The now Silver-Grade village sat atop of a mountain, hidden deep within its sharp canopies.
This mountain wasn't of exaggerated size. This made sense considering it was a reward from a Silver-Grade dungeon, although it was granted as the highest level prize. As such, the mountain itself was only about 500 meters tall at its greatest point, which was relatively short even for a Third Dimensional world. Even so, it had become a nightmare to attack.
The pathways of the mountain were a combination of crisscrossing rivers and narrow walkways. Attack in large numbers was almost impossible, it was probably easier to just try to raze the mountain to the ground first, but even getting into position to do so was a nightmare as well.
Because Leonel had activated the Earth Dragon dungeon reward before the trial was completed, there was the added benefit of the Silver-Grade walls being reconstructed with the new terrain in mind. This might seem like a small matter, but now there was a wall that snaked around even the unpredictable terrain of the mountain, and around there, there was a much deeper and thicker moat.
The village had become a beacon in all directions, making their location clear and obvious. But at the same time, it became a region that was near impossible to actually attack.
Leonel descended from the walls and waved a hand. In this challenge, they had 13 138 Kill Exchanges. Without hesitation, he used 10 000 of them. Then, he traded in the remaining 3137 Silver-Grade kills for 3 137 000 points as every Silver- Grade kill was worth 1000 points.
The Gold-Grade upgrade would require 500 000 000 points to trigger, so they were still an enormous distance away. However, these three million or so points, added with the 200 000 points he had yet to use, weren't entirely useless either.
Much like Leonel had been able to upgrade the walls after they reached the Silver-Grade, he could now pay to upgrade other facets of the city now that it was also in the Silver-Grade. After pouring another 50 000 or so points into the Segmented Cube to give it more raw materials, Leonel began to buy the upgrades he had had his eye on.
By now, he had already cleared away all of the raw materials he had bought ahead of time and could outfit everyone with what they needed given another half day or so.
As for the upgrades, he focused on two main things: more outposts and larger territory.
After reaching the Silver-Grade, the range of the city went from a radius of 50 kilometers to 100 kilometers. Leonel doubled that for
500 000 points, then doubled it again for a million points, giving them a 400 kilometers, which was already a 100 away from the range of a Gold-Grade city, which was probably why he wasn't allowed to double it again.
Finally, he bought the highest grade outposts that he could, spending the rest of the over 1.5 million swiftly. Each cost about 100 000 points each, he bought 16 and dotted them around the territory.
The difference between the 50 000 point model and the 100 000 point model was nothing on paper. However, in the fine print, it made it clear that the highest upgrade was linked with the city.
Meaning, when the city entered the Gold-Grade, so would they.
This would allow teleportation function between the outposts, making the doubled price more than worth it.
Of course, for most others, they wouldn't be able to swallow this cost so early on, and by the time they could they wouldn't want to lag behind and waste time accumulating more points just to have upgradeable outposts.
Lights began to flash and one after another, thousands of Leonel's warriors began to appear. Very quickly, it became obvious that not a single one of them was human.
They were the Oryx!
Much like everyone else, the moment the Oryx appeared, they were perfectly organized. They didn't say anything, they didn't waste time looking around, they simply filed themselves in an orderly line and waited as Leonel handed them their equipment one by one.
Even with the sheer number of them, in just a single hour, they were already finished. Each Oryx was outfitted with their weapon and armor, shimmering with a black luster beneath the slowly setting sun.
The more the elders on the outside saw, the more sure they were.
Leonel had truly planned everything out from the very beginning, he had never left a single thing to chance, and his people were just as prepared as he was.
Watching him as he steadily pulled away, the solemness of the others only became more and more obvious.
Leonel waved a hand and motes of Force Arts formed in the skies, snaking around until they formed a roaring violet-scaled dragon that soared into the skies. By his side, there was no one else but Aina, the only one worthy of standing by his side.
On the ground below, Elthor stood at the helm of the Oryx army, a massive black saber resting menacingly on his shoulder.
Leonel's brothers and the others stood on the city walls. They wouldn't be participating in this expedition, the city had reached a point where it needed others to stay back and protect it now.
However, they didn't seem worried in the slightest, and why would they be?
Leonel strapped the White Lion Bow to his back.
"We move."
The silence of the Human Domain was heavy. It felt like Leonel wasn't marching toward the Constellation Bow Alliance, but rather toward them, their own homes, their worlds, ready to snatch their hearts.
Looking toward the cobbled together resistance of the Constellations Bow Alliance, the hearts of Ancestor Mito and the others sank.
Leonel had gone from having the fewest subordinates present, to suddenly having the most by far...
What chance did they even stand?
Ancestor Mito gripped the railings of his flagship, twisting the tough metal as though it was made of thin aluminum. "Nazag... We can only rely on you..."
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