The Sword Montress' steps were light. It was almost impossible to accept that her figure was so large yet so nimble.
From the third phase onward, all of the trials would begin with the Central Tower as the centerpiece. As a result, the population of people flowing into it was quite large to begin with. So, it was no surprise that such an… odd figure stood out right from the very beginning.
Of course, there was no lack of odd individuals. However, from the very beginning, most eyes had been focused toward the Northern Sector's entry gates. For such a figure to come from this specific region immediately caught the attention of many.
Despite the fact those tasked with observing the Northern Sector had their own speculations, they didn't dare to confirm it themselves. If they were correct, this person was the only Emperor to be birthed from the second phase since Brave City appeared on Terrain. This wasn't a person they could afford to offend.
Though they couldn't see what was beneath the hood, this only made this person more fear inducing. They didn't want to get mixed up in anything far beyond themselves and lose their lives for a ridiculous reason.
Like this, several backed off after the Sword Monstress appeared, rushing off to their superiors with their conjectures.
The Sword Monstress continued to walk forward as though nothing had changed.
The Central Tower was one of many floors and was the only structure in Brave City that could rival the walls in height. At the same time, it was also an incredibly wide structure despite the fact it was definitely much taller than it was so. This design left one feeling as though one had stepped into an all new world after entering just the first floor.
The first floor of the tower was expansive and incredibly bland. It acted as nothing more than a conduit to help the flow of people reach the places they wanted to go.
There were no stairs nor any elevators like one would see on Earth. Rather, there were elevated pads with queues of people. Each had a miniature teleportation station that would take one to a given floor.
During the first and second phase, the Tower was nothing more than a restaurant. With enough status, one could reach the top floor and gain access to delicacies the likes of which the world of Terrain rarely saw.
It was unfortunate that Leonel wasn't aware of this or he may very well have taken advantage. He had long since become tired of his usual bland diet of meat and more meat.
Of course, this was also mostly due to his own laziness. He had obtained many delicious fruits and vegetables from the underground garden he found within the hive. But, he kept them all within the snowglobes rather than properly fostering them. After all, he was a Force Crafter, not a gardener.
At this moment, though, not a single person was traveling to higher floors. Even if one wanted to, the teleportation pads were out of commission.
Those who were aware of the changes that happened as the third phase approached weren't surprised. This was simply the Tower preparing itself for its true purpose.
"Hey, are you the Emperor from the Northern Sector? Let me see the brand on your forehead."
The once bustling Tower suddenly fell into silence.
The voice that had called out was booming. It had enough forcefulness to it to directly suppress the voices of everyone else. Of course, this was because no one else was trying to speak over the crowd at the same time, or else this matter wouldn't have been so easy.
Everyone's attention oscillated between the Emperor who had spoken and the black figure that had been targeted.
There were very few Emperors in Brave City to begin with. So, everyone immediately recognized the original speaker as Wilas Mirage, the young Heir to the Mirage Pavilion.
He had a rotund body, yet his charms were also somewhat feminine. Of course, the red robes accented with violet soft armor didn't help him escape this image very well.
It couldn't be helped. The Heir to the Mirage Pavilion was rarely a man. In fact, this was only the second time in their history that such a thing had happened.
This said, no one looked down on this chubby, feminine man. So, when the black figure didn't bother to respond, the tension in the air grew palpable.
Wilas' gaze narrowed. His cheeks squeezed, almost covering his eyes completely.
Wilas suddenly chuckled, his body moving forward slowly.
Reynred and Jilniya, who had been by his side, didn't say anything as they watched him. The third phase had yet to begin, so they were still under the rules of the second phase. There was no rules against battle outside of trials just yet. In addition, even if there were, they would still support Wilas' actions at this moment.
The best way to learn about such a mysterious figure would be to test them personally.
As Heirs to Powers, they didn't believe that some unknown could be better than them. In their minds, if they were born from lesser families and didn't receive quotas, they too could become Emperors through the second phase.
Whether that was actually true or not was still up for debate. But, all that mattered was that they believed it.
The shadowy figure didn't move in the slightest. Her hulking figure seemed unperturbed by Wilas' looming threat, even as the young Heir's footsteps echoed through the floor.
In a corner, Syl and Anared watched on in silence. They didn't have any particular horse in this race, so they too were just spectating just like everyone else.
"Big Brother, do you recognize that person?"
Anared's gaze narrowed slightly, but in the end he shook his head.
"No. I don't."
Syl's lovely eyes blinked with an innocent curiosity. It seemed that the legend of the Sword Montress hadn't spread very wide just yet. But, this made quite some sense. After all, one of the reasons the Sword Monstress was able to make it here was because the influx of people migrating toward Brave City made it difficult to pick out individuals.
At that moment, Wilas made it to within three meters of the shadowy figure before stopping.
If before everyone was already avoiding this person, they were now giving the figure an even wider berth.. No one had any interest in getting caught up in this drama.