The capital of the Kenyth Empire, Graypoint, was in the central position of the state, 1,000 kilometers from the coast in the east and the border with the Chutha Dynasty in the west.",

Graypoint was once an important city in the empire, not only because it was the seat of government, the home of the ancient imperial family. It was in a mountain range that was extremely rich in minerals, making it a stronghold for the state's blacksmiths.

Perhaps not coincidentally, the monsters and vampires had chosen this place as the headquarters of their operations within the Kenyth Empire.

About three days' journey from Redvein for a group like Vicente's, he and the 40 Redvein warriors would travel along the territory's abandoned roads to the old capital.

The information they had about the current state of the capital was vague and inaccurate, so the group wouldn't be able to say much about the capital for the next few days.

Vicente already knew everything the group needed to know about the area. For more information, simply completing their journey there and spying on the capital would give them more precise answers.

Since the group didn't want to get into any trouble on the way, so as not to alert the enemies to their plans, they wouldn't get involved in any confusion during those days.

Thus, the three days of monotonous travel would pass for the group, until their tension increased significantly as they spotted and dodged stronger and stronger opponents.

...

About 80 kilometers from where the ancient capital of the empire was supposed to be, Julian and Frank were standing next to Vicente at the top of a tree.

From this position, they could see dozens of kilometers from where they were, including the hill where the old Graypoint stood.

"The city is just ahead, Venerable Fuller. From now on, we won't be able to continue our journey as we have for the past few days." Frank said as he sensed several 5th stage creatures, from the low, mid and high levels, nearby ahead.

They had diverted and avoided a lot of trouble in the last few hours, but at the point they were at, he and Julian doubted they could keep it up much longer.

"If that's the case, stay here and wait for my signal. I'll continue my journey. You can act when I give the signal." Vicente said as he looked ahead, sensing there was even an Archmage in the city.

'Why would a Beginner Archmage be so far south of the continent?'

'Because of you, master.' Torne answered Vicente's question.

'If it is, then the vampires know about me and we can expect an attack from superior vampires from the peak of the 5th stage as soon as those damned parasites finish their seclusion.' Vicente guessed right.

'We have to finish our plans for the south of the continent before then and go on your next hunt.' Torne warned. 'Fortunately, vampires are slower in cultivation than magicians. We'll still have some time until then.'

'Hmm, I'll have to monitor that.' Vicente agreed with the old ghost.

"Anyway, be careful. I'll watch you for a while before I act." With these words, Vicente became transparent, his aura disappearing completely, even for the strongest of his group.

Seeing him disappear like that, Julian felt a shiver run down his spine, while the tension in the surrounding area increased.

"Everyone in position. Venerable Fuller has begun his mission." Frank warned his companions, making them twice as alert to their surroundings.

Vicente flew towards Graypoint, covering the tens of kilometers he had to cover, passing many 5th stage peak monsters on his way without being noticed.

Arriving 15 kilometers from the hill where the capital stood, he slowed down, counting the enemy numbers while using one of his skills to intercept the monsters' communications.

'There are at least 100 Paragon monsters around Graypoint. And 15 of them are high-level Paragons!' He clenched his fists, realizing how important this place must be to have so many powerful beings in a place like the Kenyth Empire.

'Either they're really afraid of you, or what's in this city is just too important for the vampires' plans.' Torne said to Vicente, while he couldn't help but agree with his master's concern.

As the two of them watched their surroundings, approaching the city more and more slowly so as not to attract attention, Vicente frowned when he noticed several strange messages.

'Julian's group's attempts to understand the situation in this city were not so inaccurate. There really is a production of artifacts and magical resources going on in this city!'

As he listened to the messages exchanged by the nearby monsters, he identified the names of minerals, special weapons for monsters, the production locations of some of these items, and the location of the Darkness Captives.

When he was only 5 kilometers away from the city, he could already feel the auras of each of the magicians enslaved by the monsters, a total of an incredible 30,000 individuals!

Vicente expected to find a few hundred human slaves, but he came across a place where there were more magicians than monsters!

'These people are under slavery pacts. Only by killing their masters can they regain their freedom.' Torne felt the same as his master had already noticed.

But as Torne's voice echoed in his mind, Vicente sensed vampires in the city, counting 96 creatures of the race and 324 inferior vampires.

Among the inferior vampires, there were several Low and Mid-level Paragons. However, among the superior vampires, 8 were Sky Sovereigns, 39 were Earth Sovereigns, and all the rest were individuals with High-level Mage cultivation.

The number of monsters in the city was around 3,000 creatures, but only the 15 High-level Paragons and the single Beginner Archmage caught Vicente's eye.

'This place is a monster headquarters! There are so many of them they could terrorize the entire empire!'

But why haven't they done so yet?' Vicente wondered as he entered the partially destroyed city where the few over 33,000 current inhabitants lived.