A streak of light flew up from the center city and suspended itself in the air.

Soon, the person who spoke so domineeringly was revealed.

It was a man wearing battle armor with a powerful presence, phoenix-like eyebrows, and a face that screamed experience.

City Lord Brown could no longer sit still and decided to take action.

However, he, City Lord Brown, was only at the 11th level of the 2nd rank.

He simply could not match Grey Lockhart's power.

However, experts from other provinces and cities were present, and they had offered a hand to help.

He also had his own 2nd ranker army.

He refused to believe that Grey Lockhart would try anything if he displayed his power.

City Lord Brown knew Grey Lockhart's intentions well.

He had conquered seven cities in two weeks.

And it was clear his appearance here was related to that.

Soon, the other experts also soared into the sky with tense looks on their faces.

Although the lady next to Grey did not spill out any aura, it was clear that the beautiful lady next to him was also a 2nd ranker since she was floating in the air.

But to them, Grey Lockhart was more of a concern.

Almost everyone in the southern region knew him now.

He was gaining millions and millions of fans without even knowing it himself.

There were several fan pages for him, and some people treated him as an idol.

A powerful evolver at the age of seventeen.

Haters had constantly tried to debunk him being seventeen, yet all the perfectly arranged records in Nova City made it impossible to deny the fact.

Now, seeing his capabilities once more, casually taking on almost a thousand laser beams at the 12th level made people's brains buzz in shock.

It was only natural that the 2nd rankers would be scared to face him.

Although he was not in his dragon form, he still gave off a powerful presence, like a death god descended into the mortal world.

Their throats were dry.

However, if they did not stop him now, would he not completely conquer the southern region?

People from the Mandate Province were mixed in the formation of 2nd rankers, and they had already received instructions from the City Lord of Mandate Province to keep Grey Lockhart under wraps.

"This is for your own good, Grey Lockhart," City Lord Brown spoke again.

"You are still young, and you must be naive to think you can conquer the east and west as effortlessly as the north and south."

"You, a single man, cannot defeat an army of 2nd rankers we have here," City Lord Brown said in a sharp and assertive tone.

His intention was clear.

He would give Grey a chance to back off and leave the Whitespring cities alone, or else he would be required to use force.

He was still being nice because they had no former enmity, and having a bad relationship with such a monster like Grey was asking for trouble.

He had reached the peak level of the 2nd rank in a short amount of time, and what would happen in a year was unimaginable.

Perhaps by then, he might have already reached the 3rd rank and become a powerful being.

On the other hand, City Lord Brown was slightly proud.

If he stopped Grey Lockhart here, the man who conquered seven cities in two weeks, would he not become renowned throughout the southern region?

And he was confident in stopping him.

With the army of 2nd rankers, he was confident in doing so.

He was, after all, just one man.

What could one man achieve alone?

There was a limit to how much one could do alone.

"Leave, City Lord Grey. This is the final warning," City Lord Brown said in a half-threatening tone.

Far away in the Mandate Province, its City Lord sat atop his throne in the City Lord Mansion.

His name was Albert, and people called him City Lord Albert.

He sat together with elders from his own and various other families across the Mandate Alliance.

They all calmly assessed the situation on the screen.

"Do you think Grey Lockhart will back off, Elder Joshua?" City Lord Albert calmly asked Elder Joshua, his most trusted ally and someone from his own family.

"It is hard to say," Elder Joshua spoke.

"From what we know of him, he is not the type to back away from things."

"Of course, that might be because of his stubbornness as a teenager, but even a tiger knows when to run away."

"I believe he will accept the offer and retreat."

"If I am not mistaken, he must have entered Whitespring for his evolutionary process."

"If he goes without making any trouble, we can let this matter go."

He added this as he glanced at the elders in the room.

City Lord Albert nodded at this.

However, some were unhappy.

"I do not care."

"We should not let this guy live any further."

"He is a threat to our path."

"He already conquered seven cities in a few days of ascension as a City Lord, and his power is growing every minute."

"You all saw it yourselves. He easily deflected the laser beams aimed at him."

"It is clear that he is a threat to our Mandate Province."

"If he targets other provinces, why would he not do the same to us?"

"I agree with the Elder of Lancelot Province."

"I agree."

"He is too dangerous to be left alone," another chimed in.

"I hope you will take action before it is too late, City Lord Albert."

City Lord Albert calmly listened to them.

Some expressed their denial, and some their approval, but the denial was in the majority.

He understood the reason why.

To them, Grey Lockhart, who appeared out of nowhere, was a threat to their plans to attain power.

To make things worse, he was only seventeen years old.

It was obvious that he would not stop with just the Whitespring cities.

He would definitely make his way to Mandate Province sooner rather than later.

And uprooting him before he fully developed was the way to deal with it.

Of course, this was bullying the younger generation and also using underhanded methods to do so.

But in the world of power and politics, people were ruthless, and they would go to any lengths to achieve their goals.

"We will not engage Grey Lockhart unless he engages with the Mandate Province," City Lord Albert calmly gave his decree.

"But if he does act, then I will have no choice but to step in."

....

[What do you guys think? Is City Lord Grey going to retreat?]

[What else will he do? Against this many 2nd rankers, anyone in his place would hesitate as well.]

[Not just that, the destruction from it will be unimaginable.]

[It is better to retreat here. He can always come back later and conquer the three cities.]

[Aww man, here I thought I was going to see the good part, but it looks like nothing will happen now.]

[You think this is a fantasy world where one man can conquer a lot of cities in a few weeks of time?]

[That is what he did though.]

[...]

For a moment, the world was at a pause.

All to see what Grey Lockhart would do.

What his decision would be.

City Lord Brown also awaited Grey's response.

So did Xia Qingyue.

"Hey, I can help you, by the way."

"We do not necessarily have to run away," she replied as she glanced at Grey.

But to her surprise, Grey was smiling.

Back in the mansion, Valeria, seeing his smile, sighed.

"This guy, can he not stay away from trouble for even a second?" she said helplessly, catching everyone's attention.

Just as Werner was about to say something, he sensed something and looked at the sky.

"We have a visitor," he said grimly.

....

"Help?" Grey chuckled softly.

He glanced at City Lord Brown, who was still standing there with a confident look on his face.

"If I take action right now, you will overpower me with your numbers. Am I correct?" Grey tilted his head and asked.

"That is indeed correct."

"If you take action, we will be forced to take action as well," City Lord Brown said with a nod.

The other 2nd rankers subtly released their auras as well.

There were plenty of middle-stage 2nd rankers and a few late-stage and peak rankers.

For a moment, everyone, including the people watching the stream, thought he was going to retreat.

However, that was not Grey's intention.

'It is time to test the hell portal.'

Grey grinned.

"Alright," Grey nodded with a laugh.

"Since you have an army of your own, it is only natural I unleash mine as well, right, City Lord Brown?"

"What do you mean?" the City Lord was bewildered upon hearing this.

What army?

There was no one here.

However, the next moment, his expression stiffened.

Nexus energy surged out of his elixir fields like a tsunami.

Boom.

An oppressive pressure formed around the area.

[The City Lord.]

[He is not retreating.]

The southern region was stunned.

However, the next moment, their shock increased.

"I am a very upright person, City Lord Brown."

"Since you are using an army to fight, I will naturally do the same."

Lightning crackled across him as he burst out laughing.

The next moment, the space around Grey began to distort severely.

Mandate Province.

"This...?" The elders and Albert stood up from their seats in disbelief.

Space tore apart like paper being cut open, and immediately powerful presences emerged from the spatial gates.

Grrrraaahh. Rrrrhuuummm.

Hellish roars rang out throughout the entirety of Whitespring as people stared ahead in disbelief.

The people below, even the 2nd rankers, directly fell unconscious from the pressure that was being emanated.

"W-What is this?" The 2nd rankers in the distance looked ahead in dread.

The distortion intensified.

The torn space widened further, its edges burning red-hot as if reality itself was being cauterized.

From within the raging spatial gates, massive silhouettes forced their way out, one after another.

Infernal beings descended.

Wings of condensed flame unfurled midair, each beat sending waves of scorching pressure crashing down like invisible hammers.

Their bodies were forged of molten muscle and blackened, armor-like scales, veins of lava pulsing beneath cracked skin.

Horns curved skyward, eyes blazing with hellfire as they let out deafening roars that shook the skies.

One emerged.

Then another.

Then dozens.

The portals did not stop.

Infernal after infernal poured out, their numbers climbing relentlessly.

Hundreds filled the airspace above Whitespring, blotting out the sky in a sea of fire and heat.

The temperature spiked violently as the world itself seemed to recoil under their presence.

By the time the last gate stabilized, nearly a thousand infernals hovered above the city.

Their wings ignited the clouds.

For a split moment, the entirety of the southern region fell silent.

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