899 Arriving in the Capital

While Lauren was being crowned in Chutha Cynasty, Nina was arriving in the kingdom's capital.

Next to her, Killian had a cheerful look on his face, grinning from ear to ear as he saw the fences of his city getting closer to his group's train.

The Fuller girl also had a satisfied look, eager to fight on higher levels than those she had been involved with.

Having recently reached the beginning of 4th stage and absorbed the pentagram left by Vicente, Nina was stronger than ever.

Looking forward to the battles to come, with the chance to protect her brother's domains more effectively, Nina saw Grandis as a chance to perform at an even higher level.

'Here I'll be able to take my skills to the next level.'

She looked out the window to her right and watched as the group left the open terrain of the kingdom behind and entered Grandis' protected area.

As the vehicles slowed and approached the built-up area of the large city ahead, Nina's battalion prepared for the approaching landing.

When the trains stopped at the Grandis station, the first group to disembark from the large train was Nina's, and she left the train to find Jasmine and King Seidel himself waiting for her at the disembarkation station.

"Nina..." The king smiled as he gave her a slight nod, happy to see this girl looking so good.

"Welcome to the capital of the kingdom. I hope your group's journey was uneventful, young lady." Jasmine smiled while dressed in black robes, the robes of the Cataclysm Order, the force she was now a part of as a priestess.

"The journey was uneventful. We didn't have time to have any fun." Nina smiled as she stopped in front of Jasmine, before looking at the king and making a gesture of greeting to her father-in-law.

"You are strong, Nina. Soon you and this brat will overtake me, haha." The king clapped one of his hands on his youngest son's shoulder, pleased with the speed of Killian's progress.

Killian's cultivation wasn't that fast, but with the opportunities he'd had over the past few years, he was currently a Mid-level Mage, with the prospect of becoming a Sovereign in a few years.

For the king, a man stuck at the end of the 4th stage, this was a very good thing, a chance that one day his family would have a Paragon.

"How's the family? How's Annie?" Jasmine asked, interested in the Fuller family's core's well-being.

"Fine, I'd say." Nina smiled. "She misses Vicente a lot, but she's getting stronger. She'll be four soon and will start her studies at a magical academy."

"That's good... But speaking of Vicente, is there any news of him?" The king asked, his face becoming much deeper and more serious.

Nina sighed and said, "the last news from him was a year ago. We haven't heard from him since."

About a year ago, Vicente had gone deeper into the far northern areas of the continent, where it was much harder for the state's messengers to reach. So none of them were surprised or pessimistic about the lack of signs of Vice during those months.

Still, they couldn't help but regret that they knew so little about the current situation of their greatest hope in the fight against vampires.

"According to our estimates, the vampires must have started to come out of hiding by now. So he must have a lot of problems right now," Killian commented in a deep, worried tone.

"But everything should be fine." Nina sighed as she tried to look on the bright side. "The last few months have been peaceful for the south. Hardly any new 6th stage monsters have entered the region, and the flow of 5th stage monsters has decreased. With the strengthening of our forces, it is likely we will be able to put up a better resistance even if he returns."

Jasmine and the king said nothing, aware Nina's primary goal was to make the kingdom safe for Annie, but also capable of welcoming Vicente back one day, even if it was a danger to the state.

They didn't believe Vicente would return before solving the continent's current problems, considering how strong the enemies were. But they didn't want to discuss such a delicate matter with her now.

"Anyway, let's leave this place and go home. You must be tired from your journey, right?" The king suggested as he nodded toward the station exit.

Nina's group followed behind the king's group and soon left Grandis station, boarding the royal family's carriages and heading for the palace in the city center.

Along the way, Nina couldn't help but notice the movement in the streets of Grandis, a city that had regained much of its former glory after the many victories of recent years. The city still didn't have the atmosphere it had when Nina had lived here, but it no longer seemed like a city terrified and haunted by monsters.

The people on the streets seemed to have ordinary problems on their minds instead of the constant threat of monsters. Almost everyone had something to do; work, discipline, study, cultivation, etc. Trade was brisk, food was for sale, positive signs that this city was breathing again.

But Grandis was not doing as well as the metal cities of Vicente's domains. Those cities were currently the best places to live in the kingdom, or even the southern region, with good growing conditions, opportunities, and most importantly, Paragons to protect them.

While Vicente was traveling south, over 20 new Paragons had appeared in the Seidel Kingdom. Among the new 5th stage specialists, Linathe King's daughter and Vicente's wifeand Layla had reached the level of newly promoted Paragons.

Nova wasn't far behind, as were Casey and several key members of the Fuller family.

But Grandis also had a Paragon in the city, one of the Fuller family's beasts, placed there by Lauren during a visit months ago.

When they entered the royal palace, Nina went to Killian's quarters, where she planned to rest for two days. After that, it would be time for her to return to battle, this time on a battlefield much more complicated than the ones she had experienced in the past months!