Chapter 701: Chapter 493: Coal Ball’s Advanced Ability and the Illusory Light Butterfly Empress’s Egg

SHRIIIIIP!

The rift rapidly expanded, revealing a deep, ever-shifting vortex of void turbulence within, occasionally streaked with magnificent yet dangerous bands of colorful light.

In just a matter of moments,

A huge spatial rift, ten meters high and about three meters wide, appeared in mid-air.

Arcs of Spatial Energy flickered at the rift’s edges, sealing it off from the rampaging Abyssal aura of the surroundings.

Raylo nodded in satisfaction.

With this spatial rift, he could return from Black Stone City at any time.

This was, after all, the depths of the Jade Swamp. The commotion from Agrean recovering his Power was so immense, there was no guarantee it wouldn’t attract other powerful, prying eyes.

Although he had the Black King and Kado, two Domain Level Powerhouses, standing guard, which was enough to handle most situations.

But there was always a chance of the unexpected.

Leaving this gate was a precaution for that "what if."

If a crisis they couldn’t handle truly arose, Raylo could rush back from Black Stone City to provide reinforcements at a moment’s notice.

"I’m returning to Black Stone City to handle some matters,"

Raylo said, giving his final instructions to the Black King and Gordo.

"Guard this place well. If there’s a problem, return immediately and report."

With that, he lingered no longer and strode into the spatial rift.

He took a single step.

And in an instant, Raylo’s figure vanished into the deep void.

The spatial rift remained stable behind him, like a giant, black scar embedded in the fabric of reality.

The Black King gazed at the rift in awe, then glanced at Agrean, who was madly devouring energy not far away. His heart was a tangle of complex emotions.

The warm winter sun streamed through the huge French windows of the Lord’s Mansion study, casting a bright patch of light on the floor.

Raylo was seated in a soft armchair, his posture anything but relaxed.

On the table beside him, a cup of black tea had long since gone cold, its wisps of steam having vanished at some unknown point.

Before him stood a small mountain built of parchment and scrolls.

These were all political documents, rushed by courier from the Duchy Capital City of Thunder Dragon City, that required his personal approval and decisions as the Regent.

More than half of the desk had been completely overrun by the backlog of paperwork.

Raylo’s fingers tapped lightly on the armrest, his gaze falling on the topmost document.

_An Urgent Report on the Territorial Dispute and Military Conflict Between the Southern Eagle Earl and the Count of Fury._

His brow furrowed involuntarily.

This was the third time the conflict between these two Counts had been reported to him. He had already ordered them to exercise restraint twice. To his surprise, in his absence, the situation had not de-escalated but had instead grown even more intense.

He picked up his feather pen and dipped it in ink, but hesitated to put it to paper.

Finally, he set down the pen, picked up the cup of thoroughly chilled black tea, and drank it all in one go.

The cold tea slid down his throat, seeming to clear his somewhat muddled head a little.

Just then, the sound of steady footsteps approached from outside the door.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Come in,"

Raylo said.

The study door opened, and Gaius’s figure appeared in the doorway.

The commander of the Thunder Dragon Knight Order wore a grim expression, a clear sign he was the bearer of bad news.

He didn’t speak immediately. He simply walked to the desk and gently placed a letter sealed with wax on top of the mountain of documents.

Raylo reached out and broke the wax seal.

For a moment, the only sound in the study was the faint rustle of the parchment as it was unrolled.

Raylo’s eyes scanned the contents of the letter, word by word.

His brow furrowed deeper and deeper.

The letter wasn’t long, but every word seemed to carry immense weight.

The intelligence reported that a war affecting the entire Continent had reached a fever pitch.

The allied army of the Dragon Realms, led by the Red Dragon Empire, had engaged in a brutal slaughter against the expeditionary force dispatched by the Light Holy See in a river basin known as the Yellow Mud River.

The war had already raged for half a month.

Both sides had committed more than 200,000 troops.

Countless soldiers, countless Knights, and countless Mages had become cold corpses on that blood-soaked land.

But the latest intelligence brought even more shocking news.

Each side had lost a Catastrophe Level existence in the war.

Catastrophe Level.

Beings who stood at the very pinnacle of this world’s pyramid of power.

A terrifying Power capable of destroying a nation single-handedly.

The fall of any Catastrophe Level being was enough to send earth-shattering waves across the entire Continent.

And now, in the span of just a few short months, two Catastrophe Level beings had fallen in succession.

This was enough to prove that the brutality of this war had far exceeded everyone’s imagination.

Slowly, Raylo lowered the intelligence report in his hand.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the study became incredibly heavy.

The sun was still bright, but he couldn’t feel any of its warmth on his skin.

By the time Raylo cleared the small mountain on his desk, night had fallen.

The night, like spilled ink, rapidly stained the entire sky.

The Lord’s Mansion in Black Stone City was brightly lit.

Inside the study, dozens of arm-thick candles illuminated the room as bright as day.

Raylo stood in the center of the study. Before him, two desks had been pushed together to form a square table, on which lay a huge map of the entire Thunder Dragon Duchy, drawn on Beast Hide.

Gaius stood on the opposite side of the table, his finger pointing to three locations on the map.

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