895 The Teams Gather

Fire Subzone, Elemental Zones, Inner Region of Hortus.

"Fuck! You son of a bitch! Can't you do a single job properly?" Ruby Princess repeatedly tapped the ruby ring on her index finger. Her beautiful red finger was swollen and purple.

If the courters of the princess saw this scene, they'd be heartbroken. This pale red-skinned lady was both a genius and a beauty that attracted the admiration of countless young nobles.

And now such a woman who always maintained an 'elegant' image was spewing profanities worse than a hooligan.

"Are you fucking dogs or what? Why aren't you answering?"

The inside of the volcano where the Ruby Princess was staying echoed the insults. It only increased the frustration of the Princess.

The Sovereign she sent to check out the situation of Diamond Princess was missing! It has already been two days!

He certainly can't be killed by the puny natives. So, the only option was that he was avoiding communication for one reason or another.

Whatever the reason, Ruby Princess decided to punish him severely. But she had a more urgent problem.

So far, she had been staying in a 'Volcano' because it's a safe space that no beasts would approach.

But here came the problem. Recently, two peak level 9 beasts were fighting nearby and as a result of the aftermath, the volcano was slowly breaking down.

It wouldn't take long. Perhaps a day at most, and her safe zone would be gone. Then, she'd have to survive in this harsh zone without a Sovereign!

Of course, there's another 'person' with her in the volcano.

Ruby Princess turned her gaze to the expressionless and stiff hybrid. In a dismissive tone, she ordered. "Hey, check the situation outside and return safely."

The hybrid merely blinked in acceptance and jumped out of the volcano. Half an hour later, a severely injured hybrid, with half of his left arm bitten off, entered the volcano.

"What's the situa—forget it." Ruby Princess stopped her question midway and shook her head.

As expected, the Hybrid handed her a recording crystal that showed the nearby area.

The beasts in the surrounding fifty miles were evacuating their homes. There were already broken mountains with damaged corpses—the casualties of the great battle.

'So the battle is going to continue.' Ruby Princess' face grimaced and she opened her lips unconsciously. "What do you think we should—"

She abruptly shut her mouth and glanced at the hybrid. Like always, the hybrid remained emotionless and stared blankly into the distance.

"I am crazy, talking to a hybrid and expecting a response from it." Ruby Princess clutched her long red hair and cursed.

After unsuccessfully trying to connect with the Sovereign for one more hour, Ruby Princess was forced to face the bitter reality.

With or without the hybrid, she wouldn't be able to get out of this place.

"Should I ask for help?" Princess Ruby thinned her lips.

But who'd help their competitor?

Whichever duchy won the Synthetic World would be favored by the Kingdom. What's more, the duchies shared a competitive relationship.

"There is still one more…" Ruby Princess bit her lip and recalled the unimpressive figure.

'Only he might help me.'

With a bitter expression, she changed the contact in her ring and called him.

— — —

Life Zone, Hortus' Inner World.

Two giant humanoids clutched their bloodied heads and crashed to the ground. The sheer impact of the crash caused a small-scale earthquake and a huge crater was formed under the corpses of the giants.

Prince Shak loosened his bloodied fists and exhaled deeply. His bones gave a crackling sound as he fixed his damaged joints and downed a healing potion.

In the far distance, a much larger giant, easily the size of a hundred-story building, collapsed.

Even though it's far away, the impact caused the ground under Prince Shak's feet to shake. And a sharp shockwave that formed due to the crash reached the prince and stung his skin.

A moment later, Sovereign Alban, the man who slayed that giant appeared in front of Prince Shak and reported. "Sir, every Synthetic World is slightly different from others. But the differences here are nothing slight. This is a much different world than we've ever seen or read."

Prince Shak frowned. If it's true, then it's bad news for him. So, he subconsciously wanted to refute it but the experiences since he entered the Inner Region flashed in his mind.

"Why?" He asked with an unwilling expression.

"That giant," Sovereign Alban pointed to the super giant corpse in the far distance and said. "There are at least fifty more like that here."

"What?!" Prince Shak nearly yelled.

As the Prince of Jewel Kingdom, he had seen tonnes of Sovereign fights. With his insight, he judged that the super giant Alban fought to be at the peak of the Sovereign state.

What do you mean there are fifty peak Sovereigns in a mere Life Zone?

"I-Is this a joke?" Prince Shak asked while he clenched his trembling fists.

"I wish it was." Alban sighed. "The closer we move to the center, the more we encounter these super giants. I'm afraid there's only a 10% chance for us to make it to the center."

"10%…" Prince Shak's expression darkened before he covered his face and sighed.

When Alban was about to soothe him, Prince Shak uncovered his face and smiled.

"Prince?" Alban was worried.

"If we can't beat it, neither can the Dukedom heirs." Prince Shak said with confidence. "And in this situation, the only choice is to cooperate with each other."

"Right…"

If they didn't do this, they'd have to return empty-handed. What would welcome them would be a harsh punishment.

Instead, if everyone cooperated, even though the individual merit would be less, they'd have some form of reward.

What's more, this Synthetic World was so different from the usual. So, the rewards would also be far higher.

Realizing this point, Alban smiled in excitement. "Then Prince, please contact the others. Let's start—"

Daz!

Prince Shak's communication crystal rang and an embarrassed female voice sounded from it. "P-Prince Shak, this is Sawaha. Can you fetch me to your zone? I'd like to cooperate."

"Oh?" Shak narrowed his eyes. "I'm more than happy to cooperate. But how about you come on your own? My hands are full at the moment."

"T-This…" Sawaha, the Third Ruby Princess, stuttered.

"Please speak."

Ruby Princess gritted her teeth and spat. "My Sovereign died."

"What?!" Prince Shak and Alban felt a jolt down their spine. Then, Prince Shak immediately reprimanded. "Stop kidding."

"I'm not." Ruby Prince replied in an aggrieved tone. "He has gone to the Outer Zone two days ago. I confirmed he's outside from the map.

But his location suddenly disappeared. And he didn't return. He's not responding to my calls either. He won't betray me unless he wants to die…even though I'd rather him betray me, the more I think, the clearer it gets. He must've died."

Of course, she didn't really believe what she said. She believed the Sovereign betrayed her because he found a good treasure in this land. Maybe he's planning to defect to enemy Duchies already.

But Prince Shak believed her words. After saying a few more words, he ended the call and glanced at Alban.

Alban nodded. "We need to go to the Outer Region to take a look."

As they were about to go out, Prince Shak received a message from the Emerald Prince. "Inner Region is locked. We can't get out until we pass the test. None of us can pass the test alone. Me and Sapphire Prince are already cooperating. Do you want to join us?"

"Can't leave Inner Region? Didn't Ruby's Sovereign leave?" Prince Shak ignored their message and raced toward the exit of the Inner Region along with Alban and the hybrid.

The blue vortex exit was blocked by a black barrier.

"Alban,"

"Yes!" Alban roared and attacked the barrier.

The ground shook violently and a huge crater formed under Alban.

But the barrier didn't even have a scratch.

"…"

Prince Shak's face darkened. But he didn't waste any time. After picking up Ruby Princess, he joined the Emerald and Sapphire Prince teams.

"Where is Diamond Duchy's team?"

"I can't reach them."

"Me neither."

"Maybe they…"

Prince Shak waved his hand and drew the attention of the team. "Let's focus on clearing a zone first and passing the test. This is not a normal Synthetic World, the longer we wait, the more dangerous it becomes."

Everyone nodded.

Four Sovereigns, four princes, a princess, and five Hybrids headed deep into the Life Zone, ready to battle it out.