At last, Michael got to know two out of the remaining Lionhearts, who had been given a secret mission by Senator Keltos.
He knew where they worked, and what kind of cruel tasks they had given the six Adventurer teams in the past.
The six Adventurer teams had been formed by the two Lionhearts, who were twin brothers. They called themselves Twin Lions and earned most of their fortune by managing several mercenary groups in other Border Cities, and the six Adventurer teams in Xiltra.
The Twin Lions ordered the attack on the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer group because they had a big misconception. They believed that the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team worked for one of Senator Keltos' competitors and that the Forest Elves had been ordered to kill the Lionheart Leader and his Adventurer group, alongwith the Minotaur group.
Michael got to know a lot more, but the most important information was that he found the Twin Lions – and that they were his enemies.
Just like the Lionheart Leader of the big Adventurer group, they would rather regain their rights as Lords, and use their territory in the Untamed Jungle to fulfill Senator Keltos' secret mission, than live their life as Adventurers.
The Twin Lions were interested in the Lord within the Untamed Jungle. They wanted to find Michael and kill him. Unfortunately, he wouldn't allow that to happen – especially not now when he knew everything!
Now that he had completed the extraction, Michael stored 26 Artifacts inside his War Rune. Most of the six Adventurer teams had at least one Tier-1 Artifact, and Michael was fortunate enough to extract 26 Tier-1 Artifacts out of 40+ Adventurer corpses.
They could be sold for a small fortune in Xiltra, but Michael had a better idea. But he put that aside for the time being.
He left the warehouse and returned to the center of the clearing. The Forest Elves were already seated near the open mall – if one could call it such–, which Michael and his people had constructed to ensure that everyone could eat together. Hundreds of people could eat there at the same time.
Tiara, Blaire and a few other people were seated around the Forest Elves. They tried to make the Forest Elves feel more comfortable – which worked more or less.
Lilica was the only one who seemed a little bit uncomfortable. Her eyes were restlessly scanning the surroundings, and she jumped up from her seat when she found him.
In the past few hours, Lilica had received enough time to contemplate. And she had a lot to think about for sure.
At the end of the day, she came to a conclusion; she had to forfeit her pride and do something she didn't really want to do.
Over the past few years, Lilica had meticulously collected various detailed pieces of information about the Zentika Empire, the surrounding regions, the other Empires and Kingdoms adjacent to the Zentika Empire, and so on.
Initially, Lilica wanted to use these detailed pieces of information for her own future. Once everyone in the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team advanced to Tier-3 and they accumulated enough wealth, connections, and knowledge, she wanted to create her own territory.
Unfortunately, she didn't have the means to create a territory and reclaim her rights as a Lord, just like that. To create a territory, she would have to receive her Elder's guidance and resources. After all, she was not wealthy and knowledgeable enough to do so on her own.
However, the Elder's guidance and resources wouldn't be given to her without a reasonable demonstration of her power and preparations. She had to be fully prepared and strong enough to ensure that she wouldn't lose her territory again.
Lilica never expected that her carefully constructed plans would fail like this. They shattered into countless pieces, and she didn't even know how, or why.
As bitter as it may be, Lilica chose to share some of the information she had collected over the past few years with Michael. That way, she could repay Michael's favor, and maybe elevate her position and think of a way to keep working toward her plan's success – somehow.
Lilica approached Michael and they went on a long walk to have a deep discussion. More than two hours passed before they finally returned.
There was no change in Michael's expression. He looked nonchalant as if Lilica's information hadn't been exceptionally helpful. However, the opposite was the case. Michael learned a lot, and he was quite shocked, especially about the last point she mentioned before they returned.
"During my research, I found information about a Lord Rift in the Zentika Empire that opens every few decades. It is a rift that can only be entered by Lords. According to the information I procured, the Will of the Origin Expanse created it long before the Zentika Empire was created, and it is one of the reasons the Zentika Empire was able to flourish and stay strong against the enemies surrounding it.
In fact, the Lord Rift is also one of the reasons the Zentika Empire accepts Lords despite being a Native Empire!"
When Lilica told him about the Lord Rift, he grew curious. However, he wouldn't enter the deeper parts of the Zentika Empire just because he obtained some information about a Lord Rift.
Rifts were special creations of the Origin Expanse. They lead to a separate realm where heavenly treasures form. A Lord Rift was a rift specialized for Lords. The loot they could find inside ranged from Summoning Cores to Lord Seals, and even included Soultrait Symbols.
Even Soultraits could be found in Lord Rifts. These Rifts were one of the places in which the strongest of mankind found a way to procure a second Soultrait artificially!
Soultrait Symbols were the least valuable for Michael. He was more interested in Summoning Cores, and other treasures. Nonetheless, it was not worth entering the depth of the Zentika Empire for the Lord Rift, not as long as he didn't have more information about them.
'I can think about it when the Lord Rift opens, but not right now,' Michael told himself as he picked up a big-sized plate to eat something.
Lilica looked at him from the side and frowned deeply.
Either Michael was too good at keeping a straight face, or her high value information was worthless to Michael.
One way or another, Lilica was frustrated. Nothing seemed to go according to her plans.
After Michael sat down next to Lilica and the other Forest Elves, he considered something before he retrieved a few pieces of paper. The papers were the documents which he had extracted out of the War Rune of the aggressive Lionheart, who had worked together with the Minotaur's team.
Michael figured that Lilica was up to something, but he didn't want it to work. Thus, he handed her the documents. Afterward, his focus turned to the highly nutritious meal, and he inhaled the delicious aroma wafting through the air.
While Michael went back to the cooks for seconds, Lilica and the other Forest Elves began to understand how cruel reality was.
Their dreams and plans had been smashed to the ground and bulldozed repetitively as realization dawned upon them.
The documents in their hands were hard proof, depriving them of their last ray of hope.
"A Senator is after us?" Lilica mumbled in shock as she put the pieces together.
All of the Forest Elves turned deathly pale, and their youngest blurted out what all of them were thinking.
"We have nowhere left to go in the Zentika Empire…"
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