Arriving at the spot where its monster was composed of several different skeletons and zombie parts, the 4th stage lich moved its head from side to side, searching for Vicente's clues.

It couldn't express its frustration or anger at not finding its target there since there was no flesh on its face. But its aura was enough to show it.

"Fuck!! Damned human!" It shouted as its power made the ghosts in the area feel like their spirit bodies wanted to disappear.

The monstrous giant continued ravaging the surrounding properties, trying to find where Vicente might be hiding.

But after 10 seconds of standing there in frustration, the lich moved on, leaving its creature to deteriorate. That wasn't a creation but a spell that would lose its effect when deprived of mana.

As the monstrous giant tore itself apart, the 4th stage lich slowly began to scan its surroundings, thinking that Vicente might be hiding nearby.

Since it had moved to this place, it would be a waste of its movement not to search for its target for at least a few moments.

'Where is this wretch?' It asked, imagining the problems it would have with Vicente if this young man were allowed to grow up more in this city.

It was unlikely that this would happen since Vicente was already at the peak of the 3rd stage, and if he advanced one level, he would be expelled from the city due to the local laws made by the creator of these ruins. But Vicente could improve his strength to a certain degree and kill someone like this lich before leaving The Skull City.

That was enough to worry this creature!

'If I don't find him in the next 15 minutes, I will order all the liches and zombies in the city to collect the valuable items and take them underground. If he wants anything, he'll have to come to me!'

The underground of The Skull City was home to the local negative creatures and many ancient traps and curses.

It would be much harder for anyone to succeed in this city underground than on the surface!

With that in mind, this magical being would soon give up its search for Vicente and pass on its orders to the liches and zombies of its city.

...

Meanwhile, Vicente was standing in a room of a small estate not far from where the 4th stage lich had left.

He was sitting in a lotus position on a cultivation pillow, feeling the medicinal effects of a resource he had swallowed minutes ago to help Torne.

Torne was the one absorbing all the mana and elemental power from that resource, so Vicente didn't have to do anything but sit still.

Since Torne wasn't as powerful as Vicente's second Magic Gem, it would take him much longer to absorb what Vice's magical form had taken earlier to absorb most of the power from the pill that had awakened him.

Vicente would have to stand there for four to six hours to finish absorbing it, so he concentrated on controlling his powers and keeping himself hidden for the moment.

Luckily, he had half a dozen ghosts under his control that he could use from where he was without attracting attention!

That was exactly what he was doing now.

'I will use this opportunity to make these ghosts collect as many spatial rings as they can find on their way.' He thought to himself, looking at the belongings of the many adventurers who had entered The Skull City over the millennia.

With so many more people entering this place than leaving it, the wealth accumulated there must have grown throughout history.

'In the meantime, I'll have one of them look for signs of Layla.'

He hadn't forgotten about his traveling companion, whom he hadn't seen for about an hour.

...

Meanwhile, in a more central part of the city, in the local underground, two women were hiding in a small property in the underground part of the city, spying on the street ahead of them through the cracks in a door.

"Something's going on." The green-haired woman commented. "The underground passageways are getting busier. Something seems to be bringing the liches and zombies from the surface here."

Layla noticed this and immediately thought of Vicente. "This must have something to do with my companion. When I separated from him, he stayed behind to fight two Sovereigns."

"Sovereigns?" Bella stopped watching from the doorway and stared at Layla in shock.

"You didn't know?" Layla asked in surprise. "From what my companion and I saw, there are two Earth Sovereigns here."

"Shit! How could that be? So we had no chance to survive all this time?" Bella felt desperate. "But that can't be right. If there are Sovereigns here, how did several Mages manage to escape from this area in the past?"

"Well, I can think of two explanations." Layla closed her eyes and sighed. "The first and least likely is that the survivors of this city are just like my companion, people capable of fighting above their level.

The second possibility is that the local Sovereigns won't move unless these people threaten their existence or their forces in the city. So, at most, ordinary people like us would have to deal with the masses of 2nd and 3rd stage monsters."

The logic behind this second possibility was simple. The damage that Layla and Bella could do to The Skull City's forces was limited. But Vicente could literally destroy the entire city if he desired to stay there long enough!

The two Earth Sovereigns understood this and naturally felt that they had to take care of such an enemy.

"Even if that second possibility is the case, how will we save my companion if there are more monsters in the way?" Bella asked, still sad. "We had a lot of trouble getting to where we are now when the monster movement in this area was much less. But the way it is now... I'm afraid we'll get caught."

Layla clenched her fists and said. "We have three alternatives in front of us."

"What alternatives?"

"First, your companion won't survive, so we should leave him since we won't be able to reach him without losing our lives," Layla said coldly. "By the time my companion and I reached the city, your companion should have been seriously injured. But more than an hour has passed since then... He could be dead by now, and we could be risking ourselves for nothing."

Bella clenched her fists but listened to Layla's other two alternatives.

"But if you want to go through with it, we can consider the second and third alternatives. We can withdraw for now and wait for my companion. He's powerful and can handle the worst threats in this place. If he agrees, we can search for your friend together.

As for the last alternative, it would depend on my progress. I'm not very far from becoming a High-level Mage."