****

[Three hours later]

Gabriel stood before the majestic castle, which was the home of the Wester Clan. He had finally reached his destination.

Along the way, he also saw many guards and many dangerous trap formations, some of which he had never seen before. It was as if the Wester Clan had taken many precautions to make sure that they didn't suffer the same fate as the last clan which used to rule over this land.

Without being accompanied by Yulia, he didn't think he could've had such an easier time to reach this place.

Just as he was about to leave the City of art, the guard had stopped him, apologizing for what happened. At the same time, the guard invited him to meet their Patriarch without asking Yulia. He took the decision on his own, believing that even the Wester Clan Patriarch was going to think that this was the right decision.

As Gabriel reached the clan with Yulia and her guard, he saw a young man, standing at the entrance with a smug look on his face, as if he had been waiting for quite some time. It was the same young man who was right behind Yulia in the face before taking over.

"My dear sister, you're finally back. You kept me waiting a long time." He stepped down the stairs, stepping closer to his sister.

He didn't even pay any attention to Gabriel and the others, as if they weren't even present there. He simply reached out his hand before his sister, as if asking for something.

Yulia could only clench her teeth, placing a small invitation token in the hand of her brother!

Even though the Wester Clan was related to the Southern General, they still only received three invitation tokens to the banquet. The first two were kept by the Patriarch and his wife while the third was given to the Eldest Daughter, leading to the jealousy of her younger brother and subsequently this bet which resulted in her loss.

"Hahaha, that's more like it. I'll miss you at the General's banquet, my dear sis." The young man kept the invisible token in his pocket safely before going back inside the castle, as if he was worried that his sister was going to have a change of heart and steal the token from him.

"That bastard!" Yulia scoffed, entering the castle as well, leaving Gabriel to her guard. She didn't want to see anyone's face anymore.

"General's Banquet?"

After Yulia left, Gabriel asked the question to the Guard accompanying them. When he came here, he had already seen that some preparations were being made.

Carriages were being filled with precious treasures, as if they were to be gifted to someone. Moreover, he heard the name of the Southern General a few times as well.

"The Southern General's banquet. It looks like you left your clan quite some time ago, for you to not know." The guard smiled, leading everyone inside the castle. "All the top ten clans received two invitation tokens for the banquet while our clan received three because we're special."

He also started talking about the bet between the two siblings, as if trying to justify why their young miss was so upset.

"Southern General is throwing a banquet?" Gabriel asked, slightly surprised. Even though this wasn't his intention when coming here, this was indeed a great opportunity for him to get to the Southern General, which was almost impossible nowadays with how alert that guy was.

"That's right. It's his 1500th birthday, which also coincides with the time when the Northern General was stated to visit the Southern Realm. So he apparently decided to hit two birds with one stone," the Guard explained. Even though the explanation was basic, but it gave Gabriel a lot of understanding about what was happening.

The banquet didn't just lead to the Southern General but also the Northern General! From what he had heard, the Goddess of Light was also in the Northern Upper World! However, it was also clear that dealing with two Generals was dangerous since his disguise wasn't going to work on them.

Even when he could hide his aura, as long as he was in their presence, there was a good chance that they could see through him. The opportunity was riddled with many dangers.

From the outside, the place looked like a simple castle. However, it was only when Gabriel walked inside that he realized that the castle contained a different space inside itself, which was akin to a small world in itself with mountains and rivers.

The guard brought Gabriel and his group to a smaller castle inside, which was reserved for guests only. Since he hadn't talked to the Patriarch, he didn't bring Gabriel there directly, and instead made him wait while he went there to report.

****

"This was easier than expected." The Goddess of Nature sat on the bed in the guest house, slightly amazed at how easy it was to reach this place. If they wanted, they could now destroy this place from inside.

"The Clan has been peaceful for quite some time, thanks to their relationship with the Southern General. It's understandable that they wouldn't be as careful, not expecting anyone to dare attack them." Jia agreed. At this speed, she could feel that they were closer to their goals. Maybe they didn't need to fight at all.

Unlike last time when Karyk exposed his presence by destroying a clan openly, they were more careful this time.

"If that's what you think, then you really underestimate them," Gabriel chimed in, standing near the window. "They're already planning to kill us. We're surrounded."

"Huh? Did they find out the truth?" Jia stood up, running closer to the window, looking outside. However, she couldn't see anything.

"I doubt that's the case. They would've been more careful if that was it," Gabriel shook his head lightly. "Instead, it's more like they're planning to kill us because of the identity we used to get here."