Chapter 71: Different Factions

Hearing this, Max felt better. He didn’t meet with Andrew and Mathew in front of everyone because he didn’t want them to be targeted by the Silverblade family. Even if they received protection, their strength was nothing compared to the powerful noble family.

He also left some silver coins he looted to the city lord to give to the two brothers. And after a few more words, the city lord and the members of the Flameheart family also left.

After everyone left, Stella came out silently. Aron had already sensed her presence, and now, looking closely, he was a bit surprised, as it may be possible for her to hide her aura in front of the nobles, but it was nothing in front of a powerhouse like Aron.

He immediately understood she was a spiritual awakener, and a slightly surprised expression appeared on his face, but that was it.

Spiritual awakeners may be too rare in the state of Silver River, but there are quite a few spiritual awakeners in the City of Blood. They were definitely rare, but being at the status and power of Aron, he had seen many terrifying beings, and spiritual awakeners were nothing special.

"We are ready!" Everything was done, and Max was ready to leave.

Although he didn’t know what he was going to face in the City of Blood, at least he had direction on which way he now had to move on.

And only by joining a powerful power like the City of Blood could he learn how to improve his strength. It may be a double-edged sword, but there were numerous advantages.

Aron nodded, then he let out a sharp whistle.

A moment later, the gigantic dragon-like beast that had been flying high above the city suddenly dived toward them.

Whoosh!

Bang!

The massive beast landed directly in front of them, emitting a menacing aura that surpassed the second-order beast. Max and Stella felt uncomfortable under its pressure.

Aron calmly glanced at the beast. The wild and terrifying aura instantly disappeared, as though it had never existed.

"Let’s go."

Aron spoke calmly.

Max and Stella slowly climbed onto the beast’s back. Their journey toward the City of Blood had officially begun.

......

On the other side, somewhere in the sky on a floating island within a massive castle at the centre of the island, someone opened her eyes.

Her face was the same as the one that attacked Max, the Lady of Salvation. But the aura around her was in a completely different league, as her mere presence seemed to affect reality itself.

She seemed to be sitting on a throne, and her presence seemed to remain unaffected by the rules of the world.

"Interesting, my projection had disappeared." As she murmured, she seemed to see through the memories of the projection.

She seemed to smile as she learned everything had happened in Flameheart City and learned about the presence of Max.

"One more had been brought; it is already the third one in just a thousand years. They are becoming agitated; it seems the time is running out."

She slowly leaned back against her throne.

"Hmm... It looks like I need to prepare for the incoming chaos."

Her smile became even more captivating. "But it also brings the final opportunity."

She paused for a moment. "Then we need to accelerate things."

A mesmerizing smile spread across her face. It was the kind of smile that could steal the soul of any being—male or female, human or monster, god or demon.

Max didn’t know anything about this, as he was still on the dragon, or to be exact, a wyren, on his way to the City of Blood.

They remained silent for most of the time, but Max couldn’t help himself and finally asked Aron some questions.

"Commander Aron, can you tell me more about the City of Blood or about various factions within it?"

Aron looked at Max and smiled, as it seemed he was unable to remain silent and ask. Aron nodded and started to tell.

"Yes, you need to know a little bit about the power structure of the City of Blood, as you have to take care of a lot after we arrive there."

Both Max and Stella then calmly started to listen.

"Then let’s first talk about the four legions. As you already know, I am from the third legion. And yes, the legions are ranked according to their strength. So, sadly, even though I didn’t like it, the first and second legions are much stronger than the third or fourth legion."

"The Fourth Legion has the largest number of members, with nearly half a million soldiers."

"Then comes the Third Legion, with around one hundred thousand."

"The Second Legion has around ten thousand."

"And finally, the First Legion has only around one thousand members."

Aron smiled slightly.

"Yet despite having the fewest members, the First Legion is the strongest."

"Every single member is an absolute genius with extraordinary potential. But talent alone isn’t enough."

"Each of them has proven their worth by surviving countless dangers and overcoming numerous life-and-death challenges."

Max listened carefully.

Just hearing those numbers already gave him a rough idea of how terrifying the City of Blood truly was.

Four legions and hundreds of thousands of soldiers. He couldn’t help imagining the scale of the City of Blood. Indeed, a city like Black Iron or the Flameheart City is truly nothing compared to a behemoth like the City of Blood.

Aron watched the shocked expression on both, but he continued, "The four legions might be one of the most important factions within the City of Blood, but there are quite a few factions you need to be careful of."

"Like the Dark faction, made of different branch noble families that were subordinate to the first city lord. After thousands of years, they are the largest faction of the City of Blood."

"In addition to this, you need to be very careful, especially of three churches within the City of Blood. They are actually the most troublesome because of their large influence not only in the city but throughout the world."