After arriving at their current camp a few days ago, Vicente's group ran into a problem: 5th stage vampires were positioned between their path and the interior of Majestic Treefrog Grove!",

Contrary to what everyone thought, not all the 5th stage superior vampires were in seclusion. Some of them were fully aware of the situation on the continent, and it was only because they had bigger goals that they didn't move against threats similar to Vicente's.

From what Vicente and his allies had discovered over the past few days by spying on the enemy's conversations, besides the superior vampires around the Majestic Treefrog Grove, there were also 5th stage vampires in The Ivory Desert.

The Ivory Desert was where the headquarters of the continent's oldest vampire clans were, where the strongest of the coalition that caused chaos by making the sacrifice that started the current disaster were reclusive.

How could vampires arrogantly go into seclusion without leaving men to protect them?

Using his ability, Vicente overheard dialogues that spoke of this and made his group aware of this reality they had ignored.

While The Ivory Desert was home to the vampire leaders, the Majestic Treefrog Grove was home to those who had the most potential to disrupt the vampires' plans.

They had made agreements with the elves and dragons to prevent those races from getting in their way, but even so, the vampires didn't mess around. Demien had placed powerful men around this area to prevent beings from outside the Majestic Treefrog Grove from coming into contact with the beings within!

This had been the case since the beginning of the disaster, between four and five years ago.

That's why Vicente's group was standing still, watching the enemies, at least for now.

...

While Qiang was doing his observation workhis sharp eyes scanning the terrain with practiced precisionthe rest of the group settled into their small camp nestled in the mountainside.

Elmo stood guard, his gaze sweeping over the shadowed forest surrounding their camp. Bonfi and the werewolf lay curled nearby, their breaths deep and even in the peculiar manner of their kind's rest.

At the edge of a small cave, Vicente, Ayden, Paul, Jakob, and Victor huddled around a modest fire, its flickering light casting long shadows against the rocky walls. They ate in silence, the tension palpable as they digested their food.

Victor, having just returned from his two-week reconnaissance mission, broke the silence.

"There are a total of 56 Archmages around the Majestic Treefrog Grove and 12 5th stage superior vampires. Of those twelve, eight are Low-level, three are Mid-level, and one is a High-level Paragon." His voice was low, the weight of his words pressing on everyone.

Vicente had used his electromagnetic abilities several times to get close and eavesdrop on enemy conversations. He wasn't sure of the enemy's numbers, but from the conversations he had overheard, the numbers Victor had given made sense.

"How many of them are Beginner Archmages?" Ayden asked.

Victor sighed, running a hand through his hair. "16. The majority are Intermediate Archmages39 in total."

Jakob clenched his fists, his knuckles white. "Is there really an Advanced Archmage in the area?"

Advanced Archmages were extremely difficult to find, even in the north of the continent!

The 6th stage had a total of five sub-levels, but the number of creatures capable of reaching the last part of it could be counted on the fingers of one hand!

There were certainly Advanced Archmages all over the continent, but Master Archmages or Archons, there might or might not be beings with such high cultivation in those areas.

But even if there were reports of Advanced Archmages here and there, there shouldn't be over 20 such beings on the entire continent.

One of them standing in their way was something extreme, an immense danger, but also a sign of how strong the vampire group was.

Victor nodded gravely. "Yes, one among them has reached the middle of the 6th stage."

The group fell silent, the crackle of the fire the only sound in the cavernous space. An Advanced Archmage was a rare and formidable foe, a testament to the strength of the vampire faction they faced.

Vicente's voice broke the heavy silence. "Where is he?"

"He is at the weakest point of the border, about 40 kilometers south of where we are. As for the weakest of the Archmages, they are in a hard-to-pass position to the north, 210 kilometers from us." Victor informed them, already imagining the group would want to know where they had the best chance of getting through.

"The 12 superior vampires are well distributed around the area and at this point, 210 kilometers from us, the closest vampire is responsible for a 25 kilometer border strip. But, as I said, this position is the most difficult to pass through, disregarding enemy forces."

"What's there?" Elmo asked.

Although he kept an eye on the surroundings, he and Qiang listened to the conversation of the group of five humans.

Victor leaned forward, his expression grave. "This border area gives direct access to the dragons' territory. I haven't ventured deeper, but from what I can sense, there are several dragon traps."

"Dragon traps?" Paul's eyes widened.

Everyone knew about the dragons' legendary magical abilities and the near-impossible challenge of countering them.

Dragons were not only famous for their extreme power, for being one of the oldest races on the continent, for their vitality and talent, but also for their luck and greed.

Even the simplest dragon, if it survived the trials and tribulations along the way, would amass a fortune that would make even the ruling families of the continent's great states envious!

Over the millennia, dragons had learned to protect their treasures and had also become known for their hard-to-beat traps, capable of protecting any territory well.

The dragons trusted their traps so much that there was no one from the tribe to monitor the borders around their territory!

"That's a problem." Jacob commented in a pessimistic tone. "If we try to enter the area through this side, we'll probably be able to escape the coalition of vampires and monsters, but we'll face dangers that are just as deadly to us as if we were facing the Advanced Archmage."

"There's also a positive side. This way, we can easily get past the monsters and be sure that none of them will come after us," Vicente said, feeling that they should take a little risk and go this dangerous way.

All four humans sitting next to him looked at him while Elmo thought about the possibilities ahead, considering what they knew.

Qiang said to them. "I have a suggestion that might help solve the problem."