Chapter 882: Improvement

Souta stayed in the Champion's Den for a day as he settled Vashno's registration in Athen's Champion. He also inquired about the information regarding the upcoming war against Gluttony.

It's already nighttime when he settled everything.

Souta dispatched Vashno to the Selnes Country first to gather information. He would go back to Hall Plains to settle some things and stabilize his power. He also needed rest in the meantime.

The top factions were being cautious. Gluttony's forces were larger than they expected. They launched a high-level surveillance artifact and detected dozens of god-rank powerhouses in the land that was once known as the Eru Empire.

The gods of the Olympus were glad that they have launched an initiative to attack Gluttony when he appeared above the Hall Plains. If they attacked, the barrier would be broken so the No God Emperor would be freed and all the gods under Gluttony would appear. A huge battle would break out, wiping the entirety of Hall Plains along with the nearest territories. Olympus would undoubtedly suffer huge casualties once that happen since their land was close to Hall Plains.

That's the scenario that Olympus wanted to avoid, to avoid their land becoming the battlefield for the gods. All living beings would cease to exist at that time.

Right now, the Olympus and other huge factions were fortifying their borders. They were even installing a huge amount of sensory artifacts. Runes and all sorts of enchantments were being activated one by one. It was definitely better than any of the Large Countries' formations. None of them wanted their land to become a battlefield. Even gods wouldn't be able to easily infiltrate their lands.

The forces of Gluttony started advancing. It was slow but they were demolishing everything in their sight. Small villages, towns, or cities that weren't affiliated with anyone weren't spared at all. They were massacred.

The experts that were involved weren't powerful. It's just that those small cities or towns were too weak. Some of them only have a single B-rank while others have one A-rank. Against Gluttony's army, they were annihilated.

The Holy Lands were simply watching on the sideline, observing what faction would Gluttony target first. Still, they sent some experts to help some civilians evacuate before Gluttony's army arrived.

Gluttony's army would meet the first resistance. The Selnes Country, Fedru Republic, and Bruim Principality. Any of these lands contained Shackled Realm experts so they would be able to fight Gluttony's army to a certain degree. The huge factions all over the continent would send some of their forces to help these three lands.

Souta opened his eyes. His next plan was already decided, he would go to the Selnes Country next week.

Next week...

Right now, they should be testing each other... The battle didn't reach a high level so he still had one week. Probably, Liquefying Realm or Solidifying Realm were the only ones that were fighting. But it would only last one week since Shackled Realm starting from One Shackle would appear.

Souta stood up and grabbed the vajra sword.

He glanced at Eilish who was reading a spell book and said, "Let's go..."

The two returned to Hall Plains using the portals. Souta and Eilish immediately went into Saya's inner consciousness to train. Even by a little bit, Souta wanted to train his skills. He also didn't forget to bring Yuko with him. She already attained the fourth stage so she possessed enough power to stand on a battlefield.

Souta, Yuko, and Eilish their days training nonstop.

After five days, the three came out of Saya's inner consciousness. The aura around their bodies was stronger and denser than before.

Souta went to his office with Eilish and read the reports about the things that happened in Hall Plains while he was gone.

"A bunch of refugees arrive a week ago from the Obsidian Desert..."

Souta rubbed his chin. Apparently, a disaster occurred in the Obsidian Desert. Not just the Obsidian Desert, it seems that other lands also experienced a disaster.

This was quite a problem.

Souta went to the next page. He found that the number of refugees almost reached three million.

He realized that this was what was supposed to happen in the game. The players solved some of those problems, saving a bunch of cities and towns. Right now, there's no players roaming around the continent to take quests and solve those problems.

"It's pretty chaotic right now... It started with Gluttony's appearance and now almost all the small terrorist organizations had begun to move." Eilish said.

"Luckily, nothing happens in our land. Well, it's not a secret anymore that I'm affiliated with Athen's Champion. Even if I'm not here, the Dragon Council had grown stronger so they could somehow maintain the balance in Hall Plains." Souta said.

Knock! Knock!

Souta and Eilish paused before they turned their heads toward the door.

"What is it?" Souta asked as he placed down the stack of paper on the table.

"Lord Souta, this is Hanmi. Alice and the rest had returned." Elder Hanmi's voice sounded behind the door.

"What a great timing." Souta smiled. "Call them here."

"Understood."

A few minutes later, the door opened.

Alice, Eztein, Torkez, and Franklin entered the room. There was a hint of strong bloodlust around their bodies. Even their energy was much denser than before. It feels like they have undergone a huge transformation.

Eilish was shocked when she felt the energy oozing out of their bodies.

"This..."

She stared at Alice as she felt dangers coming from her.

"Whoa... You guys sure experienced a lot." Souta smiled widely as he scanned them with his eyes.

Torkez and Franklin both reached Two Shackles Realm while Alice and Eztein were above them. They were at Three Shackles Realm.

A great advancement in their strength.

Finally, the Astros had a top-tier SS-rank.

"How about it?" Souta asked with a smile.

Alice stepped forward and placed a ring on the table. The [Burning Ring Seal]. A dark grade artifact that he gave to her before he passed out after fighting No God Emperor.

"We've gathered a lot but it seems that we can't catch up with you..." Alice smiled wryly. She was proud of her achievement and wanted to show it to Souta but once she saw him she realized that Souta had gotten stronger once again.

"Yeah, boss. It seems unfair. I forgot how many times I almost died in that place." Eztein complained.

"I also experienced a lot of things while you guys are gone," Souta replied while wearing the [Burning Ring Seal].

Alice turned her head to Torkez and made a gesture pointing to Souta. Torkez nodded and he took an object on his back wrapped in bandages. He placed the object on top of the table.

"It is hard getting that artifact. You didn't even mention anything about the connection of the [Burning Ring Seal] to that labyrinth. If not for Torkez, we wouldn't discover it." Alice said as if she was complaining about the lack of intel. Souta clearly know it but he didn't tell her.

"Yeah, boss. It was guarded by a strong golem equivalent to Seventh Shackles. We're lucky that Torkez found a way to shut it down with fighting or else all of us will die." Eztein said.

"You're the one who awakened it by approaching it carelessly," Torkez said.

"Yoo... No one mentioned it to me." Eztein said.

Souta ignored them as he stared at the spherical object wrapped in bandages. He raised his hand and the object floated in the air. The bandages slowly fell on the ground, revealing a multi-colored palm-sized orb.

A catalyst.

A weapon of mages aside from a wand or staff.

This is the [Orb of Arcane Seal].

A universal grade artifact that possessed great power.

"Wahahahahaha!!"

Souta laughed madly.

Torkez and Eztein stopped arguing as they turned their head. Alice, Franklin, and Eilish also stared at Souta.

"What's wrong with boss? Did he finally lose his mind?" Eztein pointed his finger at Souta.

After a few seconds, Souta stopped laughing. He exhaled and said, "I already lost my mind a long time ago. Anyway, I didn't think that you guys would acquire this artifact."

He recalled Torkez saying that there was a way to shut down those golems without fighting. In the past, he fought those golems and when he searched the area he didn't find anything to shut down those powerful golems.

"There are five dungeons surrounding the labyrinth. They are five kilometers apart from each other. The dungeons didn't look like they were connected to each other but if you look at them from above, you can see that the labyrinth is the center. Each of those dungeons contained golems and the weakest golems are the answer. They build up a path forming a star and we have to place the shattered cores of the golems to shine it." Torkez slowly explained.

"So it's like that..." Souta nodded. "Great job in getting this extremely valuable artifact. We are on the right path."