Souta and Yuko left the dungeon where Raeshka lives. The treasures inside that dungeon were something that normal people couldn't imagine. It greatly exceeded the treasury of huge countries like Hebrei Kingdom and the Eternal Empire.
However, if someone wanted to take all those treasures they would have to face countless first, second, and third evolution monsters. Also, a battalion of fourth evolution monsters with dozens of fifth evolution stage monsters. After that, they would have to face the monster lord, the destruction queen.
If they wanted to clear this dungeon and take all the treasure inside it, they would need a god-level powerhouse in their party. A powerhouse that could match the destruction queen who was famous for her destructive power. An ordinary god-level powerhouse wouldn't stand a chance against Raeshka.
Back when a monster lord rampage in the continent, humans and demis sent a party consist of god-level powerhouses to stop the monster lord.
The difference in power between monster lord and god of humans and demis was large. A newly evolved monster lord could easily destroy a newly born god. That's why to conquer this dungeon several gods were needed to fight Raeshka as she wasn't an ordinary monster lord. She was a creature who could contend with the fearsome commandments of the God's Will cult.
In ancient times, a monster lord who was called Monkey King wreaked havoc in God's Continent. The Monkey King defeated several gods but was stopped by the joined forces of gods from the Heavenly Palace.
Souta looked back at Raeshka's dungeon. After a few moments, he turned his head and started to walk away. Yuko followed him quietly with a bag on her back. This bag was full of fruits that Raeshka prepared as Souta's rewards.
He stretched his arms and said, "I'll go towards the Eternal Empire at full speed. Yuko, just hold those fruits and wait for me to summon you."
"Mu." Yuko nodded her head as if she understood his words.
"Good..." Souta smirked as he activated [Cat's Speed] and [Agility Boost] spell. He slightly bent his knees and with a "boom" he charged towards the direction of Eternal Empire.
Swoosh!
He then used [Dash] to increased his speed as he was running in a straight line. His speed was greater than yesterday. The difference was huge and it was all thanks to the fruits that he ate before.
Souta could also use his mana to increase but he didn't do so. He didn't want to attract the attention of some monsters in this forest. In fact, some of the monsters already sensed him but they ignored him as Souta quickly leave their territory.
...
"Lord, is it really alright to let that goblin leave?" The goblin executioner asked Raeshka in a polite tone.
Raeshka was sitting on her throne with her eyes closed. She slowly opened her eyes when she heard her subordinate's question. She smiled and replied, "It's fine, he'll come back. I can see it in his eyes. And I'm looking forward to that day."
After she answered her subordinate's question, she rested her chin on her palm and she once again closed her eyes.
She had a feeling that his return wasn't that far.
...
Souta arrived in front of the gate of the Eternal Empire. Sweat was forming on his forehead and he wiped it with his hand. He tried to arrive at this place as fast as possible so it drained some of his stamina.
"I'm going to summon, Yuko." He muttered as the crimson tattoo on his shoulder glow. After a while, Yuko appeared before him.
Souta then contacted Lumilia using the transmission talisman to let everyone know that he was in the empire and was going to arrive at the inn. Lumilia said to him that the Lanny group was looking for him. She said to them that he hasn't returned and informed them that they could continue clearing the dungeons while Souta was away. She explained to the Lanny group why he hasn't returned and the Lanny group could only accept her explanation.
"You did a good job. I'm going to cancel the connection so wait for me in my room. Call the others too." Souta said as he stopped pouring his mana in the talisman. He walked towards the gate with Yuko beside him.
He showed his adventurer's ID to the guards and entered the empire with Yuko. He didn't summon Yuko at the inn because he didn't want trouble. The guards always recorded who enter and exit the empire so if the guards got a word the there's a monster in the city that didn't have a permit to enter, he would face punishment.
He had to follow the rules of the Eternal Empire if he wanted to stay here peacefully.
Both of them entered the empire without any problem. Souta and Yuko didn't go to another place as they headed straight towards the inn. He was quite excited to meet them as he brought them souvenirs from Raeshka's dungeon. Well, they wouldn't know that these fruits came from a dungeon of a monster lord.
After a few minutes, both of them arrived at the inn. Souta let Yuko rest as they haven't got a sleep since yesterday. They were quite tired even though their stamina and mana were full.
Souta entered his room and found that everyone was there. It seems that Lumilia followed his words and called everyone in his room. What a good girl...
"S-Souta... You...!!" Lynn opened her eyes widely when she saw Souta.
Souta glanced at her and said with a smile on his face. "I have a fruitful encounter so I'm back to my full strength."
He knew that Lynn managed to sense his mana in his body. Yesterday, she couldn't sense anything from him as his mana pool was severely damaged at that time. He didn't have a single speck of mana in his body yesterday but it was different now. His mana was clearly stronger and much denser than the last time he showed it.
'I will equip the [Bracelet of Silencing] later. I have to explain to her so that she wouldn't be surprised if she couldn't sense my mana.' Souta thought as he remembered the artifact that he requested.
He moved his head and swept his eyes at the members of the Dark Oculus. Lumilia, Lynn, Bryan, Brando, Alice, Yujin, and Cl.u.s.ter were all looking at him. They were waiting for him to say something as the leader of the party.
"First, look at this. I have a bunch of mana fruits. You can have these fruits to enhance your body." Souta said as he placed a bag of fruits in front of them.
"I see... So my senses are not wrong. These are real mana fruits." Yujin said as he picked one fruit and looked at it.
Alophy, his contracted spirit, appeared on his shoulder. She appeared because she sensed the mana fruits. She was a spirit so she was quite sensitive to these things.
Everyone knew that he was a spirit contractor so they were not surprised when Alophy appeared. They only looked at her with a curious gaze. They haven't seen Alophy before and only heard it.
"Jin, this one is a Freezing Heart Fruit. It could greatly enhance your cold resistance." Alophy said as she recognized the fruit in Yujin's palm.
"Woah! I've only read some of the fruits here in the books! I didn't think that brother Souta would found these fruits!" Cl.u.s.ter exclaimed as she looked at the fruits.
Clap!!
Souta clapped his hands as he gathered everyone's attention. When everyone looked at him, Souta opened his mouth and said, "All the fruits inside the huge bag are precious fruits. They are hard to find."
Lumilia looked at Souta with a worried expression. If those greedy nobles knew that Souta had these precious resources then they would trouble him, just like what those nobles did to her dad when he got that honey. She didn't want the same thing to happen to Souta.
Souta felt her gaze so he glanced at her and said, "I know what you are thinking but I think that no one among us would tell someone that we have these mana fruits."
He knew the personality of the members of Dark Oculus so he didn't need to worry about information leaks unless someone was pretending. He'll probably grow mad when his comrades betray him. If that happens he could only blame himself for trusting them and he will kill the one who betrayed him without mercy.
But the idea of him killing his teammates leaves a bad taste in his mouth. He could only hope that no one would betray him.
"I'll give ten fruits to each of you and we'll place the rest in our treasury," Souta said to them. He didn't plan to give everything to them as he had other plans for the fruits.
"Treasury? Do we have treasury?" Brando asked Souta with a confused expression. He was one of the founding members of the party but he didn't recall them having a treasury.
"No, we don't but we will build it after we return to Ladros city," Souta answered Brando's question.
Influence and power were all the things that he needed. He will expand the Dark Oculus group into a legion.