Ruyao, located at the center of the region, welcomed some special guests at the City Lord's Manor today.
Uesugi Ryu led the group through this place, conveniently taking the opportunity to appreciate the local customs and scenery.
Ruyao was located in the northeastern part of the Empire and counted as one of the Empire's major metropolises.
The public order here was excellent, and the economy prosperous.
Given the Empire's current state, this place could even be considered a "paradise isolated from the world."
Uesugi Ryu and the others were warmly received by the local governor and naturally stayed here to rest as well.
At this moment, it was already midnight.
Ran stood alone by the terrace, gazing outside.
Ruyao was also Ran's hometown.
Speaking of which, Ran obtaining his Teigu and being recommended into the Jaegers were both thanks to the female governor of this place.
The two had not seen each other for a long time, and the female governor naturally found the loneliness unbearable.
In the middle of the night, she secretly sent someone over with a letter.
Ran expressionlessly tightened his fingers, crumpling the note in his hand into a ball.
He quietly pondered in his heart.
Whether it was Esdeath or Uesugi Ryu, their thoughts were difficult to guess.
Ran felt somewhat conflicted. Earlier, when Uesugi Ryu had spoken with Najenda, he had not deliberately avoided Ran.
Ran naturally understood what Uesugi Ryu meant.
He was forcing him to choose a side.
But was Uesugi Ryu not afraid that he would secretly tell Esdeath about this afterward?
Ran's ambition was to change the Empire from within. Uesugi Ryu's collusion with the Revolutionary Army did not suit his tastes.
However, for the moment, it seemed that Uesugi Ryu held an absolutely dominant position in this relationship.
His schemes still remained unknown for now.
"He was already familiar with Najenda long ago. Since when exactly....."
Ran lightly rubbed the cover of the book with his fingers as he continuously reflected on everything that had happened over the past several months.
Many things were suspicious. Syura's death, the Three Beasts' deaths.
The deeper Ran thought, the more he felt that many of these incidents carried Uesugi Ryu's shadow behind them.
His brows furrowed tightly as he found himself unable to decide for the moment.
There was not much time left for Ran.
At the latest, before arriving at the Imperial Capital, he needed to give his answer.
Clouds slowly drifted across the horizon as the moon revealed itself only halfway.
Ran stepped out of his room and walked toward the room where Uesugi Ryu was staying.
The wooden door was left slightly ajar and had not been shut.
Ran lightly knocked on the door, but there was no response whatsoever.
After waiting for a moment and still hearing no movement, he quietly pushed the door open.
The room was completely empty, and the curtains had not been drawn.
Moonlight poured through the window onto the tea table on the eastern side of the room, making it especially conspicuous within the dim chamber.
There was a single letter placed atop it. Other than that, there was nothing else.
The meaning behind this arrangement was painfully obvious, causing Ran inward shock.
"He already knew I would come?"
A chill rose through him. Ran suppressed the discomfort in his heart.
Walking over to the tea table, he opened the letter.
Upon opening the envelope, what entered his sight was actually a lifelike "portrait."
It depicted a fat man dressed like a clown.
As he continued reading, Ran's expression gradually darkened.
Without lingering any longer, Ran grabbed the letter and turned to leave.
His figure vanished into the night.
A crisp sound of the door closing echoed through the room.
Inside the bathroom, the water within the bathtub gathered into a humanoid form.
It was clearly Uesugi Ryu's water clone.
The clone softly spoke.
"Pretty quick. At least nobody will come disturb things now."
After speaking, the water suddenly collapsed apart as though it had lost all restraints.
The scene instantly shifted.
Uesugi Ryu walked alone through a lush green mountain range.
This place was located in the far western lands, extremely distant from the Empire.
The blazing sun hung high in the sky.
After obtaining information about Super Danger Beasts from Najenda, Uesugi Ryu had immediately set out to search for them.
Fortunately, Syura had previously stored quite a few coordinates inside Shambhala, and one location happened to be relatively close to here.
Otherwise, traveling alone would have wasted quite a bit of time.
Shambhala possessed countless marvelous uses, so all the effort Uesugi Ryu spent scheming to seize this Teigu had not been in vain.
Recalling the information related to this Danger Beast, Uesugi Ryu silently thought.
"The gaps between Super Danger Beasts are also quite large. Hopefully I don't run into one that's too absurdly overpowered."
As he thought this, Uesugi Ryu's lips curled upward broadly, revealing sharp teeth.
"It's been a long time since I've devoured a truly worthwhile soul. A Super Danger Beast. I'm really looking forward to this..."
As he continued walking, a surging river appeared before Uesugi Ryu.
After waiting for a short while, Mephisto quickly gathered traces left behind by the Super Danger Beast.
In truth, it was easy to distinguish.
As absolute overlords, Super Danger Beasts created areas infused with their aura where no other Danger Beast dared approach.
Within an environment full of ecological diversity, a sudden vacuum zone stood out immensely.
Uesugi Ryu took a deep breath as the ring in his hand released swirling blue light.
Ever since obtaining this Teigu, Uesugi Ryu had frequently used it.
Aside from training his own control.
His compatibility with this Teigu had also undergone a qualitative leap compared to before.
The ring began trembling slightly, and the dragon eyes upon it almost seemed to gain life.
The next moment, the entire river let out a painful groan!
It was as though an invisible giant hand had plunged into the riverbed and forcibly yanked the water upward.
The rushing river ceased flowing and instead reversed into the sky!
The water level spanning dozens of meters rapidly declined at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The exposed riverbed quickly cracked beneath the sunlight, while fish and shrimp unable to escape flopped about in the mud.
No additional embellishment was needed.
An enormous water dragon stretched across the sky.
Countless Danger Beasts were startled into flight and fled into the distance.
A terrifying pressure radiated from the water dragon.
The gazes of keen apex predators instantly gathered toward this location.
Upon a towering tree so massive that five people linking arms could barely encircle it, a pair of bronze-colored beast eyes suddenly opened.
It possessed the head of an eagle, the body of a lion, and a pair of wings, resembling the griffins of legend.
However, instead of smooth feathers, its wings were composed of countless shattered, twisted, hardened black bone fragments.
Its tail was thick and covered in scales, ending in a massive venomous stinger like that of a scorpion.
Information on Super Danger Beasts was extremely scarce. Most people who saw them up close had grass three meters tall growing over their graves already.
The information Uesugi Ryu obtained only included vague descriptions of its appearance.
As well as an ancient name.
Hegreon.
Hegreon stood up but did not immediately fly out to investigate.
A trace of human-like confusion flashed through its beast eyes as it turned and walked deeper into its nest.
A juvenile Hegreon was sleeping soundly there, lying atop a massive pile of gemstones radiating strange colors.
Hegreon opened its eagle beak and spat out a large mouthful of dark green venom.
The young beast was immediately covered by the venom its mother spat out. It showed no discomfort and merely curiously opened its eyes.
Green poisonous mist rose upward, forming a natural barrier.
Only after finishing all this did Hegreon finally leave the nest with peace of mind.
Not long afterward, a black head poked into the nest.
Mephisto concealed himself within the shadows and cautiously moved inward.
However, the green poisonous mist soon blocked his path.
The Sharingan's powers of perception were extraordinary.
Very quickly, Mephisto discovered the miniature Hegreon.
His expression instantly brightened.
"Yo~ There's even a little brat here! No wonder it was being so damn cautious."
Mephisto rubbed his chin while thinking about how to capture the little creature.
The poison of a Super Danger Beast was no joke.
Compared to other offensive methods, poison was the most disgusting and hardest to counter.
The distance was too far, making it inconvenient to use the Sharingan's genjutsu.
Mephisto suddenly thought of a good idea and turned to fly outside.
Outside the nest was another crow roughly the same size as Mephisto.
It was Chelsea in transformed form. Chelsea's ability made her excellent at reconnaissance.
So Uesugi Ryu had conveniently brought her along as well.
After coming out, Mephisto briefly described the juvenile Hegreon's characteristics.
Chelsea found the whole thing rather baffling.
But in the next second, she saw a familiar wicked grin appear on Mephisto's face.
Mephisto extended a wing toward Chelsea and ordered.
"You. Go seduce it!"
"Me?"
Chelsea was speechless. Just as she thought!
When living under someone else's roof, one had no choice but to bow their head.
Chelsea did not argue further and immediately began transforming.
Before long, a female baby griffin appeared in place.
Chelsea looked like she was on the verge of tears. Seducing people was something she had done many times before, after all, everything was for the mission.
But seducing an animal was a first.
Chelsea turned back to look at Mephisto and asked.
"How does this thing even sound?"
Mephisto shook his head and decisively answered.
"How the hell would I know~"
Hearing that, Chelsea said nothing more and stepped deeper into the "griffin nest."