"Finally, we've finished our duty in this city." Erica sighed in relief as soon as she closed the door to her shared room with Shana. "I want to return and see Zion soon." "Right." Shana nodded. She was still quite worried, knowing their lover had exhausted himself too much when he created the rings that were now on their fingers. As much as Shana felt very happy that Zion poured his feelings into creating the rings, she was still a little upset with how he disregarded his health in the process. Erica, who had no idea what the young lady was thinking, tapped a few buttons on her communicator. A few seconds later, a projection appeared, showing Zion eating cereal that Sherry was spoonfeeding him. "Did you finish your work?" Thirteen asked after he finished chewing the food inside his mouth. "Yes," Erica replied. "We're heading to the next city after lunch. How are you, Darling?" "… Can you not call me darling?" Thirteen replied. "You're giving me goosebumps, Erica." The Sorceress chuckled because the look on Zion's face after she called him darling was priceless. "You can't move your body?" Shana noticed the incline of his bed and figured it might be because Zion couldn't sit up on his own. "Yes," Thirteen answered. "But it's fine. Sherry is here to take care of me." He then opened his mouth and waited for the young lady to feed him again. "I hope you'll get better when we return to Casimir City," Shana said. "We'll probably return after three to four days." "I think I'll be fine by then," Thirteen replied. "As long as I don't work on my other projects after I recover, that is." "Okay, you're also banned from working on your projects for now," Erica stated. "We can't afford you getting sick, especially when the Jinn Invasion is fast approaching." Thirteen didn't reply right away because there were still a few things that he needed to do before the royal families of the different kingdoms in Gomorra made their move. Perhaps knowing what he was thinking, Erica, Shana, and Sherry looked at him with the "don't you dare do it" gaze, making him ignore the question completely. "Make sure to always be alert during your travels," Thirteen said. "Myrtle City is at the front lines of our defensive formation. It's the closest fortress city to the border of the 500-mile safety zone. "If you're not careful, you might get ambushed, you know? Especially since the Jinns now know how to use communicators and televisions to monitor our movements." Erica and Shana nodded seriously to Thirteen's warning because Myrtle City was indeed the first City that the Jinns might attack when the war started in full. "We will be careful, so make sure that you also take care of yourself," Erica replied. The four people then chatted for nearly an hour before Erica and Shana had to make their preparations for their departure. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶 The two members of the Hero Party would travel by Helicopter, accompanied by a heavily armed escort. Tristan didn't skimp on the security measures for his daughter and Erica. They were accompanied by five Champions, twenty Grandmasters, and over fifty Masters. That was more than enough to deal with any situation within the 500-mile safety zone that Zion had declared, which the Cygni Coalition and the Central Government recognized. However, the helicopter pilot immediately sent out an emergency message after noticing several fast-moving dots on his radar, which he believed were hostile forces. "Harpies!" Erica's face turned solemn when she saw over a hundred of these monsters headed in their direction. They weren't ordinary Harpies that could be seen in Solterra, but Bloodfeather Harpies, all of which were Rank 4 Monsters. And seeing this elite force led by a Rank 7 Harpy Queen, Erica's and Shana's escorts scrambled to protect the two teenagers whose safety was entrusted to them by their Field Marshal. "Shana, stay here," Erica said before opening the side of the helicopter. "I'll deal with them." Without another word, Erica jumped off before summoning two flaming wings on her back, allowing her to fly. The sorceress then summoned dozens of fireballs and hurled them at the Harpies to obliterate them. However, purple fireballs appeared out of nowhere and clashed with her fireballs, negating them. "You're quite a feisty lady, I like it!" Erica glanced in the direction from which the voice sounded and saw a handsome young man riding on top of Venom Drake, a very aggressive and highly venomous Wyvern. "Who are you?" Erica asked while narrowing her eyes. "I am your future husband, Prince Zorren of the Skavari Race," Prince Zorren replied. "You better remember the name of the person whom you will serve as your husband for the rest of your life." "I already have a fiancé," Erica stated. "And he's a hundred times better than you." "Are you talking about that weakling, Zion Leventis?" Prince Zorren asked. "Don't worry. I will also capture him and let him watch as I ravage your body, mind, and soul." "Don't let him taunt you, Erica," Shana, who had also jumped off the helicopter, hovered beside the Sorceress. A pair of white wings fluttered behind her back. This was one of the abilities she had learned from her training in the Temple of Zaphiel. Prince Zorren gave the Saintess a sidelong glance before shifting his attention back to the Sorceress, who was the apple of his eye. "Capture them!" Prince Zorren ordered. "Make sure that they don't get hurt too much." The Harpy Queen shifted her attention to the two teenagers before unleashing an ear-piercing screech that made Erica and Shana grit their teeth as they retreated as fast as they could. A Rank 7 Monster was still too much for them to handle, so the only thing they could do was escape. "Get behind us!" one of the five Champions escorting the two ladies shouted. Mounted on their flying mounts, they started to clash against the Harpy Queen using a battle formation they had used over the years when facing powerful monsters. This gave Erica and Shana enough time to escape—or so they thought. Prince Zorren and Princess Valentia had already prepared this trap beforehand, so neither of them would be able to escape. "The two of you will not be getting away!" Prince Zorren laughed as he summoned the giant purple snail with countless eyes on its body. As soon as the monster appeared, the Wanderers who had been warned about its abilities immediately averted their gaze so they wouldn't fall under its control. Unfortunately, they didn't know that the giant snail had another ability, and that was shooting energy beams from its countless eyes. Two of the five Champions were hit by this unexpected attack, which made them unable to continue with their battle formation. The Harpy Queen took this opportunity and attacked the rest of the Champions, dealing them serious injuries. However, since Prince Zorren intended to collect as many Wanderers as possible, the Harpy Queen didn't kill them. It simply went along the Skavari Prince, focused on pursuing Erica and Shana. As the two ladies were trying to fly back in the direction of the base where they hadcome from, their path was blocked by a giant moth that sprinkled some kind of dust in their direction. Erica and Shana immediately tried to evade the dust unleashed by the Rank 7 Moth called Nightkiss Moth. The dust it produced could cause hallucinations. But that wasn't all. It also contained a very potent aphrodisiac, which could trigger a lustful daydream in whoever was affected by it. "It's a shame that Roland, Joshua, and Derek didn't come with you girls. Oh well. I guess I'll just catch them next time," a beautiful young lady with long purple hair and eyes said with a smile. Erica and Shana glanced at each other, fully knowing that both of them were stuck between a rock and a hard place. In front of them was a young lady of unknown origins, accompanied by a Rank 7 Sovereign Moth. Behind them was Prince Zorren, who was riding on a Venom Drake, and the Harpy Queen. The two Jinns were Rank 7 Sovereigns as well. On the ground, the Pseudo Rank 8 Sovereign, the giant purple snail, had started to neutralize the armed escorts from the Central Government. This left Erica and Shana to fend for themselves against strong monsters they couldn't possibly fight with their current strength. -------- A/N: If you guys still didn't know, I have published a new novel called "Endless Leveling Done Right!" Feel free to check it out.