"Take them," Kael said after just a moment's thought. "But don't stray too far. If you come across something you can't handle, you run. Your lives come first. Water and rations—enough for the day."
There was a time when he wouldn't have let anyone leave the barrier. Back then, his "army" was barely a handful of professionals; losing even one could've crippled him.
Now? Ten soldiers. Small, but disciplined enough to hunt safely—so long as they didn't stumble on a Bronze-tier monster. Every fight outside meant more strength, for them... and for him.
Bai Yi and her nine companions set off, packs heavy with water skins and roasted meat, fading into the desert haze.
Kael stayed inside the shimmering dome, confident the city was secure. Without them courting death, nothing could breach the protective barrier.
Still, his mind churned through possibilities. If they found new monsters… maybe new soldier types would appear. Different weapons. Different skills.
The day passed in a steady rhythm of corpses and loot. Lizards slain, spoils stripped, recruitment books fed into the Gate. Every time the vortex spat out a fresh warrior, Kael sent them straight back into the hunt.
By dusk, his forces had grown at an almost absurd pace.
He bit into a strip of roasted meat when it hit him—a surge rushing through muscle and mind. His personal status blinked before his eyes:
Strength: Black Iron, Intermediate
Finally. The grin spreading across his face was wild.
Then he saw it. Beyond the barrier, the air thickened and darkened—a crawling scarlet fog swallowing the desert whole.
The system's voice cut through the tension:
[Warning!][When night falls, scarlet fog will blanket most of the High Continent. Fog monsters' power will increase by 500%. They will hunt without mercy. Only those inside the protective barrier will survive. Recall all troops immediately.]
Kael didn't waste a second. Bai Yi. Now.
The World Channel was already chaos—Lords begging to return, cursing the night, mourning before battle even began. He ignored them. His gaze stayed locked on the desert.
Shapes emerged from the blood-red haze. Not ten returning soldiers… forty-six.
Thirty-six fresh recruits pulled from today's spoils. No other Lord could dream of numbers like that this early.
"My Lord," Bai Yi reported, "all returned alive. Seven lightly wounded."
He ordered them to rest, noting her efficient delegation of medics and tents. But something was off. No lizard corpses accompanied them.
Bai Yi explained: they'd hunted the area dry, then stumbled on six strangers—not monsters, but foreign. Locked in battle with four Lizards, taking losses. When they saw Kael's troops, they abandoned their dead and vanished.
Two soldiers dragged one abandoned body forward.
The thing was alien. Silver-white skin. Limbs too slender. A grotesquely large head. Lifeless black eyes staring into nothing. Its neck torn open.
The system confirmed it:
[Subject of Lord Potts][Loot: 2x Mist Cores, 1x Racial Skill Book – Mental Manipulation (0.01%), 1x White Platinum Racial Talent Sphere (0.0001%)]
Kael's pulse quickened.
A skill to control minds… and a Talent Sphere of near-mythic rarity.
From the corpse of a dead alien Lord's soldier.
He closed his fist slowly, eyes narrowing on the scarlet fog beyond.
So… this game isn't just me against the monsters anymore.