Supreme Monarch

Five luxurious carriages raced over the snow-filled plains with each stride of the majestic beast pulling them along. Easily overcoming the minor obstacles of the uneven and unsteady terrain as though they were nothing.

Their motion was surprisingly stable even when they were galloping over the unpaved roads and slippery icy terrains covered almost knee-deep in soft snow. It was almost as though they were gliding above the surface of the ground without actually touching it. Eliminating any possibility of friction.

Although these carriages were Magic carriages, that wasn't the only reason for such a law-breaking effect. Each wheel on the carriages was a Magic item known as a vibrating wheel.

These wheels vibrated at such a high frequency that they can completely phase through obstacles while magically enabling the wheels to touch the ground by vibrating at the precise frequency that allows the wheels to glide mere centimeters above the ground molecules, eliminating friction as well as controlling the inertial force of the carriages.

There were obvious limitations to this as the wheels could not make the entire carriages phase through obstacles so the carriages still needed to be driven on as flat a surface as possible. The lack of friction also prevents any wear and tear to the items.

In addition, the chassis of the carriages had also been treated by a magic item called Gravitywalk. Which allows them to control the weight applied on the wheels.

These unbelievably magnificent carriages commanded an eye-popping price, but just as astonishing were the creatures which pulled them. The eight-legged magical beasts looked like giant lizards and were known as Flame salamanders.

Their bodies emitted the same fiery aura that the six-eyed bulls did and they had tough scales that could not be damaged by physical attacks.

Calculating the precise cost of fielding five of these vehicles was an exercise in foolishness.

These vehicles ― far out of reach of the merely wealthy ― were escorted by a group of riders mounted on powerful Tier 2 Demonic horses.

There were over twenty of these riders, each clad in raven black full plate armors and armed with longswords at their waists while carrying crossbows made out of beast cores on their backs.

Leading the group was a young man clad in a suit of heavy armor similar to the ones the others were wearing but gave off a more ominous aura that drove away most of the weaker monsters from his path.

Unlike the other riders around him, this man did not wear a helmet but had a pair of spectacles on his face as his scarlet eyes carefully surveyed their surroundings. His skin was pale and he had an appearance that could be considered handsome.

However, his ever-scowling face made him a difficult man to approach as his sharp gaze seems to pierce straight through the soul.

The groups of skilled riders moved in perfect sync as their disciplined movements and clipped, precise words helped them maintain their current pace while their keen eyes maintained a high level of alertness.

Some might have taken their wariness on such wide-open plains to be a form of paranoia or cowardice, but that person would be a fool as they were currently galloping through the outskirts of the Darknar region.

One of the most, if not flat out the most dangerous regions on the demon continent. In such a place, even being on guard against everything they could see and sense was not enough to guarantee their safety.

Unlike the other regions, the Darknar region was home to a variety of dangerous monsters, and a few of them had migrated out of the Darknar forest during the undead incident.

The majority of them were now roaming the region and one could not be too careful. This action had made the outskirt of the region a more dangerous place than the forest had been.

This was the reason why flying was not an option for such a large group and their master had to make do with this mode of transportation. After all, it was practically impossible to teleport so many people at once not to mention across such a long distance.

Even their master only possessed an artifact that could teleport himself and two people at most as he did not possess the skills himself, skill books of such level were a rarity in this world and it wasn't something even a being of his level could do casually obtain.

This was why the Great Five had risen to power so quickly even against families that had thousands of tears of history and knowledge. It was because they were the ones to inherit the knowledge and power of the late demon king.

This was also why, they were still so desperate to obtain his hidden treasure as they knew, far more than gaining the throne, they would gain something much more important, power.

Hence why, the ability to teleport long distances, was not something anyone was capable of in this world. At least without the aid of an artifact.

With teleportation being comp infeasible, and flying being extremely dangerous. That left them with the only feasible method of transportation available, land.

Still, despite the dangers of flying across this region, there was currently a secret unit of mages, flying in the air under the effects of invisibility as they shadowed the carriages from a relatively safe distance.

The reason anyone would take such a risk was obvious. It was because they were currently protecting a being of utmost importance. One whose life was more valuable than theirs that they were all willing to sacrifice themselves for him.

These people were considered the Royal guards of the one known as the Vampire King of the Morningstar family.

Of course, that meant that the owner of the carriages was the Vampire King himself, Ferlis Drax Morningstar.

There was a reason why Ferlis was openly riding back to his region after his display in Paragon city when he had disguised his forces as freemen to sneak into the city.

The biggest reason was that there was no longer any need for him to hide his visit to the city as the spies of the other families were all present in that hall earlier. He also couldn't find the motivation to go through all that trouble when he had already achieved his objective.

If it was left to him he would've been fine if they had simply flown back home despite the monsters as that would still be faster than this. But according to his personal assistant, Silver, who was also the court mage, he needed to put up an appearance.

In this convoy, the security around the third carriage from the rear ― the Ferlis carriage― was heavier than those around the others.

The interior of the carriage was supremely decadent. Judging by the furnishings alone, it was more akin to a mobile high-class suite than a simple carriage, from the furred upholstery on the walls and floor to the soft and comfortable seats, which had been designed to not cause even the slightest bit of discomfort over long journeys.

Only three people were permitted to share this luxurious conveyance with Ferlis, which meant that a total of four people occupied the space of the cabin. The first person was obviously Silver— who sat in the seat directly facing Ferlis.

As his personal assistant, she was usually the closest person to him besides his three Fiancé.

Sitted next to Ferlis was a replacement for the person he had left behind in Paragon city, Selene. She was the Vice-Captain of his personal guards commonly referred to as the royal guards and can be considered, Selene's assistant even though she was her twin sister and almost as capable.

Sharing a similar appearance to Selene to the point that they were only able to differentiate them because Selene's sister, Sylvia, preferred to wear light armor, matching those of her subordinates, and was more of a fighter than a mage. Wielding a thin rapier as her preferred choice of weapon even after mastering every known weapon in this world.

Sitted next to Silver was an aged man with short grey hair and just like the others, he had a pair of scarlet pupils. Wearing a white mage's robe and reading a large book.

This man was the General of the Morningstar family's Air Force and was the acting commander of the air unit currently shadowing them.

For a while now, all three of them had been staring daggers at Ferlis's face. Such glares were enough to bore a hole through solid steel.

"Don't stare so hard, you'll make me shy."

"Please don't joke around lord Ferlis, now is not the time. Why did we have to sneak into that city if we were just going to boldly declare our presence? You must know that this would make us the prime suspect amongst the other Great Families."

The one who spoke was the aged man, Jirvi Liwri Morningstar. He closed the book he had been reading as he addressed Ferlis with a curious gaze.

"Suspected uh... fufufu... that's an interesting idea. Might be fun taking on the other Four, don't you think?"

"Lord Ferlis!"

"Please don't joke around like that."

"Haha... Just kidding, there's no need to bother ourselves with such a trivial matter anymore."

Ferlis spoke dismissively as his eye trailed from the others and out the glass window.

"A trivial matter?"

"Tell me, what did you all notice after meeting with him? I'm curious. What were your thoughts? Did he look like a being that could be controlled by someone like me?"

The three of them had fallen silent as they all pondered on Ferlis's words for a moment before Sylvia decided to voice her thoughts.

"I didn't sense anything from him directly which was quite scary on its own but those four petioles closest to him were overwhelming even for me. Especially that nymph at the end. I could tell that she was completely in a league on her own. It's quite similar to the feeling I get from you lord Ferlis."

The looks on the other two faces grew sour at her last words but none of them could refute her analysis. After all, her perception was leagues above anything they were capable of.

Even her more capable sister would be hard-pressed to beat her in this aspect.

"Indeed. Even for me, I don't think I'll win against her without my tools, isn't that exciting."

"No!"

A resounding response completely shut down Ferlis's giddy thoughts as the three rejected his idea simultaneously.

"Please lord Ferlis, try and take this seriously. If care is not taken, your decision today may lead to another war."

"Oh, you worry too much. Anyway, that guy was truly something else. This is the first time I met a being I couldn't read or predict. I also couldn't sense his aura no matter how hard I tried. That must've been the effect of a God Tier artifact."

The eyes of the three-wide fed in comprehension as they too had been unable to sense the presence of the Demon Lord much less his aura.

"So he truly has found the demon king's treasure. At the very least, confirming that was worth the risk."

"Even with that. I found myself unable to comprehend the limits of his strength. It was a feeling that truly piqued my interest. The last time I saw him, he clearly wasn't this strong, I wonder how he did it. This is true, the most interesting thing I've found in centuries."

"Is that the reason why you had authorized the use of your name in their claim to this land?"

"Huh? Not really. As I said, that was simply an apology for breaking into his city. Wouldn't want them to retaliate against us after all."

"..."

The three could not utter a word but the looks on their faces showed that they were not satisfied with Ferlis's answer so he casually decided to elaborate some more.

"I was simply curious about him so I came to observe things by myself. While the city is not a problem for now. He clearly has enough to boldly claim to be one of the Greats. Besides, I have no interest in becoming the demon king so I see no reason to get on his bad side. For now, let's just keep a close eye on them and see how things develop before we decide if he is worth our help or not."

"Understood."