"That was an amazing attack, Lord Brian Anglaus."
Lakyus lowered her guard and said, looking at the man across from her.
Should she say he was truly a warrior capable of rivaling the Warrior Captain? No, perhaps it was Lock's doing; the original Brian shouldn't have been able to do such a thing. This was already a level beyond the realm of heroes.
Seeing that she had no intention of continuing the fight, Brian also sheathed his sword and smiled noncommittally.
"If you've seen the true peak, you'd know that this level is nothing to speak of. There are far more warriors stronger than me in this world."
"You are truly modest," Lakyus said politely.
Regardless of whether Brian's words were true or false, she was certainly no match for him now. This made Lakyus even more excited; since Brian could become so strong, then she should also be able to reach that level, right?
Just as she was envisioning her future self, a voice suddenly echoed in the training ground, attracting Lakyus's attention.
"Looks like you two are having a good spar!"
Lakyus looked in the direction of the voice and saw Lock using the Magic of Flight, slowly descending from the sky, a smile on his face as he looked at the two of them.
"Yo! Boss!"
"Count Lock!"
Lock landed on the ground, first nodding to Brian, who greeted him, then looking at Lakyus with a helpless expression, "Lakyus, you should probably start calling me by my name. I think we're quite familiar with each other now, aren't we?"
"I can't do that. After all, Blue Rose is currently employed by you. It's essential to show basic respect to a big patron like you. Otherwise, if word gets out that Blue Rose is arrogant and doesn't respect its employers, such rumors would affect the team's reputation, and I'm afraid no one would be willing to hire us in the future," Lakyus said jokingly.
This official reply left Lock shaking his head helplessly, but he had no position to refute it.
"Boss, are you here for something?" Brian felt a bit uncomfortable with the two of them; to him, it seemed like flirting. To avoid feeling superfluous, he immediately changed the subject.
Normally, although Lock would also care about his and Clementine's situation, at most, he would ask during meals.
So Brian was sure that Lock must be here because something required his involvement.
It turned out his guess was correct.
"Yes, I came specifically for you," Lock said, then glanced at Lakyus next to him and smiled, "But I didn't expect you to be here, Lakyus. Brian and I are going somewhere, and if you're interested, you can come along."
Lakyus shook her head in refusal, "No need. Since you two have important business, I won't disturb you. I still need to check on my team members. Please excuse me."
With that, Lakyus left the training ground.
Lock watched her retreating figure without speaking, and Brian immediately teased, "Boss, even if there's something important, I think it would be better to discuss it after you've finished talking with this lady. It takes a lot of time to win over a woman, especially one with her strength."
"I recall you're not married, Brian? Don't pretend to know so much about women," Lock retorted with disdain. Then his expression turned serious, and he said, "Let's go. Come with me to meet the high-ranking officials of Theocracy."
"Huh?"
Brian was a bit surprised. Although he knew Lock and Theocracy had been cooperating and had some plan, it shouldn't have anything to do with a small fry like him, right?
Lock seemed to see his confusion but chose not to explain, directly opening a Teleportation Gate.
"Let's go."
As soon as he spoke, Lock walked straight in. Brian shrugged; it shouldn't be anything bad anyway, and since his boss had spoken, he had no reason to refuse.
Slane Theocracy Central Grand Temple.
The High Priest, along with the twelve members of the highest council, including the Six Chief Priests, were all standing by, ready to welcome the important person who was about to arrive.
A Teleportation Gate suddenly appeared before them. As they had been notified in advance, the high-ranking officials of Theocracy were not surprised.
Lock, dressed in white, emerged from the Teleportation Gate, immediately drawing their attention. Apart from Raymond, the other eleven were seeing this reported individual for the first time.
After Zesshi Zetsumei's verification, the High Priest had completely believed one thing: the man before them was an existence on par with the Six Gods who founded Theocracy, because even the legendary 'God of Death's' ultimate technique did not affect Lord Lock.
This was the main reason all members of their highest council were present here. Absolute respect must be shown to such an individual.
"Lord Lock Kote Albert, welcome!"
Led by the High Priest, all twelve members of the council bowed to Lock, their attitudes extremely respectful.
It's really a bit unaccustomed to suddenly being treated like this!
Lock raised an eyebrow, muttering to himself internally. Especially seeing his old acquaintance Raymond among them, this strange sense of incongruity became even stronger.
Brian, who followed Lock out of the Teleportation Gate, was also stunned. From their attire, he could roughly guess that these were high-ranking officials of Theocracy, yet they were bowing deeply to Lock? He wondered if they had come to the wrong place!
"We are all familiar with each other; no need to be so polite," Lock said with a smile, gently helping up the elderly man in front. Given that Raymond stood behind him, he was undoubtedly the supreme leader of Theocracy. "Your Excellency, High Priest, please rise!"
"Thank you, Lord Albert," the High Priest expressed his gratitude to Lock. With such proximity, he could clearly see the other party's unusually youthful face and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
It was hard to imagine how this young man, not yet thirty, possessed such immense power.
Unlike the Six Gods who appeared suddenly, Lock's life story had been repeatedly reviewed by the High Priest, but the process of his becoming strong was a complete blank.
If he hadn't suddenly appeared in Theocracy's sight, they wouldn't even have known such a person existed.
Thinking of this, the High Priest felt fortunate. Fortunately, Lord Lock was a pure human and held no hostility towards Theocracy, and he was full of anticipation for the upcoming cooperation between the two sides.
"I hear that everything on Theocracy's side is ready. Is that true, Your Excellency, High Priest?" Lock cut straight to the chase, asking the old man before him without preamble.
The High Priest nodded and said, "Yes. As per your request, Theocracy's Magic Caster units have all been assembled. Since most of them can only use second-tier Magic, we were concerned it would affect the ritual's effectiveness, so we ultimately decided to increase the number of Magic Casters. The final count is one hundred and fifty thousand."
Lock was surprised by this. Although Theocracy had a well-established system for cultivating faith-based Magic Casters, with even border villages having several faith-based Magic Casters, gathering one hundred and fifty thousand would likely mean conscripting all Magic Casters in the entire country!
If the demi-human tribes or other nations around Theocracy were to launch an attack during this time, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Lock didn't believe that Theocracy's neighbors would receive no news of such a large-scale movement.
No! Perhaps the situation might even be the opposite; after all, Theocracy's national strength was still very strong, and this concentration of forces might give those nations a sense of crisis, making them fear an attack from Theocracy.
In any case, Lock now only needed to complete the ritual as quickly as possible and then have Theocracy's forces return to their country swiftly, so as not to have too much of an impact on this nation.
"Then I thank you all in advance. I will complete the ritual in the shortest possible time."
"That would be for the best," the High Priest showed a faint smile, then introduced a burly man in armor behind him to Lock, "For related matters, you can communicate with him—Grand Marshal Harley, the supreme commander of Theocracy's army. He will follow your arrangements for troop deployment."
Grand Marshal Harley, with a serious expression, pounded his right hand on the armor on his chest, showing his respect to Lock.
Lock nodded, then gripped the necklace on his chest and slightly closed his eyes.
Another Teleportation Gate immediately appeared in the room, and a Priest in a silver-white robe walked out, "Lord Lock!"
The high-ranking officials of Theocracy looked at the unknown Priest who appeared before them, inwardly identifying him as a Priest Knight of the Tiger Knight Order!
The characteristics of Lock's subordinates had been reported in detail by the Black Scripture Captain who accompanied Zesshi Zetsumei to the Kingdom upon his return.
"Luke, you and Grand Marshal Harley will transport Theocracy's forces to the designated locations according to the original plan," Lock instructed the Priest Knight.
"Yes, sir!"
Priest Knight Luke immediately responded loudly, then looked at Grand Marshal Harley, who was clearly different from the others, and said, "Your Excellency, Grand Marshal Harley, please take me to Theocracy's forces!"
"Please follow me!"
Handing over to the powerful Priest Knight, Harley did not feel slighted. He led the other party to the Magic Caster units' encampment gathered outside the Capital.
This mission of transporting troops was carried out by the twenty highest-ranking Priest Knights of the Tiger Knight Order. They had all learned the 'Teleportation Gate' Magic through special means and were specialized transport personnel whom Lock had started training long ago.
With them, rapid transfer of large forces could be achieved. If it were during wartime, each of them would be a strategic treasure.
However, since this time involved transporting hundreds of thousands of people to different locations, it would still take some time.
Taking this opportunity, Lock asked the High Priest, "Where is Zesshi Zetsumei? It's been a long time since we last met. I'd like to catch up with her."
"She is in the Sanctuary where the Six Gods' artifacts are kept," the High Priest replied, then gestured to Raymond behind him, "Raymond, you will take Lord Albert to the Sanctuary."
"Yes!"
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A/N: 40+ Advance Chapter Has Been Uploaded.
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