Chapter 97

With their new Spirit Boat, it didn't take them long to arrive at where the Grand Banquet will be held . Not only is the Spirit Boat was extremely fast, it was very comfortable too . In the Underworld and all the higher-realms, Spirit Boats are very commonly used, be it by wealthy people or rogue travelers .

The Grand Banquet will be held in the mysterious factions in the center of the Underworld . This faction was actually an Alliance of three Human clans .

Arthur didn't know what their names or any information about this faction, but at the very least, there is a strong chance that the woman who abducted Saly is from that clan, and her position must be very high as her strength is much greater than Anastassia, it could be said that she toyed with Astrith and her, apparently, she didn't fight too seriously even when Anastassia used her forbidden techniques, which meant she's at the very least a peak Grade Immortal Realm .

The Grand Banquet will not only have the important figures of the Silent Graveyard, Abyss Valley or the Void Abyss and the Monster Archipelago, ancient clans, and sects would also come over . Arthur didn't know the real reason behind the Grand Banquet, but he never thought It is just for entertainment, after all, leaders of various forces would gather there, and it surely wouldn't be just to have fun, right?

The Lich King Aborak and the leader of the Monster Race would be present too, as for the Behemoth, which is the leader of the Void Abyss, it is unknown if it would come or not .

Nobody has ever seen it for thousands of years, so it highly unlikely that it would show up, but that doesn't mean that its surbordinates will not come .

It is widely known that the Behemoth is the strongest of the three leaders of the factions, it is leagues stronger than them but it is very quiet and doesn't show up very often . Its territory is the largest and it has many strong subordinates, some are even at the God Realm .

There was a rumor saying that Aborak, the Lich King, has just broken through to the God Realm but Arthur Lucy doubted that rumor, if the Lich King is just at the God Realm first Grade, then he doesn't have the right to be a leader of a strong faction like the Undead, his true Strength must be hidden .

Moreover, a lich is deadly for its summons and not its true strength, the creatures and things it summons can be way stronger than it is, even an Immortal Realm lich can put up a fight against a Divine Realm person if it can summon some unique and powerful species .

The Summoner class and the summoning of the lich are two different things . A lich summons dead creatures with no soul, so there is never a problem in controlling them as they would over it mindlessly, as for the creatures summoned by an expert Summoner, if they are much stronger than the Summoner, they could break from their shackles and defy their master .

Arthur could also summon undead with him Necromancy skill, but they are way weaker than what the lich could summon for that the summoning needs a lot of Mental Power, as for a lich, it uses special skills and techniques coupled with Death Laws .

. . .

Despite the Mysterious faction in the center of the Underworld having the smallest territory out of all of them, it was surprisingly flourishing, with many bustling cities and various places to cultivate or have some fun .

The cities appeared more grandiose than the Undead City Arthur and Lucy visited back then, it was surprising as despite the cities being smaller, probably the size of a normal city in Astria, they had something unique about them . Maybe because it was made by humans and not a different race?

Each race has its advantages and disadvantages, perhaps humans are a bit better in constructing cities or it's just that Arthur prefers these ones over the others . His taste may have been affected by his previous life .

When the two of them departed from the Decayed Mountain Range, Lucy broke through the Immortal Realm 3rd Grade and Arthur became a 2nd Grade Immortal . It may be surprising to others but if you practice technique that suited your body and have very high stats like them, your Realm will increase very fast to match the stats .

The Grand Banquet will be exactly held in one of the three main cities of the Human Alliance of the three ancient clans . The city is called 'The Royal Stronghold' .

The Royal Stronghold was an extremely big city, probably the only city that rivaled the Undead city, even the two other cities that belonged to the two other ancient clans weren't this big .

The reason is that the Royal Cobra Clan is the strongest out of the three, although it is said to be an alliance between the three, this clan is the one that almost always makes the decisions . The two other clans are called 'The Doom Bringer Clan' and 'The Lightning Fox Clan' .

Despite The Royal Cobra Clan holding the power over the other two, it doesn't mean they are weak, in fact, they are only slightly weaker than the Royal Cobra Clan and if they join hands, they can easily demolish it, it's just that they would never do that . The alliance was made to join their powers and stand equally with the other strong factions in the Underworld . Considering they are unwelcomed powers that came from other Realms, they weren't very welcomed when they first came here two thousand years ago .

The Royal Stronghold has a towering 50m wall surrounding it, it is not only a huge city but also an impenetrable fortress . It also had a very strong barrier that defends it from any sudden invades .

Arthur and Lucy disembarked from their Spirit Boat as they approached the city, it was prohibited to fly inside the city even if you have a high status, only people like Aborak were allowed to fly .

The building structures inside the city strongly resembled the ones in Astria with them being grander and better looking . There were one main road and several other alleys and roads branching from it .

As the Banquet was going to be held tomorrow night, the city was bustling with all kinds of races, young masters were visiting expensive restaurants or buying some treasures from the various stalls put in the main road .

Arthur and Lucy did not come here to sightsee, they headed to an inn and booked a normal room for a few days . After paying the Spirit Red Stones to the receptionist, the two of them went to their room and readied themselves .

Unlike everyone that was going to come to the Grand Banquet, they were not going there to have fun but to find that woman and hopefully save Saly . If that woman is indeed there, they would not sit idle even if strong figures would be present .

No matter what happens, they won't let go of that woman unless they retrieve Saly safe and sound, and if something had really happened to little Saly, no one could predict what would happen .

"Hey, Arthur, do you think Saly is safe?"

As Lucy was sitting in Arthur's lap as usual, she leaned on his chest as her hair was being stroked by Arthur . She displayed a calm attitude and practiced hard for tomorrow but it's a few months are not enough for them to be able to overwhelm someone at the peak of the Divine Realm or the God Realm . She was afraid that the woman is at very high Realm, at that time, nothing could be done .

"Don't worry, I'm sure that despite being abducted by that woman and imprisoned in some dark place, she would not be crying but training hard to get stronger, she's no longer that frail girl after all . "

Arthur comforted Lucy as he remembered the cheerful Saly, after being cured of her blindness and injuries, she became very cheerful and ecstatic, every day she would train either alone or with Astrith, despite being very young, she didn't complain and only wanted to get stronger to fight with them, it was a childish but doable dream that motivated her every day .

He didn't want to accept the thought of her being hurt or even dead as he didn't know who he would react to that . . .

. . . .

At the center of the Royal Stronghold was a natural river that stretched all the long of the city and cut it into two halves . It wasn't a big river but it was very special . It had natural Spirit Water very rich with Nether Energy and beneficial to every person who practiced near it on in it . The Cobra Clan specialized in Water attribute techniques with some techniques related to Wind Attribute, so this river could be considered a blessing to them .

At the center of the city, just near the river was a small tower and wide garden decorated with special magic lanterns that made the place look breathtaking, especially at night .

The garden which was decorated with the lanterns and beautiful plants was where the Grand Banquet was held . There were tables everywhere, they weren't crude tables but special ones made from rare wood materials . Not only that, very expensive and rare food that helps one's constitution was served on the tables, coupled with ancient and delicious wine, the feast was grandiose and deserving of this occasion .

Many important figures were enjoying the food or the wine whilst sitting and chatting with each other . The garden was separated in two parts, one for Juniors and the other for older generation people, like clan masters and so on .

Just near the river, there was a small stage where seven empty chairs, these were where the most strong and important guests of the banquet would sit . People like Aborak and co were the ones allowed to sit there and held the highest position in the Grand Banquet . Although the factions were considered sort of enemies, that didn't mean they had to treat each other with hate in such events, they were neither archenemies or at a war .

The night has just begun and the important figures had yet to arrive, not even all guests had come . At a time like this, Arthur and Lucy finally entered this place . Lucy changed her appearance to a normal-looking black-haired woman and wore a beautiful green robe, she didn't look very beautiful, in fact, her appearance was only average, but despite that, she emanated a serene and fairy-like atmosphere around her .

As for Arthur, he possessed a male body from his storage, he didn't know if the woman would recognize him if he came with his real appearance but better be safe than be sorry . To enter the banquet, he showed the token he got from Azure Bai to the guards outside, apparently, that token allowed him and Lucy to sit amongst the important figures of the older generation, so he and Lucy casually took a sit in an empty table far at the corner .