his head in another direction.
Mary donning a smaller silver armor walked out from the tent.
Her golden ponytail was waving left and right as she ran over.
"This time…"
"You were faster than I expected."
"Welcome back, 2567," said Mary.
Mary then dived into Kieran's arms.
"Hello, Mary."
Kieran smiled and touched her head like a senior caring for his junior.
Mary looked up and saw Kieran with a warm smile, her lips too curled into a delighted grin.
A smile that captured people's eyes appeared on the princess' face.
The soldiers around quickly turned their gazes away and continued their duties, only the young duke stood there awkwardly.
His hand in mid-air felt weird as well, it wasn't right for him to either take back or continue to linger.
In the end, the duke retracted his hand with a bitter smile and touched the tip of his nose to relieve the awkwardness.
Then, a soldier ran over in a hurry amid the happy reunion.
"Your Highness, the Duke of Will from the south has appeared 20 kilometers outside of Riverdale with 20,000 troops," the soldier reported after a bow.
The big city was quiet and calm for the next few days.
Borl didn't trouble Kieran anymore but Kieran still caught a glimpse of his figure at Harvest Inn— it was Lawless' usual gathering anyway, both of them didn't talk after exchanging gazes.
Time flew faster after that.
After the dungeon cooldown was reset, Kieran chose to enter after double-checking his equipment and items.
[Entering single-player special dungeon!]
[Dungeon difficulty: 6th dungeon]
[Background: The Prairies men were defeated but Riverdale hasn't returned to its peaceful state, many malicious figures started to place their eyes on the capital…]
[Main mission: Ensure Mary ascends to the throne as Queen in 30 days (0/30)]
[Temporary language pack, disappears upon exiting the dungeon]
[Clothing, backpack, weapons, and other items remain unchanged. Temporarily altered appearance returns to normal upon exiting the dungeon]
[Note: This is a 6th special dungeon. You can fail the Main Mission, but you will have to pay 600 Points as a penalty and your highest attributes will drop by 2 ranks If your points are insufficient, the system will deduct from your equipment. If your equipment is insufficient, you will fail]
...
"Ascend to Queen?"
Kieran wasn't surprised about the main mission.
After James IV appointed Mary as the heir of Warren, Kieran knew the day would come sooner or later, especially with Mary as the vanguard, was breaking through the Prairies main camp, everything started to follow a clear path.
Of course, Kieran also expected troubles within.
The nobles that ran from Riverdale.
The reinforcements from the south and north and those hiding in the shadows.
All of them were trouble, especially the latter.
So far, Kieran only came in contact with the declined Viper Sect and Raven Sect, what about those other sects that didn't fall?
Or more accurately, what will their stand be if they knew about the Dragon Sect secret on Mary?
"I'm afraid that the greedy eyes are watching her."
Kieran understood the greed that lurked in a human's heart.
"Never satisfied", it could be used to describe humanity's greed most of the time, including Kieran himself.
The only difference between him and others was the different decisions made.
After a deep breath, Kieran sized up the tent before his eyes.
Based on the arrangements, he was sure it was the tent that he once stayed in before he left the last time.
It seemed like this time, he didn't leave for a long time, at most a day or two, which explained why the soldiers in the Warren campsite were still cleaning up the battlefield.
Kieran then used Fire Raven to verify his guesses.
Starting from the ruined Lightning Fortress, groups of Warren soldiers were cleaning the battlefield and brought back tons of weapons, equipment and… captives.
The invaders still had lingering fear on their faces, especially when they saw Kieran walk out of his tent.
"T-The Devil!"
Amidst the panicking voice, the first captive that saw Kieran was frightened enough to a fall while the rest traced the voice to its source.
Voices of panic then sounded off like a ceaseless wave.
All of the captives didn't care about the swords and knives pointed behind them by the Warren soldiers and wanted to escape, however, their hands and legs were tied up by a long rope, thus rendering their escape impossible.
In the end, all of them fell on the ground because of the messy pulling from all directions. A whole bunch of Prairie captives just fell on top of each other but despite the ugly position, they were still struggling to crawl away.
As long as they could get away from the Devil, even if they had to wriggle away without limbs they would do it, let alone having their hands and legs tied.
None of the captives wanted their soul to fall into the Devil's hand.
Death wasn't scary, the scary thing was they couldn't be at peace after death.
The unusual commotion amongst the captives shook the soldiers escorting them but they soon reacted to the situation by beating them with their sheathed blades.
Amid the beating sounds, the Prairies captives were beaten heavily, their faces were swollen by the hits and some even lost a couple of teeth.
The soldiers didn't hold back, just like how the Prairie invaders didn't show mercy when they slaughtered the Warren soldiers.
Both were enemies to begin with, it was not possible for them to show mercy to each other.
With a hundred-year-old grudge infused into their minds, both sides were fatally incompatible.
"My lord."
As the little commotion amongst the captives quickly calmed down, the soldiers looked at Kieran and bowed with reverence.
They knew who was the one responsible for winning the war and allowing Warren to emerge victorious.
Each of the soldiers would never forget the monster that clouded the sky.
None of them could forget the gigantic magma body that slaughtered his enemies.
All of the soldiers were grateful in their hearts, they were grateful that Kieran was on their side.
In fact, not only the soldiers, the officers and generals felt grateful. There was another one in the campsite right now who felt the same way as well: the Son of Dragon.
The young Duke of Zilin received the respect he deserved but most of the respect came from his dukeship and the fact that he stepped forward to help in the war.
As for his real strength?
No one really stated it out loud but everyone knew it in their guts, including the duke himself.
When the Duke of Zilin heard the commotion, he stepped out of his tent and saw the black figure bathing under the sunlight.
The feathered mantle on his coat was reflecting the sunlight, making it look golden with a dash of red.
It was eye-catching and blinding to look at, even the duke skipped a breath upon viewing the scene.
He felt like something had changed in Kieran.
It wasn't very clear but the instinct in his bloodline told him how powerful the person before him was.
The person was even stronger than the Prairie King!
"As I expected of the highest ultimates of the Viper Sect."
Obviously misunderstood, the young duke walked over to Kieran with a smile.
He once again thought of the writings kept secret in his family: snake ascending to a dragon.
Unconsciously, the young duke's eyes at Kieran became more passionate.
He even thought of what to say in his mind and if it doesn't go against his code of honor, the duke would pour in every effort in exchange for Kieran teaching him the secret technique.
But when the young duke arrived in front of Kieran, extending his hand and ready to speak, Kieran turned his head in another direction.
Mary donning a smaller silver armor walked out from the tent.
Her golden ponytail was waving left and right as she ran over.
"This time…"
"You were faster than I expected."
"Welcome back, 2567," said Mary.
Mary then dived into Kieran's arms.
"Hello, Mary."
Kieran smiled and touched her head like a senior caring for his junior.
Mary looked up and saw Kieran with a warm smile, her lips too curled into a delighted grin.
A smile that captured people's eyes appeared on the princess' face.
The soldiers around quickly turned their gazes away and continued their duties, only the young duke stood there awkwardly.
His hand in mid-air felt weird as well, it wasn't right for him to either take back or continue to linger.
In the end, the duke retracted his hand with a bitter smile and touched the tip of his nose to relieve the awkwardness.
Then, a soldier ran over in a hurry amid the happy reunion.
"Your Highness, the Duke of Will from the south has appeared 20 kilometers outside of Riverdale with 20,000 troops," the soldier reported after a bow.
