At Goldshire Town.

General Shidan was waiting anxiously for word from George. He had left for five days. Though General Shidan could see the Victorians wandering around and hear news of George from them, he treated them as lunatics. He didn’t trust them one bit.

Did they treat him as a fool?

General Shidan thought he wasn’t a fool. He believed that George had most likely sacrificed himself as a hero.

There were hundreds of heroes who sacrificed themselves. Just like the scouts that he sent out. None of them returned.

This was what the Victorians said, “The scouts that you sent out? Are those people who fled after stripping their equipment? What? Did we kill them? We didn’t. They didn’t attack us, why would we kill them? They gave their equipment and horses to us, so we sent them away.”

It was hilarious. Why would his elite warriors be afraid of the Underworld creatures and flee? Nonsense. General Shidan would never believe that nonsense.

It must have been those Victorians and Underworld monsters who killed his scouts. That was what General Shidan believed.

“We conveyed your message to George. Though he’s surprised, he is grateful for your concern. He will only be back after a few days because the battle at the Dark Portal is urgent. As a responsible Human, he can’t leave us. We would like him to return. He’s not much help at the frontline.”

It was another ordinary day. General Shidan sat in the tent that was located at Goldshire Town and listened to the Victorian, who told him news about George.

But General Shidan treated the news as nonsense because the Victorian didn’t leave Goldshire Town for five days. He would see the Victorian appear before him daily as the Victorian reported news about the frontline.

When he asked a question, the Victorian would find a place to lie down. After that, he would stand up and answer General Shidan’s question as though he had the answer.

If General Shidan didn’t intend to be friendly to Victoria City, he would have executed the Victorian who was insulting his intelligence.

Today, the Victorian reported the frontline situation to General Shidan as usual.

“Golden-haired George has left the frontline. The attacks from the warriors of Eternal Kingdom were fierce, and we were afraid that George would be killed, so we dragged him back. However, he is unable to leave Victoria Forest and return to Goldshire Town because many Eternal pigs broke through the Dark Portal and are roaming around in Victoria Forest. If you enter Victoria Forest now, it will be very dangerous. If George leaves Victoria Forest, he will be in danger. Of course, we can provide a comprehensive escort service to bring George back. Or do you prefer to send your Knights?” the Victorian said as he looked in anticipation at General Shidan.

General Shidan knew what the Victorian was up to. The Victorian had been trying to get General Shidan to assign him a Strange Encounter Mission with generous rewards.

If the Victorian was able to contact Queen Victoria or George, General Shidan wouldn’t mind giving him money or equipment. But the Victorian was no different from a lunatic. Why would General Shidan do business with a lunatic?

Of course, he wouldn’t.

However, things came to a standstill. General Shidan was pondering about how to solve the dilemma. Did he have to risk sending his army into the forest? General Shidan considered that his last resort.

While he was pondering, he saw a large group of Victorians dashing towards Goldshire Town from the forest. The Victorians were in turmoil and looked excited as though they were celebrating a festival. They shouted as they ran.

“Flee! The Eternal pigs are here!”

“We’re done for! Goldshire Town is going to be massacred!”

As those Victorians shouted out from a distance, General Shidan stood up. He had stayed in Goldshire Town for five days and knew the meaning of Eternal pigs. That was what the Victorians called the Underworld creatures.

General Shidan didn’t have any problem with the label. It wasn’t too much to insult the Underworld creatures in any way.

“What’s the situation? Why did the Underworld creatures appear here? Has Victoria City fallen?” General Shidan asked loudly. His aide quickly dispatched some scouts to survey the situation. The Victorian in front of General Shidan fell to the ground.

When General Shidan was hesitating about whether to call for a doctor or let him die of shock, the Victorian woke up and shouted, “Those Eternal pigs are too devious! They bribed the traitors of Victoria City, who are now bringing them to Goldshire Town! General Shidan, you have to flee. They’re coming for you!”

“What? They’re coming for me?” General Shidan looked in shock at the Victorian. Though he thought the Victorian was a lunatic and that he shouldn’t trust him, the Victorian looked earnest and truthful. General Shidan asked nervously, “How can that be? How did the creatures of Eternal Kingdom learn of my existence? We haven’t fought with them yet.”

“Because we told them!” the Victorian said proudly. Then he recalled something and explained solemnly, “What I mean is that those fellows got to know of your existence from various channels. There are many traitors in this world. If you’re willing to pay, they’ll lead the way. This is a practical world.”

The Victorian looked very grave.

As General Shidan was about to scold him for spouting nonsense, a Knight who was deployed as a scout at the boundary of Victoria Forest rode back.

“Monsters! I saw a lot of green-skinned creatures. They’re coming for us!”

“Prepare! Prepare for battle!”

“There are too many of them!”

General Shidan heard someone shouting and became nervous.

“Did the Underworld creatures break through the defenses of Victoria City? Are they charging towards Goldshire Town?”

“Give the order for everyone to be prepared for battle!” General Shidan unsheathed his weapon and shouted. The signaling officer conveyed General Shidan’s order to the army. The soldiers and inhabitants of Goldshire Town assembled in haste. They were anxious about fighting these Underworld creatures.

The green-skinned creatures dashed out of Victoria Forest and appeared in General Shidan’s sight. Hundreds of green-skinned creatures rode on strange Darting Birds and charged towards them. The creatures had varying heights. They were the legendary Orcs and Goblins that General Shidan had only seen in historical picture books.

When General Shidan saw the real Underworld creatures, his hands started trembling. Those were the monsters that appeared thousands of years ago. Recently, he heard that people witnessed these green-skinned creatures and other Vampires. However, they couldn’t provide any concrete proof.

Right now, there were hundreds of the Underworld creatures charging at them.

This was the fatal battle between the Surface World and the Underworld after thousands of years!

General Shidan was solemn. He didn’t notice the Victorians looking at him excitedly and whispering.

“We’re in luck. Those Eternal pigs really dared come over here. After they have fought with the Godly Kingdom army, we’ll take their equipment!”

“We don’t know if the Godly Kingdom army can defeat these Eternal pigs!”

“No problem. There are many Knights from the Godly Kingdom!”

“I’m more concerned about the Eternal pigs fleeing halfway.”

“Impossible. I told them that there’s a Godly Kingdom commander. They will sacrifice their lives to capture General Shidan.”

The Victorians chatted and ignored the troops of the Godly Kingdom moving about. To them, the soldiers of the Godly Kingdom were just tools.

The green-skinned creatures on the Darting Birds closed in on General Shidan rapidly. He was enlightened. Just like the Victorians had said, the creatures were coming for him.

General Shidan couldn’t afford to be thinking. The creatures on Darting Birds arrived before him. General Shidan lifted his weapon and slashed at the Orcs.

…

The Dungeon Lords of the Northern Underworld received Nicholas’ notification and arrived at Winterfell.

They were there to deal with the invasion of the Underworld by the Surface World monsters. Though the Surface World monsters attacked Eternal Kingdom, if the Teleport Portal that they were using wasn’t disabled, they might attack other Dungeons. Therefore, the various Dungeon Lords couldn’t wash their hands of it.

Nicholas received a reply from the headquarters of the Merchant Alliance.

The headquarters of the Merchant Alliance trusted Nicholas and gave him full authority to deal with the crisis.

The Merchant Alliance wouldn’t be providing any material support or reinforcements.

It wasn’t a huge problem. Nicholas could depend on the assistance of other Dungeon Lords. That was his plan, but when the meeting started, he found that his plan was too simple. The Dungeon Lords were concerned about the threat of the Surface World monsters, but they refused to provide any material support or reinforcements to Eternal Kingdom.

When they were dealing with the Ancient Gods army, the Dungeon Lords were enthusiastic because the Ancient Gods army wasn’t as powerful as before. They could easily deal with the weak threat from the Ancient Gods army. However, the Surface World monsters were different. Thousands of years ago, Michelangelo, who united the Underworld, was defeated by the Surface World monsters. This time, when the Surface World monsters reappeared and attacked Eternal Kingdom, nobody wanted to be in Eternal Kingdom’s shoes and be a punching bag.

The meeting proceeded for two days without any progress. Nicholas was getting impatient. Were they going to watch Eternal Kingdom be destroyed by the Surface World monsters? If Lord Sherlock was present, he would be able to persuade the cowardly Dungeon Lords.

Nicholas was only guessing. Lord Sherlock couldn’t possibly appear in Winterfell at that moment.

Because Sherlock had other more important matters.

After leaving the Fire Giant, Sherlock returned to Eternal Kingdom. He wasn’t dealing with the Faction War. Instead, he went to find Evelynn.

He intended to use a Mana Formation to enter the mind of Evelynn and communicate with the fox, Grape.