Reaching the altar, Lyrica glanced back.
"Are you sure you wonât kill us after opening the gate?"
"Nope. Plus, you got her scent on you." The man shook his head while floating with his legs crossed.
"Whoâs scent?" Lyrica asked curiously.
"There was this white haired girl last time I tried to open a gate. However, since she teleported in front of me, I sneezed and almost killed her. I wanted to apologise but she ran away. If youâre related to her, then I can just follow you and apologise at a later date." The man shrugged as he pulled out a bottle.
Immediately recognising it to be the mana potion bottle that Shiro used in Asharia, she understood that he was probably stating the truth.
"In that case then whatâs the place known as the Beyond?" Lyrica asked.
"Iâm not sure, but my mother has told me that it is the place where mana originated from. Itâs a good place for dragons like us since weâll be able to get stronger just by being in the realm. Same goes for the young lass next to him." He pointed at Nitha who hid behind Asher in fear.
"Sheâll definitely level up a bunch in the Beyond. For beings like you lot though, there are monsters in there for you to hunt. There will be moments when youâll be able to enter the gate naturally but that only applies for monsters. Every monster you find in that realm will help you level up a bunch but the risk is just as great. Youâre not even tier 6 just yet so I can help since there wonât be much you can kill in there." The man explained as Lyrica furrowed her brows.
"Why are you going out of your way to make things favourable for us?"
"Well... if I help you that girl might forgive me since itâs rude to sneeze on people." The dragon coughed.
Hearing this, Lyrica blinked since this dragon didnât seem like a dragon. Rather, he was like a house pet that was upset since it did something bad.
"Oh right, I will have to warn you that most gates are one time things that will close after the first use. Itâll open again in the future but if you want to leave the beyond, youâll need to look for a different exit. The realm has been unstable after something that had happened a few months back so most gates remained closed for a long while. After we enter, it might be a long time before we can even leave." The dragon cautioned as Lyrica thought about it.
"Iâm fine with that since I want to get stronger anyways. Iâm not sure about everyone else though." She said, glancing back at the party.
"Weâll join you. We also need to get stronger after all. Thereâs been a few times that we couldnât help a few people since the enemy was simply too strong after all." Cadmi sighed since it left a bitter taste in her mouth.
How they had to watch and do nothing about the settlement being ruled by level 700 monsters, the humans that were turned to slaves and forced to work the rest of their life away.
By now, it was more common to see monsters than it was humans.
Seeing that everyone else was agreeing with Cadmiâs opinion, Lyrica nodded and looked at the supposed gate.
Blinking her eyes, she turned to the dragon.
"How do I even open this?" She asked curiously.
"Just place your hand on it and insert some mana. Since weâre in a group, all of us will be dragged to the Beyond."
Nodding her head, Lyrica placed her hand on the altar and inserted as much mana as she could.
Suddenly, a tier 7 magic circle appeared beneath them as the floor gave way to a portal.
Without being able to react, all of them were dragged through.
Once they were gone, the portal closed up and the altar shattered apart.
The mana in the area started to fade away as the gate was now gone.
###
Seeing that it was the dragon, Shiro couldnât help but widen her eyes in shock but relaxed after seeing the vow he made.
Considering how Lyrica was helping him, it was probably a vow to not harm her.
âSeems like theyâre going to the beyond. The gate is broken after their entry so I wonât be able to follow. But since they have the dragon guarding them, theyâll be safe.â Shiro sighed in relief and leaned back.
Suddenly, a portal opened as Attie could be seen coming back with Yin on his back.
"Weâre back mum. Big sis has just finished her evolution so sheâs a bit exhausted right now." Attie smiled softly as Yin lazily raised her hand.
Standing up, Shiro walked over and patted Yinâs head.
"Youâve worked hard. Go get some rest. There wonât be any new assignments for a week so take this time to do whatever you want."
Hearing this, Yin nodded and closed her eyes.
Watching Attie leave the command centre, Shiro sat back down.
Feeling her phone vibrate, she saw that it was Misu.
"Sup, this is Shiro speaking."
"This is Misu, Iâve finished most of my work so Iâm taking a break right now. Mind coming with me to my city so that we can deal with our previous agreement?" Misu asked as Shiro nodded her head.
"Sure. I was also going to ask you about that. I was thinking if I were to set up an anchor in your city, Iâll be able to convert it into a flying city as well. Make it so that the lightning queen wonât be able to launch and attack on your people."
"You can do that?" Misu asked in surprise.
"Yup. It depends on how big your city is though. Iâm not sure how much we can do with just two anchors but I came across a rather interesting crystal not too long ago that amplified mana. If we experiment with it a bit more it might help us solve this problem. But thatâs talk for the future, our goal is to revive everyone properly first right?" Shiro smiled.
"Mn, where do you want to meet up? Iâll send us to the city." Misu said as Shiro thought about it.
"Just come to the command centre. Nan Tian might need to come with us."
"Alright, Iâll be there in 10 minutes."
Ending the call, Shiro sighed.
"Busy busy, lots of things to do." She muttered as Nan Tian chuckled.
"Weâll have to work hard then. If it wasnât busy we might be bored out of our minds." He smiled as Shiro nodded.
"Thatâs true."
Resting for 10 minutes while enjoying some juice, Shiro heard a knock and knew that it was Misu and Esil.
"Come in." She called out with a smile.
Glancing towards the door, Shiro could see that Misu returned to her formal attire and so did Esil.
"Ready?" Misu asked with a small smile.
Nodding her head, Shiro waved her hand and her outfit changed to fit the occasion. Returning to her usual combat dress with silver armour, stockings and boots, Shiro adjusted her gloves and stood in front of Misu.
"Ready when you are."
Nodding her head, Misu made sure that all four of them were in range before activating a teleport circle that would send them to her city.
Shielding her eyes from the bright light, Shiro decided to add her own anchor point to this city so that she wouldnât have to go through this. Something her future self did.
"Weâre here. Weâre not at the main city yet since I want to deal with the smaller ones first. I have about 5 cities in total, four branches and one main." Misu explained while waving her hand with a small smile and the crowd that noticed them.
Noticing that Misu said she had five cities, Shiro understood why she seemed more serious and depressed in the future. After all, her future self teleported them to the main city, Haven of the Dead, so easily. Which probably means that the other cities were destroyed.
âIf she saw most of her subjects die then itâs no surprise that sheâll be depressed. I would probably feel the same though I wonât be as depressed as her. Iâll feel bad but thatâs about it.â Shiro thought to herself.
She had to admit that Misu definitely cared more about her subjects than she ever will.
Shaking her head, she watched as Misu called everyone to gather at the main square in 10 minutes.
Seeing everyone rush to spread this information, Shiro couldnât help but smile.
"You are well received." Shiro smiled as Misu nodded.
"Thatâs true. Youâll be the same once they realise what you can do for them." Misu replied as they walked towards the main square.
While this was happening, Shiro activated one of her skills and checked out their condition. Understanding that the reason as to why they were undead is because Misu was compensating for parts of their missing soul and giving them a container to hold that soul, Shiro understood what she needed to do.
After having her own soul healed, she somewhat understood what to do as it required divine energy. It may take a few attempts but that was fine.