Floating in space, Shiro furrowed her brows as she sensed that there was a battle breaking out near Asharia.
"What the hellās happening, the relic shouldnāt be appearing for another hour or so." Shiro muttered quietly.
"Nan Tian, take over for me. Iām going back to check up on something." Shiro called out but Nan Tian shook his head.
"Is it not better that I go have a look? Save your energy for this weapon since without you we wonāt be able to make it." Nan Tian replied as Shiro furrowed her brows before nodding.
"Alright, Iāll open a portal for you. Asharia canāt see anything right now but itās detecting spikes of mana nearby. Once you spot anything, come back and tell me what happened." Shiro said as Nan Tian nodded his head.
Watching the portal open in front of him, he walked through it and landed on the roof of the tower located in the centre of the city.
Pulling out his phone, he sent a message to the rest of the party.
"Letās see... thatās everyone. Do you lot know whatās been going on?" Nan Tian asked as everyone had teleported to the command centre using Shiroās teleport modules.
"Not yet. Thereās been a few signs of combat but we werenāt able to see anything either. Iām afraid that if we were to go out now the location of Asharia might be compromised." Lyrica replied as Nan Tian furrowed his brows.
"Thatās true. In that case Iāll teleport Asharia away first. It wonāt be too far away but far enough so that it wonāt be dragging in combat. Once thatās done, I want Chen Yu to come with me. Weāll be scouting things out since heās proficient in stealth."
"What about the rest of us?" Silvia asked.
"Youāre on stand by for now since our enemies are potentially Queens." Nan Tian replied.
"Understood."
"Good, Chen Yu, come with me." Nan Tian said as Chen Yu flickered beside him.
Opening up a hologram in front of him, Nan Tian started to teleport the city roughly half a dayās journey from this spot before dashing into the forest with Chen Yu.
Activating one of his skills, Chen Yu was able to include Nan Tian into his stealth.
Looking at the panic stricken faces of the monsters surrounding this place, Nan Tian had a bad feeling.
*BANG!!!!
Hearing an explosion in the distance, the two looked at each other and nodded.
Slowing down their pace, Nan Tian crouched out a branch and wanted to peak out when a presence appeared behind them.
"I suggest you donāt look at the one causing this damage since sheās quite sensitive to people looking at her."
Hearing a voice behind them, Chen Yu immediately flickered from his spot and pulled out a dagger while Nan Tian summoned his sword.
"Ah donāt be hostile, Iām actually a big fan. Youāre the one who posted the video of that Queen reviving everyone with her spell arenāt you?" The woman raised her hands as her eyes flickered with interest.
Furrowing his brows, Nan Tian looked at the woman in front of him.
She had long black hair and green eyes along with a black dress.
"Are you perhaps Misu, the Undead Queen?" He asked since he remembered Shiro telling him about her and how they met in the future. She was one of the few āgoodā Queens in this era.
"Oh? You know of me?" Misu tilted her head as Nan Tian nodded.
"Weāve heard a few rumours." Nan Tian smiled, dismissing his sword as Chen Yu did the same.
"If you donāt mind can you tell us what happened?" Nan Tian asked as Misu nodded her head.
"Of course. Letās leave this place first since I donāt know if that crazy Empress will be able to spot us." Misu nodded.
"Follow me, Iāll take you to our temporary camp."
Looking at each other, Nan Tian and Chen Yu nodded their heads and followed after her.
###
"Right then, what do you want to know?" Misu asked with a smile.
She was currently sitting on a boulder since their camp was in a cave. Looking at the runes around the place, Nan Tian couldnāt help but feel as though they were a bit familiar but set it aside for now.
"What happened? We were busy at the time so we didnāt see anything. All we know is that a fight has broken out." Nan Tian replied.
"Mn, well it seems like the Dragon Empress has gotten a little restless and decided to fight the Queens before the relic appears. If anything, Iād say itās good for us. Though if you donāt mind me asking, whatās Shiroās goal in looking for this relic?" MIsu asked.
"Whatās your goal for coming here when a rainbow relic is spawning?" Nan Tian smiled, not telling her about their goals just yet.
"Me? Well I was just here to look for Shiro. I want to make an alliance with her. I think sheās trustworthy from the things Iāve seen so far. If youāre doubtful I can make a vow right now and prove it to you." Misu smiled as Nan Tian shook his head.
"No itās fine. Weāre not exactly going for the relic anymore."
"Oh? Did something happen?" Misu asked. Since they werenāt interested, they must have gotten more information about this relic.
"Yes, the relic is a danger to everyone so our goal is to destroy it."
"Destroy it? Can you even destroy something as powerful as a rainbow relic?" Misu raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"Youāll see. But you really arenāt bothered about the relic are you?" Nan Tian chuckled.
"Nope. Honestly this might be the best outcome. The power of a rainbow relic would throw the balance in disarray. If a Queen obtains this, sheāll become a target and the others will team up to kill them. Once she is killed, the cycle repeats so it might be best that a relic like this is destroyed." Misu shook her head.
"Mn, well this is how you can contact me. I need to report this information back to Shiro. As for the current fight, I think weāll watch for a bit longer. Making ourselves known will be quite dangerous." Nan Tian smiled as Misu nodded her head.
Watching the two leave, she turned towards her subordinate.
"Why so tense? She was just observing us." Misu smiled.
During that entire conversation, they could feel the gaze of a powerful Queen watching them and she could guess that it was probably Shiro since it only appeared after they made themselves known. Plus, this cave was supposed to filter out gazes like that unless they have matching runes so it proved that Shiro knew the runes from her world.
It was strange but Misu guessed that she probably found something in a dungeon.
"Anyways, letās survey the area some more. Iām surprised that we found Shiroās companions so soon. Hopefully weāll be able to see her in person later." Misu smiled.
###
"Keep an eye on the city with everyone else, Iāll go to Shiro and tell her about whatās happening." Nan Tian said before opening a portal back to space.
Activating the suit once more, he stepped through the portal.
Seeing Shiro creating the weapon with sweat dripping from her face, Nan Tian was about to say something when Shiro opened her mouth.
"I saw what happened. I must say, Iām surprised that Misu is a fan of me. In the future I saw, we were nothing but business partners with me acting as the weapons dealer." Shiro said as Nan Tian nodded.
"With her having no interest in the relic, thatās one less Queen for us to worry about. The main problem is the Dragon Empress." Nan Tian frowned.
"Mn, I know. The Ice Queen warned me about her in the past. Unless we can distract her when I fire my weapon, I think sheāll try to block most of the power or perhaps even absorb it if she has a skill with a similar nature. Regardless, I want to make sure nothing blocks this weapon when it fires." Shiro sighed.
"If you want, when you fire the weapon, I can enter combat for a short while and stop her from leaving."
"Thatās quite dangerous. I was injured to this extent because I underestimated a subordinate. Your enemy is an Empress, Iām afraid that even if I gave you some power, itāll be useless. Plus, Iām working on this weapon too." Shiro frowned.
"Donāt worry, I wonāt fight if I donāt have to. Sheās currently fighting other Queens so Iām hoping that if I do have to fight her, sheāll be severely weakened." Nan Tian replied as Shiro thought about it for a moment before nodding.
"True. Setting that aside for now, help me with this component, itās a bit hard to balance out."
"Sure."
###
Meanwhile, there was a lone figure in the void. A small portal of sorts was slowly opening but the speed was slow.
Looking through the portal, it could see the Queens fighting one another as it narrowed its eyes and smiled.