Chapter 673: Scandalous Headlines [Bonus]
Sylas wasn't very surprised that Lucius was nowhere to be found.
It had to be remembered that the tundra region wasn't far from the Evergreen Territory where Sylas had left Morgan, and this was also the region where Lucius had set up his Territory.
Now, there was no longer a convenient path to the Africor Continent, but the Portal to Paradise was still there.
Sylas hadn't forgotten about Professor Fembroise, her family, and the skateboarding thief, but he couldn't spare the time to go and get them right now. On the way back to his Woodland Territory, he would. Or maybe he could task Cole with that job.
He wasn't even a City Lord, but he felt like he had too much on his plate.
**
Before the Summoning, Sylas fancied himself a law-abiding citizen. But after... well, he had done quite a few things that were far from so.
Today, he found himself stealing a boat for the second time, tethering it to the Basilisk King, and having it carry them toward Cassarae's island.
This time, despite his thievery, he found himself being quite lucky compared to his first stint across the ocean. At least this time, there were no raging storms. And maybe, because the Basilisk King was so powerful and large now, there were no attacks they suffered... at least not yet.
Sylas knew that the underwater Portal was coming up. The creatures here would certainly be attracted by it. Unfortunately, that wasn't all either.
Back in his Woodland Territory, he had shot Cassarae a message, so he had a general understanding of what was going on here, and it couldn't be said to be the best.
His speculations about there being a traitor in the Terranova government were bearing out. The System City was growing stronger, and it wasn't just because of Level increases.
A System City would always maintain a certain number of Levels above the citizenry of a world. However, they would remain capped at Level 50 for a while. Sylas wasn't sure just yet what would allow them the chance to break into E-Grade, but he knew that the moment they did, a lot of things would become far more difficult to manage.
That aside, the main issue this time wasn't the City Lord of Guiz, but rather the large number of humans joining.
After Cassarae mentioned it, they both agreed that this was far from normal.
Sylas had been to several System Cities now, and not only had a population of humans as thriving as Guiz City's.
Usually, those that had to rely on System Cities, to begin with, weren't very powerful. System Cities were, by definition, crutches.
Using them from time to time, especially when you could pay for their more premium services, was good. But it was the sign of someone poorly adjusting to this current world if they relied on it too heavily.
That was to say that the most powerful of Earth's warriors almost always had their own organizations, own cities, or own backers to rely on outside of System Cities.
Sylas actually felt that this was a push by the system. It tended to reward those that did things on their own, so that was where the strong would gravitate.
This made sense. If the system was aware that the System Cities were tampered with, it was in its best interest to guide Humans toward other opportunities.
That meant that if the reverse was happening...
Someone was putting their thumb on the scale again.
This would be fine under usual circumstances. After all, Sylas was a noble of Guiz, a Baron to be precise. The power he had over the city should supersede most...
Unfortunately, therein lied the problem.
He was no longer the highest-ranked noble of Guiz. Well, that had always been the case, but now he was no longer the highest-ranked non-spawned Human.
The good news was that Cassarae hadn't just been sitting on her hands. She had improved her own Noble Title to Viscount, and this gave her a level playing field. But there was one other Viscount to contend with, and though this person hadn't bared their fangs, the undercurrents spoke for themselves.
...
Sylas stepped foot onto the island Cassarae's Portal rested on, but this time, rather than wild beasts, he had actually been greeted by a patrolling unit.
He couldn't help but nod inwardly. Cassarae had done well.
The island was no longer easy to step on. It was surrounded by mutated Sperm Whales spawned from the Den. Although Sylas didn't get a clear look at any one of them, even his current self still felt some threat from them, albeit a very small one.
On the island itself, the Rotten Wolves were under far more control as well and directly led by militiamen with dark auras around them.
This time, there was no odd occurrence like there was the previous time. It seemed that Cassarae had reined in Gregory's influence quite a bit as well.
She was a firecracker, but she had already shown potential in leading a city. It was just unfortunate that her Luck was so bad.
Sylas had wanted to get the necklace from Lauren for her... but he knew that with the time dilation, Lauren and the three monarchs would be delayed for several more months. He couldn't just wait around in the Africor Continent for them.
'It doesn't matter. However bad her Luck is, I will offset it with my presence.'
Sylas walked forward under the escort of the guards with calm strides. They entered the Portal and found Cassarae waiting with her arms crossed and an unamused expression on her face. By her side, Olivia was grinning wildly as though she was waiting to grab a bag of popcorn and enjoy the show.
As for Sylas... he didn't seem to notice any of this.
His lips curled into a genuine smile, and his eyes softened somewhat. She was just as beautiful as always. No amount of leather armor could hide that proud figure, and no amount of raging fury could change the cool blue of her irises.
Cassarae's pupils trembled before she forcefully controlled herself.
"What are you doing grinning at me like that for? Do you think I don't know what you've been
up to?"
Cole and the others were in a bit of a daze. Not one of them had ever seen Sylas smile, so they didn't even quite register Cassarae's words.
"Hm?" Sylas mumbled, not quite understanding.
Cassarae's glare shifted from Sylas over to Tasia.
Sylas' lip quivered a bit. He hadn't even done anything with Tasia. Plus, how could Cassarae
even know anything about it?
Last time they spoke, she had also been doing fine, too. So why was she mad now all of a sudden? What could have happened between then and now?
Olivia giggled and fluttered over to Sylas' side like a little butterfly before sharing something
from her notification screen.
Sylas looked at it for a moment and shook his head.
When did the Nexus' start getting sensationalized headlines? He hadn't even done anything
wrong here.
**The Mysterious Grimblade! How did Tasia Win his Heart?? And the Auction of the Century!**
Sylas thought it was over before Olivia flipped the screen and another headline appeared.
**Trouble in Grimblade Paradise?! News of a Secret Mistress and Tasia's Struggle for a Noble Title!**
Sylas' eyes narrowed because he immediately realized that this headline wasn't about
Cassarae. It was about Nosphaleen.
But who could have known that he gave Nosphaleen a Noble Title in the Woodland System City? And why would they choose to use that knowledge like this?