Chapter 634 Marquee Party
Buffer Zone Marquee
Dungeon City Lacertilia
Beast Kingdom
May 31st
Year 1053
In the soft glow of the evening, a majestic marquee stood beneath the canvas of a painted sky, adorned with fairy lights that flickered like fireflies.
The atmosphere of this soiree pulsated with a vibrant mix of Beast Kingdom nobility, mingling gracefully while dressed in elaborate gowns and regal suits, along with adventurers, mercenaries and soldiers.
Subtle conversations danced through the air like whispers of intrigue. Clusters of nobility formed, exchanging pleasantries with masked subtlety. Eyes were keenly observant, expressions masked in practiced grace as they navigated through topics ranging from politics to the latest societal trends.
Similarly, groups of adventurers clad in formal wear shared conversations with their peers, exchanging nods of camaraderie with the mercenaries and soldiers, while some leaned against the Marquee's pillars, their eyes scanning the surroundings with a vigilant gaze.
Like in the GWE after the Dullahan Attack last year, this party was held to commemorate the 'Heroes' who had defended Lacertilia during the dungeon break that happened at the beginning of the month.
As for why the party was being held within the same area of the dungeons, despite the low but still present risk of a similar incident happening, it was because of the person whom the chamberlain just announced.
"Ladies and gentlemen, esteemed guests of foreign nations, may I have your esteemed attention.
Behold, with great honour and reverence, the entrance of the sovereign ruler of the Beast Kingdom, His Royal Majesty, Kolvar Nakrax Thancreed!
Let the echoes of respect resound as we welcome the esteemed monarch of the Beast Kingdom to grace us with his presence."
A hushed wave swept across the gathering like a breeze silencing rustling leaves in a forest. Conversations ceased, and a unified hush fell upon all those present.
Nobles straightened their postures, knights and soldiers snapped to a disciplined salute while adventures stood at attention.
Respect and deference painted the faces of those present, as Kolvar made his entrance, with the figures of Kara, Malaya and David trailing behind him.
The chamberlain continued speaking after a moment of silence, announcing their presence as well, while they followed their father to the stage where their seats were prepared.
As their mother was not on the continent at the moment, there was only one seat prepared at the highest level of the elevated platform for Kolvar.
The party officially commenced with a speech from Kolvar, praising the combatants who had partaken in the battle to defend the city and offering a moment of silence for those who lost their lives in the process.
Very quickly, he moved on to the main proceedings, personally presenting medals of merit to those who had the highest contributions; mainly those who were at the command centre during the incident.
And then, came Evan's party, the ones responsible for defeating the dungeon boss and stopping the Dungeon Break.
All eyes were on the stage when the Anomalies stepped up, with a great majority of them being curious about this boy rumoured to be the youngest grandmaster there was, and his companions who all possessed nonstandard combat prowess.
Even the other viewing centres in Lacertilia and Goras where the party's events were being projected had an influx of viewers when Evan's name was called out.
As for those who were physically present, when they saw Evan there was a mixture of reactions.
The first group of reactions were those who didn't sense a lick of power emanating from Evan's form and those who guessed he was concealing his power and questioned why.
Then there was the group of combatants, the more powerful nobles, knights, and soldiers who noticed the reason why others could not sense Evan's power at first glance.
"His power control…is impeccable."
One of the Beast Kingdom's Dukes, a 'Living Legend' muttered when he glanced at Evan, and the other nobles near him, his Vassals and those in his political faction couldn't help but agree.
It had only taken Evan a week-long trip to the Tower of Trials to get used to his body's upgrades and regain proper control over his power.
Now, he would not be bashing through the bodies of any Grizzlies anytime soon.
Anyway, the words of that one 'Living Legend' which were concurred by other X rank adventurers and even the Sovereign Dandeyr granted understanding to those in the first group, answering the question of why they could not sense his power.
It was then that the words of one of the Beast Kingdom nobles, a Dragonkin, caused a different kind of stir.
He admitted that he could sense a power similar to that of genuine dragons coming from Evan, but the boy's human traits were not overshadowed by these draconic traits.
Evan naturally heard all of these and smiled internally while keeping up a poker face. He had controlled his power precisely because he wanted to impress those Epics and Living Legends as he knew they would understand his strength at first glance.
The words of the Dragonkin were also within his calculations, but the reaction was a lot more than he expected.
Even so, this was very welcome.
After Evan's party received their rewards; the medals of honour and the honorary titles, Kolvar sat back down on his throne and let his children handle the rest of the awards.
Naturally, it was simply impossible for every single person who participated to be awarded, as the list had tens of thousands of names on it.
So, after a select few had been awarded, David then took charge, proceeding to unveil a monument that had been erected near the Buffer Zone's entrance, with the names of every single combatant involved in Lacertilia's defence printed on it.
It was very, VERY large, given the fact that it was accommodating tens of thousands of names. What's more, there was a second identical monument erected in the city's central area, near similar structures that honoured heroes of past events.
When all of this had been done, he then declared the beginning of the 'party' section of this event, beginning with a dance with his Second sister, Kara.
If only the nobles knew that a town-destroying battle had taken place to decide who got to dance with him. Thankfully, it had happened in a dungeon, so there was no collateral damage.
In the centre of the Marquee, couples twirled and swayed to the enchanting melodies played by the Royal Orchestra, transforming the dance floor into a canvas of elegant movement, the rustle of fine fabrics accompanying the gentle tapping of polished shoes.
A lot of the adventurers and mercenaries present, specifically the S-ranked ones who were awarded were approached by nobles who wanted to form good relationships with them.
Amidst the lively conversations, a few brave souls initiated impromptu duels on the outskirts of the party, showcasing their combat prowess to an intrigued crowd.
◇ ◇ ◇
Watching the distinctions between social classes blurring ever so slightly as the Nobles and Adventurers found common ground, Evan heaved a light sigh of relief.
Things had gone according to his plans, he had left impressions on powerful Beast Kingdom figures, and he also moved to form connections with them.
All was for the sake of increasing his International Power and Influence, in preparation for the future war with the demons.
His eyes wandered in search of a particular figure, but he didn't find them, sighing softly as his plan to show off his 'good relationship' with a member of 'The Five' went down the drain.
After their talk that lasted for over five hours on the day he woke up, Rathal disappeared to somewhere not even Kolvar knew about.
He did say he was going to meet with a 'tomboy acquaintance' of his but gave no other information besides that.
'It'd be better if he was here but this is good enough.
My plans for Tarse are already in motion…when the time is right, I'd go back to the GWE for Laurene.
That should be after I'm done with those 'False gods' in Tarse.'
Evan knew that his first agenda in Tarse was definitely going to make the Demonic Hand up their game even more than they were already planning to, so he needed to prepare early.
'As much as I'd like to leave those guys until after the Disaster, I can't take my chances as they could decide to act when I'm dealing with the Disaster and that would make things exponentially worse.'
Thanks to his lessened restrictions due to the System's Upgrades, he could reveal a lot more information to Kolvar and Rathal, about his plan for the Demonic Hand's planned Disaster
—'The Fall of the Desert Country'.
In the game, the fall of a Major World Power like Tarse really shook Aidos' foundations and messed with overall Morale.
Especially with the death of a Sovereign.
Before Rathal's battle thirty years ago, the last time a Sovereign died was centuries ago, so naturally the effect of the Master of Dragondune's death was quite devastating.
And that was what the Demonic Hand aimed for, even more so as this was what revealed the existence of a powerhouse like the 'Second Finger' to the world.
'Rathal seemed to have a relationship with the Master of Dragondune, although it's a grapevine one and not a direct one.
Either way, if he can contact them, he should make sure to tell them to stay hidden.
That'd give the 'Second Finger' less reasons to come over.'
In the game, the Second Finger killing the Master of Dragondune was what began the Fall of the Desert County.
Their battle was one of the highest-rated cutscenes in the game and one Evan and every other player enjoyed a lot. It kept them on their toes all through, despite only lasting a bit over three minutes.
Eventually, the Master of Dragondune lost the battle and was slayed by the Second Finger.
After this, the Second Finger disappeared beyond a spatial gate and left the Alpha continent.
The rest of the Disaster was then overseen by the 'Fifth Finger', and the corpse of Dragondune's master really helped him cast the spell that the Demonic Hand intended to—as a sacrifice.
The blood of a Superior Sovereign also served to help the World Formation widen a 'Dimensional Rift'.
"Well, none of that would happen if things go as planned."
Evan spoke out loud as he glanced around to see which noble he was going to speak to next, and upon doing this, he could not help but notice the difference in average power between GWE and Beast Kingdom nobles.
Titled GWE nobles had an average level range of 125-150.
Here, that average went up by 100.
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