Although Violet and Xiao Guang both possessed the ability to fly, considering the conspicuousness of the latter’s dragon wings in public and the potential trouble caused by Miss Priestess’s “Feathers of the Divine” in a country where the winged races were identified by their wings, they chose not to expose their wings for now. Instead, they opted to ride on a Skyward Soaring Falcon together with Felina, Edwina, and others.
Leila and Rene, like other winged beings, flew directly in the sky. For this mission, Sigrid brought only over three hundred elite winged warriors, among whom nearly one-sixth were rare and powerful White Feather individuals. These were the members of the “Wings of Freedom,” who had been following her on missions.
The remaining majority were mostly Red Feather warriors, along with a small number of Silver Wing Sky Mages. As the elite selected to confront Abyssal Beasts, most of these winged beings were at least level 20, approaching the strength of the Shadow Guards under Queen Lilya before she ascended to the throne.
Of course, with the Queen’s accession to power and the loyalty of countless resources and powerful individuals, her forces had naturally grown stronger. The Shadow Guards, as an organization, was no longer at its original level.
For instance, accompanying the mission to the Azure Sky Kingdom, now also joining in the battle together with other Skyward Soaring Falcons, were around a dozen powerful individuals providing support to the winged beings. They were the former Shadow Guards, now organized under the Queen’s command as the “Phantom Assembly.”
Each of them was at least at the Earth-level, with one-third having already reached the Sky Rank.
This was what Lilya mentioned to Violet before—the arrangement of enough experts to protect the mission. Under normal circumstances, there was no need for Miss Priest to intervene.
The Phantom Assembly dispatched a total of fifty experts, including ten Sky Ranks and forty Earthly Ranks, all with extensive combat experience. Only a ruler like Lilya could assemble such a terrifying lineup.
Filena led the mission to the Azure Sky Kingdom primarily to investigate Abyssal-related intelligence, and she naturally wouldn’t miss such an opportunity.
Sitting on the wide back of the Skyward Soaring Falcon, Sigrid did not converse while flying, as Hilda had done before. Instead, she gathered everyone together and retold the situation to Violet and the others.
The floating island currently under attack was named Omo Island. It was a relatively small island, with an area of just over a hundred square kilometers, one of the smallest islands within the borders of the Azure Sky Kingdom. It gained its name from the special magic crystal ore it produced, known as 【Omo Stone】.
According to Sigrid, although Omo Island is not large, it is one of the country’s largest Omo Stone production sites, accounting for at least thirty percent of the annual total production. The product refined from Omo Stone, a 4th-grade magic crystal, is of extremely high quality and has a wide range of uses.
Omo Stone possesses strong and extensive elemental adaptability and receptivity, along with outstanding magical conductivity. In simpler terms, ordinary metals cannot directly conduct magic. To manufacture equipment above the level of magical weapons, Omo Crystal powder is usually essential or offers the best cost-effectiveness.
Another point to note is that, despite appearing as part of the Azure Sky Kingdom to outsiders, the creatures inhabiting and dominating this area are not winged beings.
As mentioned earlier, the civilization of the Azure Sky Kingdom’s hundred thousand floating islands is actually composed of two parts: the winged beings led by the Feathered Emperor and the winged magical beasts and creatures ruled by the Sky King.
Unlike conventional human nations, the Feathered Emperor’s influence and the Sky King’s influence in the Azure Sky Kingdom are completely mixed together. They essentially each manage their own affairs, rarely conflicting and not having close interactions—a somewhat loose coexistence.
Overall, the winged beings are slightly stronger. At least, the Feathered Emperor is a long-established transcendent powerhouse, while the Sky King seldom appears publicly or demonstrates strength openly. His control over subordinates is noticeably weaker than that of the Feathered Emperor, and he has not organized regular forces like the winged beings, showing a tendency for each to fend for themselves.
After all, the intelligence of magical beasts varies, making management less convenient than for the intelligent winged species.
In all the habitable floating islands of the Azure Sky Kingdom, winged beings occupy forty percent, creatures ruled by the Sky King also occupy forty percent, and the remaining islands have sparse populations for various reasons.
This is the information provided by Miss Sigrid.
Their purpose on this trip is to support Omo Island, which has come under attack and sent out a distress call.
Under normal circumstances, the Feathered Emperor’s influence is not suitable for such an ostentatious intervention in islands ruled by the Sky King. However, according to scattered reports from winged scouts near the Leviathan’s offspring, Sigrid can confirm that the attack this time is led by Abyssal Beasts.
Normally, Abyssal Beasts should not appear in internal areas like Omo Island, as their main locations have long been securely sealed by the Azure Sky Kingdom.
This is quite strange.
Tracing back, the Abyssal Beasts began to appear about several years ago.
On that day, several giant blood-red light pillars rose from the depths of the pitch-black abyss, piercing through several floating islands scattered within the borders of the Azure Sky Kingdom.
These islands vary in size, affiliations, and functions, and Sigrid is not clear about what emitted the red light’s attack or the unknown enemies from the abyss breaking these floating islands. The purpose of this attack from the unknown enemies beneath the abyss remains unclear.
However, this disaster undoubtedly had a huge impact on the country at that time.
After the incident, there was widespread panic, with everyone fearing that their floating island might be the next to be attacked. The Feathered Emperor immediately convened high-level discussions with the Four Wings to formulate plans for dealing with the situation. There were even rumors of a private meeting with the long-unseen reigning Sky King.
Creatures residing within the borders of the Azure Sky Kingdom generally possess the ability to fly, ensuring their survival even when temporarily leaving the floating islands.
However, the beams of light were too powerful and terrifying. It was reported that smaller floating islands were directly pierced and blasted into debris, and even the larger ones were torn apart. For some unknown reason, they lost their ability to stay afloat and fell into the abyss below.
If the floating islands themselves were affected in such a way, the fate of the creatures living on them would be even more severe.
These few beams of light caused the deaths and disappearances of millions from both sides of the Azure Sky Kingdom, with countless injuries. The aftermath continued to keep the authorities busy, and victims like Leila and Rene are just a small part of the disaster’s impact.
As the Azure Sky Kingdom struggled to cope with the aftermath, Abyssal Beasts also made their appearance.
They did not randomly crawl out from the entire abyss but were mainly distributed around the locations where the red lights had appeared initially. Due to this, the Azure Sky Kingdom could quickly respond and deploy its military to block the surrounding areas and build defenses.
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However, Omo Island was not near those initial locations, and the defense line had not been breached during this time. Therefore, the significant appearance of Abyssal Beasts on Omo Island is particularly strange.
During the conversation, they had already arrived over Omo Island, where black smoke billowed, magical lights flickered, and various angry roars echoed everywhere.
From a higher vantage point, Violet could easily see the entire small island ruled by the Sky King and inhabited by magical beasts. The main part consisted of a forest with a few scattered makeshift houses sitting within the trees. There were also areas with fewer plants, where red stones grew abruptly – most likely the mining areas for the so-called Omo ore.
The island, on the whole, had a slight inward depression, and there was a small lake in the center, giving it the appearance of a... frying pan floating in the sky?
The dense black smoke and roaring sounds were particularly concentrated in the forest around the small lake.