Those who belonged to the Factions of the Crystal Palace and Skystead Alliance didn’t join Lux’s group in reattempting the Gate of the Domain of the Fallen.

In their eyes, this was simply a wasted effort. However, they also wanted to see the suffering of the fools who decided to follow the Half-Elf, who had gone missing after they all entered the Dungeon the first time.

Although they knew that Lux was a Necromancer and could summon the Undead, they believed that his Undead Army would only get crushed under the might of the Overlord that was in command of the Monster Outbreak inside the Gate of Famine.

However, just as everyone was getting ready to watch a good show, Malcolm walked towards Aron and appealed to him, asking for permission to enter the Domain of the Fallen and join the Half-Elf in his quest to clear the Gate of Famine.

“You what?” Aron asked in a displeased tone.

“I want to challenge the Gate of Famine a second time,” Malcolm replied.

Although there was a bit of anxiety in his voice, there was mostly firmness in it that made the High-Ranker of the Vahan Empire arch his eyebrow.

“Do you want to embarrass our Empire in front of these people?” Aron’s voice sounded calm, but there was an underlying sharpness in it that made Malcolm start to sweat buckets.

“Your Excellency, I have been inside the Gate of Famine just like the other representatives here,” Malcolm replied. “I personally experienced what it was like to be crushed helplessly by a monster that far surpassed my Rank.

“However, I’ve also been part of Lux’s group in the past. Even though I know that this mission seems impossible, I would still like to give it a try. Your Excellency, please give me your permission to challenge the Gate of Famine a second time!”

Piccoro snorted after hearing Malcolm’s words.

“It seems that this boy has been infected by that Half-Elf’s stupidity,” Piccoro stated. “But it will be entertaining to watch him struggle. How about you give him permission to go? Maybe he will understand that making the same mistake over and over again is called madness.”

The arrogant and teasing tone of the Dragon Born made Malcolm’s heart grow cold. However, his gut instinct was telling him that he should at least follow the Half-Elf on this expedition. Regardless of whether he succeeded or not, he would have nothing to regret because he followed what his heart was telling him to do.

“Your Excellency, if you don’t mind, I’ll keep watch over Malcolm and make sure that he doesn’t do anything that will tarnish the Vahan Empire’s reputation,” Nero, who had been keeping silent the entire time, spoke up, which surprised Aron.

“You plan to babysit this fool?” Aron crossed his arms over his chest. The High Ranker then glanced at Prince Cyrus, who was looking at Malcolm in a weird manner.

Clearly, the Prince of the Vahan Empire thought that what the son of their Great General was planning to do was pure folly.

“How about you, Your Highness?” Aron asked. “Do you want to join them as well?”

“Me?” Prince Cyrus pointed at himself.

Aron nodded. “Yes. Your Highness. Do you want to go as well?”

Prince Cyrus pondered for a bit before nodding his head.

“Yes,” Prince Cyrus replied. “Although dying inside the Sacred Dungeon feels terrible, I would like to personally laugh at that Half-Elf in his last moments. Count me in.”

Aron then shifted his gaze back to Malcolm, who was now looking a bit more hopeful.

“Nero, look after these two and make sure they don’t die an embarrassing death,” Aron ordered. “Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Your Excellency,” Nero pressed his closed fist over his chest and bowed his head.

Aron then waved his hand with impatience.

“Go and follow that Half-Elf,” Aron ordered. “If you don’t hurry and catch up to him, you might die at the hands of some random monster before you can even get to the Sacred Dungeon.”

“Yes, Sir!” Malcolm said and bowed his head respectfully.

After paying his respects, he briskly walked towards the Gate of the Fallen, followed by Nero and Prince Cyrus, who wore an amused expression on his face.

The members of the Crystal Palace, with the exception of Aur, mocked the three teenage boys in their hearts.

Just like Piccoro said, they thought that Malcolm had gone crazy after dying inside the Gate of Famine.

Aur watched them go with a calm expression on his face. He had heard many impressive things about Lux, but just like everyone else, he didn’t believe that the Half-Elf would be able to change the outcome.

The only difference between him and his subordinates was that he didn’t openly mock Lux and Malcolm, simply crossing his arms over his chest.

His gaze then landed on the projections on the wall of the cavern, which were being taken by the artifacts that were in the possession of the members of the Xynnar War Pact and Six Kingdoms.

Piccoro glanced at Aur before looking at the projections as well. He was looking forward to watching an entertaining farce that the Humans were planning to make.

———–

Domain of the Fallen….

Malcolm, Nero, and Prince Cyrus hastened their movements until they caught up to Lux’s group.

The members of the Skystead Alliance and Six Kingdoms looked at these three people with suspicion and wondered why they decided to join their expedition as well.

“Before any of you get the wrong idea, I just want to say that I came here to watch your embarrassing defeat firsthand,” Prince Cyrus declared. “Just watching the projections is not enough, so I came here to witness it personally.”

Lux, who was walking at the very front of the formation, didn’t even bother to turn around to see who the newcomers were.

He had somehow expected that Malcolm would catch up, but he never thought that Nero and Prince Cyrus would join them as well.

Truth be told, he didn’t mind if anyone else tagged along with him on this expedition.

Whether they were there or not wouldn’t make a difference. But, he intended to follow his father’s advice to look at the bigger picture. What he planned to do was to make the other Factions indebted to him, especially the Six Kingdoms and the Xynnar War Pact.

As for the Skystead Alliance? As long as they didn’t look to him for trouble, Lux would not do anything to antagonize them.

“Is it just me, or do you guys also not sense the presence of any Monsters anywhere?” Enlil, who was using the power of Wind to check for any potential danger in their surroundings, asked.

“You’re not the only one who feels that way,” Jasper replied. “I am also quite surprised by the lack of tension in the surroundings.”

Although they didn’t encounter any Monsters when they were following Lux on their previous attempt at the Gate of Famine, they could vaguely sense some tension that hung in the air due to the Monsters’ powerful presences.

However, right now, they didn’t feel anything. It was as if the entire Forest had gone quiet, and all the Beasts had gone into hibernation.

Cai, Keane, Gerhart, and Cethus were also wondering what was going on.

Lux didn’t tell them about the secret operation that the two Saints were conducting inside the Domain of the Fallen to ensure that there wouldn’t be any leaks.

However, the four of them couldn’t shake the feeling that the red-headed teenager, who was leading them, had something to do with the disappearance of the Monsters in their surroundings.

“Don’t let your guard down and always be alert in your surroundings,” Lux warned. “The fact that we aren’t sensing any Monsters means that there might be a hidden danger that we are not aware of. Stick to the formation and keep your weapons at the ready. There might be a Monster similar to that Chameleon we faced a few days ago that could hide its presence.”

After Lux’s reminder, everyone became vigilant and prepared to fight at any given time. The Chameleon that Aur had dealt with had caught everyone by surprise, so they no longer asked questions and followed behind the Half-Elf.

In order to keep them on edge, the Half-Elf decided to take a detour, fooling others into thinking that he had sensed the presence of a strong Monster up ahead.

‘Father, can you send one Monster in our direction?’ Lux asked Alexander directly through the special messaging feature of his Guild Chat. ‘Everyone is starting to wonder why they are not sensing any beasts in our surroundings.’

‘I thought you were already in the dungeon?’ Alexander’s response came seconds after Lux messaged him. ‘Did the expedition fail?’

Lux briefly explained what happened after he entered the Gate of Famine to Alexander, which caught the latter by surprise.

‘Let’s talk more about it later,’ Alexander commented after Lux finished his explanation. ‘How many and how strong do you want the Monsters to be?’

‘At least three,’ Lux replied. ‘If you can make one of them an Argonaut, the better.’

‘Okay. Where are you guys at?’

‘We are currently at the…’

Lux and Alexander discussed the intricacies of the “play” that they planned in order to scare the teenagers that were following behind the Half-Elf.

A few minutes later, the entire forest of the Domain of the Fallen trembled, and the roars of countless monsters erupted at the same time.

Suddenly, a giant Argonaut-Ranked Orangutan appeared, swinging from tree to tree, making the teenagers freeze in their tracks.

“Everyone, duck!” Lux ordered.

Following his orders, the teenagers crouched on the grasses, hiding their presence from the Argonaut Ranked Monster that could easily turn them into pancakes.

While everyone was doing their best to erase their presence from the incoming threat, Cai, who still hadn’t crouched down, confusedly looked at the Orangutan first then at Lux second.

“Um, that’s not a duck,” Cai said. “That’s an Orangutan. Ducks are different from monkeys, you know?”

“””#$Y*U@#@#&*@!”””

All the teenagers wanted to hack the stupid Boar to pieces so badly because she would be the death of them.

Even Lux didn’t know if he should laugh or cry at his fiance’s choice of words.

He knew that Cai’s IQ would revert to that of a five-year-old when she was in her Boar Form, so he didn’t take her words to heart.

Instead, he just pulled her down, pinned her to the ground, and covered her snout with his hand.

“Cai, behave, and just don’t say anything, okay?” Lux said in a low volume that was enough for everyone that was near him to hear. “If you’re good, I’ll give you some Beast Cores later.”

Cai nodded her head like an obedient child, making all the teenagers sigh in relief.

After that incident, everyone followed Lux’s every order, as they tried to navigate around the forest, avoiding the Monsters that had been purposely placed in strategic locations to create the illusion that they were always in danger.

All of them also avoided Cai like the plague, with the exception of Lux’s inner circle, thinking that the Boar was a bringer of bad luck.

The Boar on the other hand, simply ignored them while walking beside the red-headed teenager.

Since no one was paying attention to her, they didn’t see that there was a twinkle in Cai’s eyes, and the corner of her lips was raised upwards.

Although she was in her Boar Form, she could instinctively sense that the Orangutan that was headed in their direction wasn’t hostile.

In fact, she could even vaguely guess that it was an ally, so she decided to play a prank on everyone, scaring them silly.

As someone that was loved by Spirits, Cai was sensitive to these things.

Everything she did might be silly in the eyes of others, but she had taken a calculated risk, making all the Factions more reliant on Lux, and making everyone avoid her like a plague.