Leaving the command center of the Governor's Palace, there was still a brief moment before departure.
Rover thought for a moment, ultimately picked up his terminal, dialed a certain comms number, and asked gently and briefly: "Lupa, where are you right now?"
An area of a gladiator camp outside the city of the Seven Hills, even at such a time, was still filled with the scent of sweat and hot blood.
By a training ground inside the camp, Rover found her.
Lupa—the fiery champion gladiator who had fought side-by-side with him in the arena, the lover who had shared a night of intimacy with him and sworn a lifelong vow to him—was currently unleashing a frantic barrage of attacks on a training dummy.
Flames seemed to burn on her gauntlets, and her wheat-colored skin was drenched in sweat. Her red twintails and short hair were like dancing flames, and her eyes were filled with impatience and dissatisfaction.
Upon seeing Rover, she abruptly stopped her movements. The impatience and dissatisfaction in her eyes instantly extinguished, replaced by an astonishing, radiant light. Like a vigorous little she-wolf, she pounced on him, nearly knocking him off balance.
"You guy, you finally know to come back!" Her voice was loud, carrying undisguised joy and a hint of grievance. "The south is practically turning upside down! Governor Augusta and so many gladiators went to such a dangerous place, and yet I can only stay here hitting punching bags!"
She hugged him tightly, her strength astonishing. Her dark golden eyes stared at him burningly: "Partner, take me with you, I can fight! A place like the Hunting Grounds is exactly where they need me right now!"
Although Rover and she had kept in frequent contact via terminal comms during his absence, sweet words through a screen ultimately couldn't compare to the warm intimacy of a physical embrace.
At this moment, she buried her head in his chest, the tip of her nose constantly sniffing, as if she wanted to compensate for all the tenderness she had missed with him over these past few months.
Rover let her hug him, raising a hand to gently brush past her sweat-dampened sideburns. His tone was incredibly gentle, yet carried an unquestionable firmness: "No, Lupa."
"Why?!" She immediately bristled.
"Because that is a battlefield, not the arena." Rover gazed into her eyes. "The rules of the arena are for victory and glory. The rules of the battlefield are only survival and destruction."
"The Black Tide is not an opponent, it is a disaster. I need you to stay here, Lupa."
"But we defeated the Threnodian inside 'Miya' together before..."
He shook his head, pressing her shoulders to interrupt her: "This time is different. Stay in the Seven Hills, protect yourself well, and help me... keep an eye on the city. That bunch from the Senate might not behave. This is your most important battlefield right now."
Lupa's lips moved, wanting to argue further, but after seeing the unalterable decisiveness and genuine concern in Rover's eyes, she finally deflated like a popped balloon, muttering: "...Alright, I get it. You always make sense."
She buried her head in his chest, her voice muffled. "Then you... you absolutely have to come back to me in one piece! Or else I won't forgive you!"
"Mm, I promise you." Rover gently hugged her. "Wait for me to come back."
Lupa's cheeks reddened slightly. Her wolf tail swayed gently as she buried her face in his chest.
After a brief moment of tenderness, Rover resolutely turned and left.
Inside the camp, the flames of the training ground continued to burn, yet they could not warm the much more bitterly cold battlefield he had to rush to at this moment.
On Windtide Cliff, the long shrieks of Griffons resounded through the sky. The guide of the Hunting Grounds stood nearby with a solemn expression.
The path to the Sanguis Hunting Grounds was destined to be filled with thorns and darkness. And what he had to do was to cleave through all the thorns and darkness before him, and bring them back.
By Windtide Cliff, the sea breeze roared, rolling up waves that crashed against the precipice, emitting thunderous booms.
Several vigorous Griffon Echoes were preening their feathers under the commands of their tamers. Their sharp eyes looked toward the southern continent shrouded in ominous dark clouds, emitting uneasy, low shrieks.
Rover, Bu Ling, and an elite Black Shores rapid-response squad had already assembled.
This time, Bu Ling couldn't hide in the rear to "slack off". She had been forcibly brought along by Rover, preparing to deploy special technological devices brought from the Black Shores at the hunters' camp.
The squad members silently checked their special helmets and heavy weapons, the cold metallic luster glinting under the gloomy skylight.
The gladiator acting as their guide—named Castor—stood silently to the side.
He bore scars on his face that had not yet fully healed. His eyes held a mixture of deep exhaustion, fear, and a resilience born from crawling out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
His armor was covered in scratch marks left by various monsters and dark red stains that were difficult to wash away.
"My Lord, everything is ready," the squad commander reported in a low voice.
Rover nodded. His gaze swept over the crowd, finally landing on Castor: "Let's move out."
Without any superfluous words, everyone quickly mounted the Griffons.
The Griffons let out high-pitched cries. Their massive wings abruptly spread open, whipping up a fierce wind, carrying everyone into the air, and resolutely charging toward the sky eroded by the Black Tide.
The process of crossing the strait was not smooth sailing.
The Lament energy permeating the air interfered with the Griffons' sense of direction. Occasionally, flying Black Tide Tacet Discords would pounce like twisted dark clouds.
They had no fixed forms; they looked like the rotting skeletons of giant birds entangled in viscous black energy, emitting shrieks that disrupted one's sanity.
"Three o'clock direction! Flying Tacet Discords!" the squad commander issued a calm order.
The weapons in the hands of the Black Shores soldiers immediately spat out blazing tongues of fire. Specially made resonance ammunition precisely tore through those twisted monsters, blasting them into splattering black slime.
Bu Ling didn't directly participate in the attacks. Instead, the small mirror in her hand shimmered with a faint light. By occasionally refracting a beam of clear radiance, she could interfere with the approaching flying Tacet Discords to make it easier for her teammates to kill them, or stabilize the Griffons' flight postures which had become erratic due to the interference.
"These kinds of things are seriously gross," Bu Ling curled her lip. With a turn of her mirror, she scattered a mass of black shadows attempting to form into shape.
Rover stood steadily upon the back of the leading Griffon the entire time, firm as a boulder.
He didn't even make a move. Merely the invisible resonance aura radiating from him made even the most frenzied Tacet Discords afraid to get too close.
His gaze was constantly fixed on the coastline of the southern continent. The red earth that had originally displayed the vitality of life was now covered by a dark purple, muddy stream that seemed like a living creature, making one sick at the sight of it.
Finally, the flock of Griffons crossed the dangerous waters and successfully landed on the northern edge of the Sanguis Hunting Grounds.
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After Two months, Here I am! Sorry for not posting I haven't had times ,since i was taking care of some personal matters ( related to my health issues)
And I wasn't able to do anything about it, but here it is...
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