"You do?! That's great!" Jack exclaimed. "Okay, once we settled Aldryth's force in Themisphere, we will have two teams to go to Hope and Joy's divine factions. We need to warn them about a possible invasion by Master and the Cult of Phobos. In Joy's case, it is also to make sure the divine heritage is still there."
"I've been thinking," Paytowin said. This guy had also come closer. Actually, everyone who was forming the perimeter had now come crowding around Jack and Grace. "Since John knows about the divine faction's location. He should know about the location of the Cult of Phobos. How about we go hit them when they least expect us?"
"I advise against it," John said. "Fear is wounded but not down. The most likely place he is recuperating is inside his divine faction. Even wounded, do you think you can take on a God? I suggest you don't tell those Council of Virtus people. If they recklessly rush there for vengeance, they might get wiped out by Fear. I don't think the other Gods will interfere since it is the Council of Virtus who come looking for trouble."
"Considering how Serenity and Love were when they left, I'm afraid they have no interest to interfere at all anymore," Jeanny said.
Jack sighed. He hoped that was not the case. He hoped Serenity didn't just leave them to fend off by themselves. The only thing that currently held the bad Gods back was Hope's threat, but that was just an illusion. Sooner or later, they would know that Hope was gone. It would all go downhill when that happened.
"Well, anyway. The ones who go to the two divine factions have to be the four of you," John said, pointing at Jack, Grace, Jeanny, and Paytowin.
"Why?" All four asked at the same time.
"You all have Hope's sanctification. The leaders of the two divine factions should sense this sanctification within you. They will treat you better out of respect or fear for Hope."
"The hell? You also have this sanctification, why don't you go as well?" Paytowin protested.
"I'm too busy managing Themisphere. Also, I'm too important a figure to risk this endeavor. I will leave this risky stuff to you, expendable pawns."
"The f*ck… Are you calling your king an expendable pawn? You must be the world's rudest advisor," Jack said. "Anyway, I do plan to go to the divine faction myself. We will form two teams then. I will go to Joy's, and Jeanny will go to Hope's. Grace and Paytowin are free to choose which they want to go."
"Um… I will go with Jeanny then," Paytowin said. He could feel the stares from the other guild members.
"Why do you go to Joy's and I to Hope's?" Jeanny asked.
"Uh… No particular reason. I think Hope will like for you to be there in his divine faction more than me," Jack said.
"He chose Joy's because he thinks that divine faction should be more fun," Grace said to Jeanny.
"Hey!" Jack said to Grace. Everyone laughed.
"Okay then, it's settled," Jeanny said. "Once we finish settling our tasks in Themisphere, Paytowin and I will go to Hope's divine faction. Jack and Grace will go to Joy's."
"I suggest you keep the team small," John said. "The members of Hope's divine faction might get alarmed if you go there with a large number. They might attack first and ask questions later if they think you come with bad intentions. As for Joy's, Hope only kept tabs on the location. He wasn't aware and wasn't interested in finding out what the members were doing."
Paytowin nodded. "Then Jack and Grace will go with only the two of them. As for Jeanny and I, we will take two more persons who are willing to tag along."
"Hey, why do you get to let people tag along while Grace and I don't," Jack asked.
"If you can find anyone willing to join, go ahead and ask," Paytowin said.
So, Jack asked. The others just treat his call as wind. Paytowin simply smiled by the side.
"Smartass," Jack said to him.
Jack also chatted with Domon. During their chat, they touched upon the subject of Long. Jack told his grandfather about the fist art Long used to block Therras' earth core bomb.
Domon's expression turned solemn after hearing Jack's story.
"That kid is even more talented than I thought," Domon said. "Such a pity he has an evil personality."
"This means you know the fist art he used?" Jack asked.
"I've only heard about it in stories of the past. It is another legendary ancient art that has been lost to time. He probably found that art the same way he found the eighteen subduing dragon palms."
"I see… No wonder. That art is incredibly powerful," Jack remarked.
Domon nodded. "That art is called the Nine Yang Exploding Fist. My Beyond the Fist can be said as the pinnacle of fist art. This is due to its destructive power and it also cannot be dodged or defended. But if we are looking at only pure destructive power, Long's Nine Yang Exploding Fist might possess even more power."
"Added with his two classes' attributes, his damage output using that art rivals even the most powerful game skills," Jack added.
"Such a powerful art consumes a lot of mana. He won't be able to repeat it often," Domon said.
"Yeah," Jack agreed. That's why after performing that art during the fight on top of the cliff, Long was noticeably slower and ended up choosing to retreat.
This revelation pushed Jack to train harder. He practiced the Sword's Heart by meditating while riding Pandora and maintaining the runestone of marching. His Hundred Synchronous Thoughts allowed him to perform all those tasks at the same time.
There was one thing Domon didn't tell Jack. The Nine Yang Exploding Fist was one of the three martial arts contained within the Nine Yang Scripture. He hoped that what Long had found was only one art, not the entire scripture.
*
After several days of journey, they finally crossed over into Themisphere. They placed scouts far at their back to warn them in case Liguritudum or Aurebor came chasing, but there was no sight of the enemy.
Even if the enemy came, they didn't worry. A part of the Themisphere army stationed within the country came and joined them two days ago. With this addition, they could fight on even ground with the enemies. More reinforcement from Themisphere was also on the way as they marched. They had no cost problem for mobilizing within their country, they just took time.
Once passing the border, Jack left by using Town Return Scroll. John stayed with the army and led Aldryth's force to the large-sized fort to be stationed into. The fort was still under construction, Jack wanted to use his ruling powers to complete its process before Aldryth arrived.
Jack wasn't worried if the enemies attacked. This was his turf. He could teleport to a nearby settlement and rejoin the army quickly if needed.
Once back inside Thereath palace, Jack went directly to the throne room and used the Monarch system.
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