Chapter 426 - Great Astley Empire: Approaching
One month had passed in the blink of an eye, Souta and the other three came out of their seclusion. Their battle power had increased by several times and their fighting style has been hone to suit their ability.
Isabella has reached peak C-rank. Her combat power has greatly increased as Souta taught her a perfect style for her. He didn't invent it, he just taught her the fighting style of Isabella in the game. This way, he could see her path towards godhood. He couldn't help but smile when he thought about her becoming a god.
If she had enough time then she would perfectly reach B-rank. She had the talent to become a god and she had the legacy of the god of hunt in her body. Just by integrating it, her power level would increase by several times.
One or two more weeks Isabella will step inside the realm of B-rank experts.
From a normal girl without any power to a girl that was close to B-rank. It was hard to imagine that in just a few months, she would have this level of power.
Yenxa. Yenxa got close to becoming a second evolution monster. They devise a style that suited her toxins. To make her use the full potential of the toxins in her body.
One hour in real world was equal to five hours in Saya's inner consciousness. That's why everyone grew stronger especially for low-level. It was easy to increase their power level when they were at the bottom but for Souta who was a third evolution monster, five months in inner consciousness only increase his strength by a little margin.
It was understandable. In these five months inside the inner consciousness, Souta was focused on learning Saya's skill set not on improving his stats. Improving his stats, he could leave those things to his universal grade earring. Also, his base stats were already much higher than a monster who just reached third evolution. It was thanks to the millions of souls that he gathered.
He also leveled up by one this month. He gained the exp from the members of the legion that completed a quest. The battle in the Planet Lie, Planet Green River, and Planet Red Pump earned him enough exp so when the legion members completed a few dozens of quests he leveled up.
Yuko's development was different from Souta who was focused on skill. She was focused on her physical abilities. Making her body strong was the path that she wanted. Weapon? She didn't want it. She will make her body the strongest weapon.
It was understandable as most of the items in creating artifacts, weapons, potions, and armors came from monsters.
In short, the four of them grew stronger. They were ready for the final battle that will happen on the Planet Astley, the homeworld of the empire. If not for this battle, Souta wouldn't stop himself from mastering Saya's skill set. He was closed to master it unfortunately he didn't have enough time.
The [Archetype: Vajra Extremity] was a powerful skill. It came from the ancient era and it was one of the powerful skills that Souta knew. Five months in inner consciousness wasn't enough for him. Also, he was trying to learn this skill set when he was still in Imperium.
Just a little bit more time and he would be able to learn this skill set.
The four came out of their seclusion and saw that everyone was preparing themselves.
Souta sat on his seat as he looked at the projection. He saw that they were getting close to the homeworld of the empire. So that's the reason why everyone was tense.
"What's the status?" He asked as he rested his chin on his palm.
Torkez glanced at Souta, Yuko, Yenxa, and Isabella. Even Franklin was looking at four of them with interest in his eyes. They could feel that they grew stronger in this one month that they've gone.
Lydia was especially surprised at this. Isabella was just an ordinary person before but now... her strength was getting closer to their realm, the realm of B-rank fighters. Just how? With her strength, she could make a name for herself back in her homeworld.
Torkez shook his head and answered Souta's question. "Another hundred thousand mother ships have been added to our rank while you were gone. Our chances in defeating the empire are increasing but there's a problem."
"Tsk! It's not a problem. Anyone would have done that if they were in the empire's position." Franklin clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"What is it?" Souta glanced at Franklin then at Torkez.
"The empire set up a barricade outside their planet. Millions of ships are waiting for our army in outer space. It seems that they really don't want their homeworld to become a battlefield." Torkez paused for a moment before he continued, "At this moment we could see the true might of the Great Astley Empire, the overlord of hundreds of planets. Their army is thirty times larger than our current army. Even though we destroyed most of their forces on other planets they still have that much in their arsenal. At this rate, landing on the Planet Astley alone would be hard."
The empire wouldn't let them get inside their world easily and everyone understood it.
"Then, is this everything?" Souta asked. He found something was missing in their army. A month had already passed yet their army only increase by several hundred thousand ships.
"No, sir. Some people are on their way but even with that. It will be hard to defeat the empire's army." Torkez said as he glanced at the projection.
"I see..." Souta nodded as he rubbed his chin.
At this time, Jamine opened her mouth and asked, "Do you have confidence in your strength, Leader? Do you have the confidence that no one can defeat you in the ranks of the empire?"
"Yes, I think that no one can defeat me in their ranks." Souta nodded at her. He stabilized his power and his base form could even fight those A-rank experts. Also, the combat arts and spells that the empire was all low-grade so even if there was a party of A-rank within their ranks he could handle it. It means that the A-rank in the Great Astley Empire was weaker than the A-rank in Great World Imperium.
He was just an early stage third evolution monster yet a party of B-rank experts couldn't handle him. It was thanks to his various skills and spells that boosted his powers to the next level. Also, from the added ability of his class system.
Well, if the empire managed to tame several dragons and those dragons fought him then he wouldn't stand a chance. But it seems that no dragon submitted to their rule so most of the dragons were either killed or capture for experiments.
"Then, I have a suggestion," Jamine said as she swept her eyes in the room glancing at every people that were present.
"Okay, what is it?" Souta asked while raising his eyebrows.
"We'll form an elite team with you as the center. The elite team will break through the empire's formation and will land on their planet. Of course, everyone in the army will help focus on helping you break through their formation. And once the team landed on the Planet Astley, you will head to their capital to capture their emperor. I think that the army on the planet isn't as huge as the army outside the planet. The empire focused its military power outside their planet to annihilate us.
"Their plan is easy to tell as they set up a barricade outside of their planet. But that doesn't mean the army left to protect their capital is small. It's still large and has a few capable officers beside the royal family to protect them.
"I could already see that we have no way in defeating the empire's full might in a head-on battle. That's why I could only think of this plan, the plan to capture the leader of the empire to prevent further casualties on our side. I hate to admit it but the empire is really strong and no matter how many allies we've gathered we didn't have a hope in defeating them in an all-out war."
Jamine slowly explained to them with a bitter expression. She planned to use the royal family to stop the whole war. If necessary, she will execute one of them to show everyone that she was serious. This kind of strategy wasn't her style but after considering how the empire bribes her generals that lead to the destruction of her country, she couldn't help but become decisive and ruthless when facing the empire.
"You're right but then how will we find the royal capital on a huge planet in just a short amount of time," Souta said to her.
"This is Lydia's homeworld and she knows it well better than any of us," Jamine said as she glanced at her friend.