Star Fire City is a big city with about 100,000 people. It's a second-tier city, which means it's important, but not the most important in the area. The city has tall walls all around it, like a big circle. These walls help keep the people safe.
The city is up north of the Southern region. Because it's so far north, it's cold a lot of the time.
The land around Star Fire City is mostly flat with some small hills. Just outside the city, there's a big river called the Frostbite River. People use this river for fishing and to travel in boats. On the other side of the river, there's a forest known as the Whispering Pines. This forest is full of tall pine trees, and many magic animals live there.
Most houses in the city are made of stone and wood. Because it's cold, many homes have big fireplaces to keep warm. People wear thick clothes made of animal fur. They also like to drink hot drinks, like tea or warm cider.
The city has a big market where people buy and sell things. One can find fresh fish from the Frostbite River, fruits, vegetables, and hand-made crafts there.
A lot of people in Star Fire City have jobs related to the cold. Many are fishermen, catching fish from the river. Some are hunters, going into the Whispering Pines forest to find animals for food or fur. Others are crafters, making things like clothes, shoes, and jewelry to sell.
The city is safe because of the tall walls and the soldiers who guard it. These soldiers are called the Istarin troops. There are 8,000 of them in Star Fire City.
"Can you contact anyone inside the Star Fire City?" Aditya asked. After learning of what had happened to Star Fire City, Aditya along with more than 50,000 troops rushed to the far north of the Southern region. The far north of the South region was the least densely populated area in the whole Southern region. As the north is more colder than the rest of the region, very less people live here.
"We have been trying but nothing....." Nathan replied feeling guilty. If he had noticed this problem much earlier then the current situation wouldn't have happened. He was feeling angry at himself and at his subordinate. He never thought that subordinates of his would be this careless.
"We have been trying to teleport to the Star Fire city, but it appears every teleportation array in the city has been cut off." Amber who was walking behind Aditya said in a serious tone.
"So our only option is to force ourselves in...." Aditya said narrowing his eyes. Strangely enough, he couldn't sense any presence in the city. It was as if there weren't anyone in the city at all.
"I have a bad feeling about this....." Amber murmured in a low tone.
The Istarin Empire already had lost too many people.
Boooom!!!!!
Suddenly a strong presence pressured them all. The pressure was so intense that other than Aditya, Nathan, and Amber, all other troops were instantly forced to their knees. Some of the weaker troops even directly lost their consciousness. While many other troops's noses started bleeding from the intense pressure. Everyone except for Aditya and Victoria felt suffocated.
"You're finally here....." Aditya recognized this voice.
"Retreat. I will deal with him." Aditya said to Amber before he flew towards the Star Fire City to meet Simon.
Watching Aditya fly away, Victoria was very unwilling to retreat. She wanted to fight alongside Aditya. But she knew that she was far too weak to fight alongside Aditya. She would only end up becoming a burden on his shoulders if she went along with him.
Amber felt complicated as she watched Aditya fly away. 'I felt I had gotten strong enough to stand beside him or at least stand behind him. But it seems I was mistaken.' Amber thought in her mind.
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Scene change______
"I told you that I was going to meet you soon." Aditya found Simon and Pope Alaric flying above the Star Fire city.
"So this was all your doing?" Aditya asked in a cold tone.
"Yup. Do you remember about the Great Sage Snake?" Simon asked with a grin.
Of course, Aditya remembers everything about the Great Sage Snake. Somehow and for some strange reason the world's laws did not affect the Great Sage Snake and he was able to retain his full powers. To this day Aditya doesn't have an answer to how this was possible.
"You see when the Great Sage Snake, who was a 6th-order was forcefully bought out of his sealed dimension to the Southern region, the world laws of the Southern regions were weakened."
"I just needed to further weaken the world laws by artificially increasing the Mana Density of the entire Southern region."
"How?"
"Hehe! We used the people of this city. 100,000 lives were sacrificed. In simple words, we were able to turn their souls and their life forces into pure Mana and use this mana to artificially increase the Mana density. However, the downside of this is, that the Mana Density will return to normal after a few days. But that much time is more than enough for me."
Aditya looked down. On the streets, on the alleys, and in the houses, he could see countless corpses of people. No one was spared. It was taking his all to calm his calm.
Crack!!!!
Crimson lightning started flickering around Aditya's body.
Aditya hated Simon. He hated that mocking smug smile that Alaric had on his face. He hated the arrogant expression on Simon's face. He felt anger boiling inside him.
"And the Soul Devouring Spiders were nothing but a nice distraction to you and to the Entire Istarin Empire," Alaric said with a smile on his face.
Now Alaric had lost everything that he had worked hard to build, he now desired nothing but destruction and chaos in the Southern Region. He wanted to see the downfall of the Istarin Empire. He wanted to see the downfall of the Dragon Monarch. He wanted to see Aditya in despair. This is the reason why he did not hesitate to take Simon's side even though he knew Simon was just using him to deal with Aditya.
Alaric was happy knowing this. As of now in his life, he only had one goal and that was to see Aditya suffer. He lived for revenge.
"Time to die." Before Aditya could react, Simon closed the a few hundred meters distance between them. It was as if Simon had teleported in front of Aditya. Before Aditya could react in time, a fist glowing in golden light hit Aidtya's chest.
Boooooooooom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aditya's body into an unnatural shape as he flew back like a meteorite. He flew back so fast that he broke back the sound barrier. The sound barrier of the Southern region had increased as the Mana density of this world increased artificially.
Like a meteorite, he flew back. Victoria, Amber, Nathan, and the retreating Istarin soldiers all noticed a meteorite-like thing flying in the direction of the east at a super fast speed.
Boooooooooooooooooooooooom!!!!!!!!!!!
Aditya ended up flying back more than 50 km. He stopped only when his body crashed on a rocky mountain. The entire mountain cracked from the impact.
Cough!!!!
Aditya violently coughed out a large amount of blood from his mouth. Aditya was sure that his coughed-up blood contained small pieces of shattered bones.
There was a dent in Aditya's chest. All of his ribcage bones had been shattered into countless small pieces. The punch had directly stopped Aditya's heartbeat. If not for his other heart, the black heart, he already would have died by now. This shows the power of Simon's punch. It was already considered a miracle that Aditya was able to take the punch of Peak 6th-order cultivator without exploding like a water balloon.
Cough!!!
'I hate this pain...' Aditya thought while blankly staring at the sky. He didn't feel any pain. He couldn't feel the rest of his body. Aditya could tell that he had become extremely close to death. If he could see souls, then he would find the soul reaper very close to him right now. He was just a few breaths away from death.
'Death.....that doesn't sound like a bad place. But...' Remembering all the faces of Julia, Alicia, Riya, Lara, Amber, Sylvie, Sasha, Lilith, Clara, Leo, Watson, Nathan, Josh, Henry, Scott, and everyone else close to him.....everyone who loved him...'I can't die here. This daddy still hasn't shown the world the true might of the Dragon Monarch. I still have tons of things to do. Lying down here isn't an option.' Aditya took a deep breath and closed his bloodied eyes for a second before reopening them.
"Sys....Sytem..." Aditya weakly called out the system.
『 ....』
"I want to level up...."
『Ding! Using the Saved up Experience points of the Host to level up.... 』
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