Chapter 590: Chance Encounter
Rachel, along with many others, had been sent by Gledea to assist in this fight, to bolster the resistance, and prevent Plomux from becoming the next Rhigor or Guwos—both of which had been 110% conquered by Gozon.
But the situation on Plomux was grim. Despite the fierce resistance, the Aramisian forces were faltering.
Though the main culprits of Plomux falling in such a short time—Four-Star Generals Alvey Sagon and Jack McEnda III—weren’t currently on Plomux, the continent was still crawling with hundreds of high-ranking demons, all possessing Transcendent power.
And looming over everything was the spectre of Demon Naval Admiral Barron Agriker, a man with power comparable to the Four-Star Generals.
His presence on Plomux was an unsettling mystery, as the Aramisian forces had no clear idea of his whereabouts.
Back to Rachel, the young woman knew that failure was not an option. The villagers and wounded soldiers waiting for rescue were depending on her squad.
Moving through the thick foliage, Rachel kept her squad silent and on high alert.
Secrecy was paramount as if they were discovered, the consequences could be catastrophic—not just for the team, but for the remnants of the resistance clinging to life on Plomux.
As the squad pressed deeper into the forest, their progress was interrupted by an ambush. A pack of leopard-type monsters emerged from the underbrush, and without hesitation, Rachel ordered her squad to engage.
They swung into action, swiftly dispatching these creatures as quietly as possible. They only used magic as any use of divinity or holy magic would set off demon detectors if any were nearby. After all, the demons had developed numerous ways to detect divinity, one of their greatest vulnerabilities, and something the Aramisians prided themselves on wielding.
Just as the last monster fell, a sudden, heavy pressure descended upon the squad. Everyone felt it simultaneously, as though an unseen weight pressed down on their shoulders.
On instinct, their eyes snapped upward, scanning the treetops, and this action was followed by the sound of a smooth voice ringing out in their ears.
"Well, well, well... what do we have here?"
Rachel’s heart skipped a beat as her gaze settled on a figure standing on a natural outcropping above them—too high to be just a mound, but not steep enough to be called a cliff.
Silver hair caught the light, and her breath caught in her throat. The boy standing there was someone she hadn’t expected to see here of all places.
"Arthur?"
The name slipped from her lips before she could even stop herself and in response, the boy laughed before leaping down effortlessly. He landed directly in front of her, his smile widening as he spoke.
"In the flesh."
For some reason, Rachel felt the current Arthur was dangerous and instinctively, she took a step back, but Arthur closed the distance between them in two swift strides, his gaze locking onto hers.
His eyes gleamed with amusement as he leaned in slightly.
"Oh wow, you’re not trying to kill me on sight. That’s good."
’What...?’
Rachel’s mind whirled when she heard Arthur’s statement. She recalled their last encounter—he had said something similar back then too, though she hadn’t understood it at the time.
But before she could ask, Arthur reached out, his hand moving at a speed she couldn’t catch. He placed his palm on her forehead, and the suddenness of the act sent a shock through the squad.
Immediately, Rachel remembered what happened the last time Arthur pulled something like this and she grabbed his arm, pushing it away instinctively, her expression hardening.
Arthur only chuckled in response, seemingly amused by her reaction.
"Relax. If I wanted to scan you, I wouldn’t be so obvious about it. But you do realize..."
The boy looked down on her hand holding his and continued with a grin.
"...although I need physical contact to scan, I don’t have to be the one initiating it."
Rachel froze, her hand still gripping his arm. The implication of his words hit her too late. She immediately let go, but Arthur’s laughter echoed around them.
"I’m really, really happy. You have no idea how glad I am that you took my warning seriously."
Rachel remained silent, her mind racing. She stared into his eyes, searching for something behind the laughter, and what she saw there wasn’t deception—it was genuine joy.
But before she could say anything, two of her soldiers stepped forward, swords drawn and aimed squarely at Arthur.
"Stay away from the Sergeant Major."
The tension spiked immediately as one of them ordered, his voice steady despite the undercurrent of nerves. His narrowed gaze locked onto Arthur as if daring him to make a move.
"Sergeant Major? You got another promotion? What the hell happened while I was away?"
Arthur’s attention shifted from the soldier to Rachel, his brow raising in question as he completely ignored the man pointing a sword at him.
Despite Rachel knowing Arthur, her squad was on edge. To them, Arthur was a stranger—an unknown entity who had clearly made their commander uncomfortable.
But Arthur didn’t seem bothered by their hostility. He only needed to flick his fingers to release a wave of invisible force that knocked the two soldiers off their feet, sending them sprawling.
This snapped Rachel out of her daze, and she pushed Arthur’s hand down.
"Arthur, stop it."
Arthur stared at Rachel in silence for a long moment before responding, his tone casual as always.
"Well, for starters, I did nothing but come out to see an old friend, and they drew their swords on me.
So, you do realize I’m completely justified here, right? It’s self-defence."
As he spoke, Arthur reached out and placed a hand on Rachel’s shoulder. Her instincts kicked in, and she moved to push his hand away, but before she could, a surge of divinity shot through Arthur’s arm, blasting behind her.
Thinking he was attacking her squad, Rachel shoved him away and turned, expecting to see one of her soldiers harmed.
But what she saw made her freeze.
A massive shadow leopard—a creature that excelled in stealth—had been creeping up behind her team.
Rachel’s squad had just finished dispatching a pack of similar beasts, but none of them had sensed this one. The leopard’s stealth was so refined that even standing right before them, it remained undetected.
However, Arthur was a semi-transcendent who had a little bit of concealment law comprehension. The leopard’s stealth felt cute to him.
The blast of divinity had thrown the shadow leopard backwards, and before anyone could react, Arthur opened his palm and clenched it into a fist.
A powerful, unseen force crushed the leopard’s body mid-air, turning it into a mangled heap of flesh that fell lifelessly to the ground.
Silence reigned.
Rachel’s squad members shivered, their eyes wide with shock. They had just witnessed Arthur—without breaking a sweat—crush a level 350 monster with ease.
The raw, invisible power he wielded terrified them and they realized in that moment, that if he had decided to turn that power on them, they wouldn’t have even known how they died.
’As I thought...something’s different...’
Such a thought crossed Rachel’s mind as she turned back to Arthur, who flashed her an impish grin as he spoke.
"Where’s my thanks?"
After a short silence, Rachel slightly bowed her head.
"Thank you... I didn’t notice it was there."
"Don’t worry, don’t worry. For its level, the stealth was pretty good, so I don’t blame you for not noticing."
Arthur waved her off as he spoke before his eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
"But anyway... last I checked, you were supposed to be stationed on Gledea. This is Plomux. So, what the hell are you doing here?"
Rachel crossed her arms, her fingers tapping the Aramisian army badge on her arm.
"Isn’t it obvious why I’m here?
And besides, I’m not about to tell you the orders I’ve been given. You’re not part of the Army, are you?"
"I do have some affiliation with you guys, you know."
This was technically not a lie, Arthur did have affiliations with the Aramisians. But Rachel didn’t budge.
"Unfortunately, I don’t know what ’affiliation’ you have with the Aramisian Army."
For a moment, silence hung between them before Arthur shrugged.
"Oh well, not like I would’ve cared anyway. I have something else I’m supposed to be doing nearby. The only reason I came down here was because I sensed your presence while I was up there."
He gestured toward the cliff where he had been standing earlier as he spoke, before turning back to Rachel.
"But I just wanted to see your face. It’s been a while. That said, I do have something important to take care of, so as much as I’d love to tag along, I won’t."
Rachel opened her mouth, ready to protest, but Arthur cut her off before she could get a word in.
"Hey, how about we set up a meeting? I promise I won’t be late this time."
His words made her roll her eyes, the memory of his last promise still fresh.
"This time? Last time you were late by five days."
"Yeah, well, it was unavoidable. I was literally in space, you know."
Rachel blinked. She had to stop herself from laughing; the sheer absurdity made her want to check her ears, just in case she’d misheard.
"You were in space?"
"I’ll explain it to you later, but yeah, that’s the gist of it. This time, I won’t be late. I don’t have any long-term travel plans right now."
Arthur waved off her curiosity as he assured her, but right as he finished speaking, another voice cut through the air, making Rachel’s heart skip a beat.
"No long-term travel plans, huh? If I remember correctly, we were supposed to be finding a place for you to complete the final steps to break through to the next Existence Realm."
Jamie’s sudden appearance beside Arthur caught Rachel completely off guard. The man appeared to have literally spawned out of thin air. One moment there was nothing, and then—Jamie.
"Ohhhhhh, right... we were supposed to do that, weren’t we?"
Arthur gave Jamie a sideways glance, scratching his head like a student who forgot his homework.
Rachel stood there, watching the two interact, as Jamie’s presence filled the space. The casualness of their exchange almost distracted her from the gravity of Jamie’s words.
They had something serious planned—something that involved Arthur breaking through into another realm of power.
