A few hours ago, Doombringer was flying through the wildnds of the western region, waiting for the tournament toe to an end before returning to pick up Nathan and head back to the barony. But something happened!


    Roar! Roar!


    The wyvern''s red eyes shed as it saw countless beasts heading towards the direction of the Cromwell Barony. There were a variety of monsters among the ranks of magical beasts; fierce Sabertooth Tigers, enormous Dire Wolves with razor-sharp fangs, hulking Rock Golems, a few Winged Serpents, and even giant bug-like creatures. The air was filled with a mixture of growls and buzzing sounds—very unpleasant for the ears.


    Unlike most beasts, Doombringer was smart and easily recognized these monsters as threats to its hometown. With a powerful flip of its wings, Doombringer changed direction, soaring low to the ground, and opened its maw wide. A thunderous roar sounded as a mixture of blue and red mes surged wildly within its mouth.


    Then…


    BOOOOOM!


    The mes erupted like a volcano, engulfing the ground below in fierce, destructive fire. The me scattered the coordinated monster horde, ckening the brown rocky ground. Several shrieks of pain filled the air as the raging me consumed everything in its path as though it was the advent of destruction.


    Doombringer''s eyes were especially terrifying at this moment. If any of the kids back at the barony saw it, they''d be shaking in their boots. This was a side of the powerful wyvern rarely shown.


    Though no verbal words were shared between the wyvern and the horde of monsters, they could feel from those intense red eyes that the wyvern was passing a clear warning not to advance any further!


    ---


    Meanwhile, back in the Armstrong Duchy, the other towns were almost done evacuating the arena, and a few were already nearing their respective towns. In the judging area, Bridget had a mild look of annoyance on her face.


    "This is supposed to be the time I approach him," she muttered as she nced at Nox in the distance.


    "Oh well, now that I''m caught in this mess, I should offer a helping hand," she thought and immediately disappeared from her spot, leaving Zarek still seated. Despite the chaos around him, he was strangely calm and peaceful, his blindfolded face filled with such deep serenity that it was unsettling.


    "What do we do?" Rab asked, clenching his shield tightly. His father and mother were in the barony. They weren''t Awakened; they wouldn''t stand a chance against these monsters. They''d be dead within seconds.


    "Grandma Percy," Cole also muttered under his breath. Unlike Rab, he only had his grandma.


    There was a brief look of worry in Wendy''s eyes, though she wasn''t panicking like the others. Her mother was Awakened and quite powerful.


    Just as the group was conversing among themselves, Aina suddenly appeared in their midst. It felt as if she hade crashing from the heavens.


    "Mo-" Nox was about to speak. It had been several months, almost a year, since hest saw his mother. However, before he couldplete his sentence, he was enveloped in a motherly embrace. The two remained like this for a few seconds, with no one saying anything.


    Though the others were still anxious, they decided to respect the mother and son reunion.


    As she hugged her son, the forced expression Aina had projected all this while crumpled as a tear slid down her cheek. She had truly missed him. Flicking away the tear, she pulled back, a stern expression crossing her features.


    "Young man, don''t think I have forgiven you just yet," Aina said. "You still have a lot of exining to doter."


    Nox disyed a bitter smile. He knew very well that his mother would be angry at him. After all, he had spent considerable time away from her.


    "But for now... I have something important to tell all of you," Aina said, assuming a serious expression as her gaze swept across everyone present.


    "Is it about the monsters? We already know that," Nyx said, but Aina waved her hand dismissively and looked at Nox.


    "Nox, you''re now a duke."


    "Yes," Nox nodded his head, still not registering what his mother had said. A few secondster, his eyes widened in shock. "Wait, what?"


    Aina smiled. "I was waiting for that expression."


    "Mom, what did you say? I didn''t hear you well," Nox said in an incredulous tone.


    Even Nyx, Wendy, Cole, and Rab turned towards Aina. They, too, felt something was off, and Rab had already started wiggling his finger in his ear to clear out any dirt.


    "Yes... it surprised me as well, but it''s the truth."


    "This doesn''t make sense," Wendy was the one who spoke up, her face filled with great confusion. "How old is Nox, like ten?"


    "I think what we should be asking is... how did he be a duke?" Nyx asked.


    Aina cleared her throat. "Well, here''s how it happened."


    ---


    Some minutester,


    "That sick old bastard!" Nox didn''t know whether tough or cry when he heard his mother''s exnation.


    Even the rest of the group gritted their teeth, imagining how life would''ve been if they had lost.


    "No need to fuss about that anyway," Nox waved his hands. "So that means we have to protect the duchy as well as the barony."


    "Yes," Aina nodded. "Father, Hans, and Gordon will head back to the town, while some of us will stay here."


    At that moment, Cole raised his hand. "Can I be part of the people returning to the barony?"


    "Yes, you can," Aina understood Cole''s situation well and didn''t stop him from leaving.


    After some time, Aina left the group and went to meet up with Hans to inform him of thetest development.


    "Fight! Fight! Fight!"


    "Panda fight!"


    "Fight!"


    And as soon as Aina left, several voices echoed in Nox''s head.


    ---


    In the wilds…


    Despite Doombringer''s devastating torrent of mes, the beasts were relentless. For every creature that fell, two more seemed to take its ce. Doombringer''s red eyes narrowed in frustration.


    For the past few minutes, it had been fighting the horde, preventing them from breaching the walls of its home and hurting its ''people,'' but because of the overwhelming numbers, it seemed as if it wasn''t making any progress.


    Just then, as things were bing too chaotic, a massive ck, scaly, milky-eyed python with a muscr build and stretching several meters long shot skyward from the horde of monsters and...