"Are you sure that we're strong enough to take this down?" Zira asked, her attention lingering on the Elemental Empress.

Zeroa levitated next to the young Valyr, a giggle escaping her lips. The vast grassland of the savannah stretched out as far as one could see, highlighting the small settlement that towered in the middle of nowhere.

The settlement was the Elemental Empress' target. It wasn't well protected given the guards' lackluster attitude, and they didn't have an active Orb of Hostility either, otherwise, Zeroa and the Valyr would have been noticed a long time ago. However, the deciding factor that determined Zeroa's confidence to conquer the small settlement was that she couldn't sense any spatial restrictions.

There was no spatial lock in the settlement.

To be more precise, there was probably a device that could lock spatial movements in the surroundings, but it was probably deactivated because these devices were too expensive to maintain. Even an Advanced Orb of Hostility was extremely expensive to maintain all day. It consumed a considerable amount of energy within Monster Cores and Energy Stones.

In the first place, most territories with multiple settlements cannot afford to use Orbs of Hostility, spatial locks, and the like for a prolonged period. In fact, even one active spatial lock would drain the funds of most territories if activated every day throughout the year.

Most Lords didn't have the means to 'waste' their scarce resources on a spatial lock, especially not in small settlements that were located in a safe environment. The small settlement targeted by the Elemental Empress was in the middle of a territory without any threats in the surrounding area. There were no powerful monsters, and the distance to the nearest border was also far. The borders were not dangerous either since the adjacent territories belonged to allies. Allies rallied together to fight against their soon-to-be enemies in the Council of Xylon.

Spatial locks would only be activated in emergencies and with immediate danger in the surroundings, not in a peaceful place.

"I'm in," One of the Valyr said, patting Zira's shoulder.

"These Huglaiv bastards killed my sister. I will burn them to death!!"

Zeroa's flames flickered brightly. She was ready to rumble and more than willing to jump into action right away. However, she calmed down a little bit for a moment to relay a message to the Valyrs by drawing letters into the air using her mythical flames.

[Focus Soldiers, Awakened, Treasures. Collect all!]

Zeroa was not that good with letters. She could barely speak in the universal language with Michael. Unfortunately, her mastery of Whispering Energy was not that great yet. Zeroa had to talk with the Valyrs using letters instead. She didn't want to accidentally harm them by executing Whispering Energy wrongly, after all.

"Yes. We will focus on their combatants and the Awakened. Their corpses will be collected as well. We didn't forget what Michael told us," Zira said.

She was not sure why Michael needed their corpses, but the reason didn't matter. Zira did what she was told to do.

[Ready?]

Zira looked at the other Valyrs upon seeing the azure flames flickering in front of her. Her comrades-in-arms were more than just ready. Their eyes burned in fury, blazing flames coating their bodies.

"I think so," She smiled lightly, manifesting her leather armor set and two Dagger Artifacts.

Zeroa didn't waste anymore time. She conjured a portal and gestured to the Valyrs to get moving.

Zira was the first to act. She took a deep breath and pushed forth, entering the portal right away. Upon emerging on the other side of the portal, Zira was greeted by an empty room. She looked left and right but didn't see anyone nearby. Her senses didn't pick up the energy fluctuations of any living beings nearby. All she sensed was a small treasure trove of magical devices.

There was an Advanced Orb of Hostility deactivated obviously and a few more gadgets that ought to protect the settlement from invaders. However, they were all deactivated due to their enormous power consumption. Zira considered crushing them for a moment but she decided against it.

"All of this can be considered valuable," She murmured, storing the space lock, the Orb of Hostility, and everything else of value inside her War Rune's storage.

The Valyrs, who had also emerged from the space portal, glanced at her for a moment, but they didn't say anything. They guarded the door and waited patiently until everyone was present.

The Elemental Empress was the last to emerge. Her power was a bit drained from teleporting everyone deep into the center of the small settlement, but she had enough reserves to fight.

One of the stronger Valyr used his Soultrait, Charge, to barge through the metal door. The commotion caused by that stunt was enormous, but nobody appeared in the hallway for several seconds. It was only after ten seconds that two sleepy guards emerged in the hallway. They rubbed their eyes and glanced at the Valyrs in disinterest until they realized that they were not in a dream.

Their eyes widened and they were about to sound the alarm when Zira appeared in front of them. She flicked her wrists in a simple motion and inflicted a deep gash in the two guards' necks. The Huglaiv's eyes widened and they tried to scream for help and warn their people, but it was already too late. Their bodies slumped to the ground, a puddle of blood forming underneath them.

Zira reached out for their corpses, coated their bodies in a layer of energy, and stored them away. Zeroa brushed past Zira and discovered two more Huglaiv in the room the other guards had emerged from. She conjured two arrows with her mythical flames and hurled them toward the targets. The Huglaiv tried to react in time, but the arrows burned a hole into their chest long before they could sound the alarm.

The Elemental Empress continued to proceed through the hallway. She used her high perception to scan the surroundings for enemies and released blazing azure arrows through the doors. The Huglaiv, who'd wanted to take Zeroa and the Valyr by surprise to kill them with one strike, were surprised and killed instead.

Zira and the other Valyr followed Zeroa, but they couldn't help but be surprised about the Elemental Empress' extraordinary fire affinity. Mythical Flames were incredibly hard to control. They were too powerful to be contained by most Valyr.

Only two Valyrs managed to cultivate their flames into mythical flames without burning to death. It was no wonder that those two Valyr were the strongest existences in the Valyr race's history. One was the founder of the first Valyrian Empire, whereas the other one was known as the Conqueror for expanding the Valyrian Empire to several times its former size.

The Elemental Empress' control of the mythical flame was not yet perfect, but she was on the right path.

It didn't take long before the guards in the building had been eliminated. They stepped outside and entered a large plaza where hundreds of Huglaiv moved around busily. Zira hesitated for a moment, but the others didn't share her hesitation.

The Valyrs conjured several head-sized fireballs and lobbed them through the plaza. The fireballs weren't aimed at the civilians, but they crashed into the surrounding structures, setting the buildings on fire.

Explosions resounded through the surroundings, and buildings collapsed. Screams of terror and desperation followed suit.

The residents ran for their lives. They pushed each other aside to escape the dangers as fast as possible. Nobody paid attention to their kin. It was almost like they never cared for each other. The young and old were shoved aside and left to fend for themselves. It was a miserable sight that unfolded in front of the Valyrs. But, of course, they didn't care.

Their eyes were overflowing with fury and they could barely contain themselves from burning the residents to cinder. Some of them would have done that if they weren't in a rush. They had to strike as hard as possible as quickly as possible if they wanted to conquer the settlement, kill all guards and Awakened, and take all treasures before someone could send reinforcement to deal with them.

Zeroa was the first to move. She detected a large group of guards led by two Awakened. They rushed over in a hurry and triggered their Soultraits upon reaching the plaza. However, before they could do anything grand, hundreds of fireballs covered the sky in front of them.

The searing hot downpour of fireballs ensued, burning the guards and awakened alive.

Only now did the Regional War against the Council of Xylon begin for real.