Chapter 428: Only One Stronghold Crystal Left
Unlike the first time where all 25 members had been present, only ten of them were here now, the rest noticeably absent.
"The others are currently doing something important," Cavin smiled coldly, "Don’t worry about it."
"I wasn’t," Leon replied flatly, unbothered.
"Hm," Cavin’s eyes narrowed, "For some reason you seem... much stronger than before, I can sense it radiating off you."
"I was tired the last time I was here," Leon said, giving a convenient excuse that seemed to satisfy him.
"Oh, well I hope you’re not tired for later, cause there’s a lot more we want you to do, I know you’ve been working very hard for us."
"I—"
BAM!
The silver-haired woman with crystal scales over her body slammed her fist into the table, the impact echoing through the room and silencing everyone.
"Do not interrupt Lord Cavin," she said coldly, her eyes fixed on Leon, "He wasn’t finished speaking."
"Thank you, Empress," Cavin smiled, "Indeed, I wanted to say that you only have three days left, yet are not even done with the task yet."
"Getting the stronghold crystals is hard," Leon stated simply, not backing down.
"And yet you have five of them currently," Cavin replied, his smile turning into a serious expression, "It seems like you haven’t been slacking off as much as I believed."
The moment they heard that, all of the guild members’ eyes widened, as they turned toward Cavin, then back to Leon in disbelief and shock.
"He has 5?"
"But wait, that means that... we only need one more?!"
"Holy shit, we might be able to do it after all!"
’I knew it,’ Leon thought as he heard them, ’Cavin has a way to sense Stronghold Crystals even through Storage Spaces.’
Such an ability was unheard of, as nobody was able to peer through someone’s [Storage Space] no matter what they tried or what skills they possessed.
It felt like the ability was only able to detect the crystals, nothing else, which was a relief and limited its usefulness.
And more specifically, it was only able to detect them if he was near Cavin, so he could avoid it by staying away from the guild leader.
Still, to Leon, this meant absolutely nothing, as he had already planned for this contingency and was prepared to handle it.
"I’ll bring back the final crystal," he said with a smile, "We’ll talk once I do that."
"Very good," Cavin’s eyes glinted with satisfaction, "Do give them to us though, we wouldn’t want them to be lost if anything happened to you, right?"
"...Heh, sure," Leon replied, chuckling internally at the transparent threat.
Leon launched the five stronghold crystals toward Cavin, who grabbed them out of the air with practiced ease, his fingers closing around them.
"Incredible..." he mumbled, his eyes fixed on the crystals, "Only... one... more... and then... haha."
Once Cavin finished laughing to himself, the sound echoing through the chamber with a hint of manic delight, he placed all of the stronghold crystals on the table with a soft clatter and coughed to clear his throat, regaining his composure.
"Incredible work, Celestial, but if I may ask, how did you do it?" Cavin inquired, his eyes gleaming with curiosity and suspicion.
"The Malachar guy had a few hidden in the Catacombs," Leon replied, keeping his story simple and believable, "They weren’t on him so I was able to take them from his stash without him knowing."
"Oh~" Cavin’s eyes glinted with amusement, "That fucker was tricking us then, he said it took him a year to make one, well, good thing you got rid of him for us."
"But still," the silver-haired girl named Empress looked at Leon, her gaze piercing and cold, "You still need one more."
"...Yeah," Leon acknowledged, the weight of the task settling on his shoulders.
If Leon didn’t bring them one last Stronghold Crystal by the end of the time limit, he would die, a fate that hung over him like a guillotine blade.
How? Leon had absolutely no idea, would it be automatic as it was a quest penalty, or would the requiem guild come directly for him to deliver the punishment themselves.
’They said they’d find me no matter which domain I was in, and I’m inclined to believe them based on their resources and connections,’ Leon thought, his mind racing.
But while Leon was daydreaming and considering his options, the requiem guild members were more serious than ever before, especially since they were so close to their goal after years of waiting.
BOOM!
Each of them released a terrifying amount of aura, enough to make even the strongest level 100 players shake from the power and drop their knees, the pressure filling the room like a physical weight.
"Go bring us the final crystal," Cavin smiled, his aura the strongest of them all, radiating authority and menace in equal measure.
Meanwhile, Leon was actually not moved at all by the aura, standing firm and unflinching despite the overwhelming pressure.
Unshaken!
His [Celestial] passive triggered, making Leon unable to even budge from the show of aura, his body refusing to yield to the intimidation.
[Unshaken: No matter what happens, you will never feel fear or intimidation in the face of your enemies, making all of their debuffs useless.]
"You seem alright," Cavin noted as he raised his eyebrows, a hint of surprise in his voice, "Well, no matter."
Fwoosh!
Cavin blitzed from his location and arrived in front of Leon in an instant, whose eyes widened from the sheer power and speed displayed.
"Just do what we want, and soon, it will all make sense," Cavin said with a grin, then slowly, he pressed his fist against Leon’s torso, "If I wanted, I could have destroyed your soul right now."
Leon’s expression didn’t budge as he gazed at the oni, maintaining his composure, but he knew for a fact that was true based on the power he felt radiating from the guild leader.
’I’m... still too weak, aren’t I,’ Leon admitted to himself, the realization hitting him hard.
After three weeks, and almost reaching 10 million combat power, Leon believed that he and the girls had made amazing progress that would close the gap significantly.
But he was wrong, the gap between them and the requiem guild was still vast and seemingly insurmountable.
He needed more, so much more combat power, he needed to do anything he could to get stronger, and fast, before it was too late.
’Not just to destroy my enemies easily, but also to protect my companions and ensure their safety,’ Leon nodded, his eyes glowing with renewed determination, ’Alright, I made up my mind.’
The past three weeks of grinding weren’t much compared to what he needed to do, but Leon decided he’d put his all into the remaining time.
And so, with a wide smile on his face, he asked the requiem guild members a question that would guide his next steps.
"Do you know anywhere where I can obtain [Skill Stones]?"
...
A/N
I have seen some people complain that Leon and his companions are still too "weak" and though I may disagree with that statement, I agree that most of the battles end up being fairly close.
But just like you have trusted me for the past 400 Chapters, trust me to manage Leon’s strength in the future Chapters, he will become MUCH stronger very quickly :)!
There is a LOT more to write about, we aren’t even in the [Eternal Battlefield] yet!
Thank you for supporting this book :D!