Veylin frowned at her suggestion. On one hand, he wanted to complete his mission, and on the other, he didn’t want any casualties among the team he led.
"Alright, I will wait," Veylin said with a gloomy expression, having decided to hold off.
Max smiled coldly upon hearing that.
Five glanced at the man in the mask from the Black Lotus guild. "Looks like you guys won," he said, his voice calm.
The man in the mask signaled Max with his eyes. "He doesn’t think so. Not yet."
Five’s eyes narrowed as he glanced at Max, his expression turning mysterious. "He can use black flames just like you," he said, turning to the man in the mask. "Does he have some connection to the Black Lotus guild?"
The man in the mask glanced at Five and replied, "None that I know of so far."
Five gazed deeply at him before closing his eyes.
Everyone waited in silence for everything to come to an end.
Veylin’s eyes drifted between Alice and Jessica the entire time, but he didn’t make a move and only observed from a distance.
Max remained on full alert the whole time. If Veylin had even moved a step toward Alice, he would have burned Jessica alive mercilessly.
The tension between them grew, but neither of the two took any action, nor did any of the other figures standing in or above the crater.
Time passed, and half an hour went by.
Around that time, the dome at the other end of the city vibrated slightly, attracting everyone’s attention.
They then saw the dome slowly but steadily disintegrate into red particles until it disappeared completely, revealing a black crack in the blue sky.
Everyone was shocked to witness the crack in the sky, which remained. Usually, when a dungeon break occurred, the crack or portal, the source of the monsters, would close after the monsters were killed. But the sight in front of them left everyone speechless.
"What is this?" Nash muttered, a bad feeling rising in his heart.
The young woman with green hair sneered at Nash for being so ignorant, but she didn’t provide any information either.
Max also glanced at the tear in the void, but he didn’t pay it too much attention. His focus remained on the various figures in the sky.
Among the many figures just below the tear, many wore cloaks, but the majority of them belonged to the five guilds and four families.
Currently, they seemed to be arguing about something.
A middle-aged man with dark red hair and a slim build glanced at the situation near the Rune Tower, his expression darkening. He was the leader of the Monarch guild in charge of the operation, and they had accomplished what they had intended. However, the situation with their other group didn’t seem to be going well.
"Hubert, you people from the Monarch are really deep scheming bastards," Aurelia, the leader of the Phoenix Order guild, grinned, her tone furious. "To send a team after my daughter? You really have the guts." A fiery aura so intense that it could burn the very air around her radiated from her body.
Hubert shrugged. "I wasn’t aware of them at all." He smiled slyly. "Maybe that team was led by the young master from the direct order of Young Monarch himself."
Aurelia sneered, her tone cold. "That means it doesn’t matter if anyone on their side dies, right?"
Hubert chuckled. "We both know that you aren’t going to kill anyone, especially from the Monarch."
"Oh, really?" Aurelia smiled, her expression cruel as she turned to Sophia, who stood beside her. "Go and give Max the order to execute the woman he’s holding hostage."
"As you say, Master." Sophia nodded and was about to leave but was blocked by two figures from the Blade family and Evernight family.
The leader of the Blade family, Galen Blade, glanced at Aurelia and scolded, "Aurelia, don’t act like a child. Killing someone from the Monarch would directly start the impending war." He was a middle-aged man with silver hair and handsome looks.
"Galen’s right, Aurelia," the leader of the Evernight family, Cashen, said in support of Galen. "We’re in no position to start a war against the Monarch, not when the Valora continent is not united. We have to wait until the King from the West Region’s birthday."
The leaders of the other four guilds watched indifferently, but their expressions clearly showed they weren’t keen on starting a war with the Monarch.
Aurelia frowned after hearing the two leaders. "They came to kidnap my daughter; the least they could do is let someone from their side die as compensation," she said, refusing to back down.
Tension arose due to her words.
Hubert sneered. "Don’t try anything foolish, Aurelia. It would only lead to something undesirable."
"I don’t care at this point," Aurelia said, glancing at the lady in Max’s hands. She wanted to settle this matter herself.
The thought of what could have happened to her daughter if she had been kidnapped fueled her heart with deep resentment and hatred against the Monarch, and at that moment, she couldn’t care less about them.
"How about listening to this merchant?" Three middle-aged men appeared before them at that moment. Each one appeared round and fat but with distinct personalities.
One of them had a kind face, another appeared frowning, and the last one had his eyes closed, as if nothing in this world mattered to him.
They were the three brothers of the Stellar Merchant Alliance.
"Oh, now the Stellar Merchant Alliance wants to interfere in the business of the Monarch and the other powers in the East?" Hubert asked, glancing at them.
The kind one of the trio glanced at him and said, "If this matter could potentially lead to the start of a war, then we had to interfere."
Hubert snorted but didn’t say anything else.
Seeing that, the kind one turned to both Aurelia and Hubert. "How about this? Hubert, you compensate the Phoenix Order guild with some mana crystals or any treasures, but the items must be of sufficient value to compensate for the kidnapping."
Hubert’s face turned dark. They had already failed the other half of the mission, and now they even had to give their enemies compensation?
"That won’t happen," he refused outright.
"I also don’t want any compensation," Aurelia also rejected his suggestion. However, her expression turned sly as she glanced at the kind one. "If he can give me something I desire, then I won’t mind this matter at all."
"And what is that thing?" the kind one asked curiously.
Aurelia smiled sweetly and held up five fingers. "Five fruits of the Flame Galleon Tree in the Central Region."
Every other guild and the four families were shocked by her words. The Flame Galleon Tree was one of the many natural resources of the world, but its fruits were incredibly rare.
Especially the Flame Galleon Tree, whose fruits were said to enhance one’s affinity with flames. Increasing comprehension wasn’t easy, but there were still ways to improve one’s rate of understanding.
The kind one thought for a moment and turned to Hubert. "What do you think?"
Hubert frowned. On one hand, the fruits of the Flame Galleon Tree weren’t a big matter to them, but their rarity and specialty made them never sell a single one of these fruits. However, the situation here demanded otherwise.
He contemplated for a moment and said, "It will arrive at the doors of the Phoenix Order guild in a week’s time."
He added, his expression cruel, "But by doing this, Aurelia, you’ve added the Phoenix Order guild to the Monarch’s blacklist."
"You don’t need to worry about that. Just send me the fruits," Aurelia waved dismissively at him.
Hubert frowned, seeing that she wasn’t taking his words seriously.
"What about the tear?" Another member of the trio from the Stellar Merchant Alliance, the serious one with the frown, asked Hubert. "Why isn’t it closing?"