The Herb King

"Sir Gilbert, we must take that weapon from them! I want it in my hands as soon as possible!" Emperor Reagan said with an excited look. He wasn't even worried about the Leone Empire for it was just a small empire in his eyes.

"As you wish, Your Majesty!" General Gilbert Holt saluted the emperor after getting his command.

"You can take four hundred thousand soldiers with you. That should be enough to destroy any resistance." Emperor Reagan muttered confidently.

However, General Gilbert shook his head and disagreed with his words. "There is no need to bring so many soldiers, Your Majesty. If I bring a force of that size, our enemies might take the chance to invade us. Furthermore, bringing four hundred thousand soldiers would require a lot of resources and this would be a detriment because the journey to the Leone Empire is quite long. I only need to bring fifty thousand soldiers and I guarantee that the Divine-Rated weapon will be in your hands."

Emperor Reagan laughed lightly when he heard Gilbert's confident words. He was indeed the strongest warrior of the Zion Empire! "In that case, I'll leave this matter in your hands."

"You can rest assured, Your Majesty! I will return with a piece of good news." Gilbert smiled lightly.

"Alright. You may leave now."

Gilbert saluted the emperor before he left the throne room. He had no connections with the Zion Imperial Family before, but because of his unparalleled power, he became the emperor's, right-hand man. Even the empires who are in the Holy Ranking tried to poach him, but he rejected all of them for he had already sworn his loyalty to Emperor Reagan.

Gilbert summoned fifty thousand elite soldiers to come with him. All of them were Espers and there were even more than twenty Level 4 Espers among them! The most shocking thing was that there were still more such experts in the Zion Empire!

Lexter Ford stared at the fifty thousand soldiers in shock. Among the Level 4 Espers, three of them were at the peak stage and their power was not any weaker than him! They were also equipped with the best weapons and armor, making them more lethal on the battlefield. 'If the Ford Empire has such a strong army, we would have been able to retrieve the Two Lion Sword from the Leone Empire...' He thought to himself. He didn't even bother to ask why there were only fifty thousand soldiers. Heck! Just these guys alone could already fight an army of four hundred thousand ordinary soldiers! Furthermore, the man leading them was the General of the Imperial Guards, General Gilbert Holt!

Lexter had some information about this old man and from what he knew, he was a mid stage Level 5 Esper!

Even if the Leone Empire has the Two Lion Sword, they wouldn't be able to stand a blow against General Gilbert.

In the new Barden Territory, Aethelwolf's fortress finally entered its last stage of construction. Thousands of workers were mounting the weapons on top of the tall walls. Dozens of engineers were reinforcing the entrance gate of the fortress with magic metals, making it incredibly sturdy. If it's completed, even a Level 4 Esper would have a hard time destroying it.

Aethelwolf watched the final steps of the construction process with a calm look on his face.

Rendell walked up to him and reported. "King Aethelwolf, the weapons are in place and the reinforcement of the entrance gate will be completed in half an hour. Our Engravers are also preparing to activate the runes of the fortress."

Aethelwolf nodded his head. He was satisfied with the final result of the construction. "You did great Rendell." He praised with a smile.

"I only followed your commands, King Aethelwolf. I don't deserve your praise." Rendell replied with an embarrassed smile. Because of his efficiency, Aethelwolf gave him a lot of rewards. He was now a mid stage Level 3 Esper and he even have a set of Refined-Rated armor. His weapon was also a Refined-Rated sword. He had officially become one of the elite warriors of the Leone Empire!

"Bring Ramiel here." He commanded lightly.

Rendell bowed his head and left to find Ramiel.

Not long later, Rendell came back with Ramiel.

"King Aethelwolf!" Ramiel greeted respectfully.

"I believe that the recruits are now ready for training." Aethelwolf said.

Ramiel nodded silently at his words.

"Bring them to the fortress and start with their training as soon as possible. I want a detailed report on every soldier's progress every week. You must..." Aethelwolf gave a long instruction to Ramiel and the latter told his assistant to write down everything.

"Don't worry, King Aethelwolf! I'll make these new recruits turn into fierce warriors in a month! If you give me more time, I'll let them experience small-scale wars by letting them hunt the bandits and criminal organizations living in the periphery of the empire." Ramiel's eyes were filled with confidence. He had experienced the brutality of war and he knew how important it was for the soldiers to have sufficient experience on the battlefield. This way, they wouldn't feel nervous and afraid the moment they stepped into a war zone.

Aethelwolf pondered deeply for a moment before eventually nodding his head. "I'll give you another month to train them. That means you'll have two months to train those soldiers and turn them into fearless fighters! Every one of them must be at least a Level 2 Esper the moment they complete their training!"

Ramiel felt pressured when he heard this, but after thinking about the near-unlimited resources that Aethelwolf handed to him, his face eased up. He nodded his head as he muttered in a serious voice. "Yes, King Aethelwolf!"

"Good! You may leave now!" Aethelwolf dismissed him right away.

As soon as Ramiel left, he felt his Communication Rune vibrating. He answered the call and Hyacinth's solemn voice entered his ears. "King Aethelwolf, you need to return to the estate. There are some special guests here waiting for you. They said that they would only speak with you."

Hearing this, Aethelwolf furrowed his eyebrows. "Alright. I'll be there soon. Keep them company for now."

"Yes, King Aethelwolf."

Aethelwolf disconnected the call. He then gave his subordinates some instructions before he left all by himself. He decided to have Aenwyn oversee the matters in the fortress.

He flew into the skies and disappeared in a blink of an eye, leaving a huge group of people staring at the clouds with awe and respect.

With his speed, he arrived at the estate in less than thirty minutes. He immediately headed to the guest hall and saw Hyacinth pouring tea for two individuals. One of them was a woman whose age he couldn't determine. She was wearing a long white dress with light-blue highlights. Her face was covered by a transparent veil. The other person was a gentle-looking middle-aged man. He looked to be in his early forties, but Aethelwolf could tell that his age was more than that.

These two gave him intense pressure that was unlike any other people he had encountered. He observed them through his observation skills and was stunned by what he saw.

[Nocturna] Early stage Level 5 Esper

- The daughter of the Mystic Island's Chief. She possesses the bloodline of the Ancient Fairies...

[Eliazar] Late stage Level 5 Esper

- One of the four Holy Generals of the Mystic Island.

Aethelwolf almost stumbled when he read the description of the two. They were both Level 5 Espers and they seemed to have a high position in the Mystic Island, a mysterious force that he had no information about. However, for them to nurture two strong experts, the Mystic Island must be the absolute hegemon of the Regalis Continent!

"Greetings, Miss Nocturna and Sir Eliazar." Aethelwolf greeted them with a calm smile. He wanted to see their reactions after having their identities exposed by him with just a glance.

Nocturna's eyes flashed with surprise when she heard Aethelwolf calling their names. Eliazar was also surprised by this, but his expression remained calm.

"Sir Aethelwolf is truly mysterious. You were even able to identify the both of us when it was the first time we met. I'm impressed." Nocturna's lovely and soothing voice drifted into his ears. It was so enchanting that he was almost captivated by just her voice alone.

An invisible energy slowly calmed Aethelwolf's heart, making his tense muscles slowly relax.

Meanwhile, Eliazar was secretly sizing up Aethelwolf. He couldn't discern the other party's strength. There seemed to be an invisible layer of armor shielding his detection. This discovery made him wary of Aethelwolf. After all, he could count the number of people who managed to escape his detection with just one hand.

Aethelwolf sat gracefully on the sofa opposite the two. He then smiled at them as he asked. "So what brings you two here?" He wanted to know why they visited him.