While all of the events were taking place, the Sovereign Nation was definitely not slacking off. Panay island had finally been fully fortified. In addition to wall Primera and Wall Segunda, was the final layer, Wall Tercera, the third wall that towered over the other two. There was actually enough space between each of the walls so a community could live there, although it was mostly used for barracks.

After discussing it further with the others, Luna decided it was in their best interest. They couldn't make too many walls as that would divide the effectiveness of the by too much. At the same time, they needed more walls to fall back on, should a certain side collapse first and they needed to buy time for reinforcements to get there.

This was a plan made without taking into consideration, the fact that they would be able to absorb Emil's nation. It wasn't a good idea to count your chickens before they hatch, after all.

Additionally, thanks to everyone's efforts, the walls were all lined with advanced automated turrets. These turrets were now effective enough to shoot the unfortunate aquatic mutant beasts who got too close.

The Sovereign Army also scoured the other islands for more resources and any Agimat that they could find.

***

Two weeks later.

Somewhere in Tagaytay, overlooking the scenic view of Taal Volcano.*

"Make sure the preparations are complete! If you mess anything up, President Emil will have your heads for it! Don't embarrass him in front of the Sovereign Nation's leader! Everything has to be perfect!" An organizer was barking out commands while clapping his hands, signaling people to work faster.

Everybody was busy preparing for the Gala dinner. Over the past couple of weeks, there were certain assassinations on key figures of Emil's nation, and the two Agimats that they obtained mysteriously disappeared.

This made him look weak and incompetent in front of the people. Not to mention losing such valuable resources, the assassinations made people think that he couldn't even protect his own people. Thus, seeds of doubt were planted in the people's hearts. Being completely aware of this, Emil who was very conscious of his public image was only enraged further. It only served to make him more irritable than before.

On the surface, preparations were being made for the event. On the other end, schemes of how to enrage the serpent in Taal Lake and lure it towards Luna were being finalized.

***

Luna's temporary Headquarters.

Luna, Sura, Elder Aran, Maxene, and surprisingly, Apple was here, along with Alea, Elder Aran's granddaughter. After collecting information and making Emil look weak in front of his citizens, Luna decided to call over Apple's Mage Corps, and with Alea finishing her training, she was assigned as Apple's second-in-command. This little Elven Mage definitely had more potential. Surpassing even the Elder himself.

It was his intention to show the overwhelming force of his Nation in order to sound the death knell for Emil's rule. Not just with his Army, but the presence of the Elven Mages as well. One should not forget how scarce Mages were. When the new world arrived, distributing your points into INT without people power leveling you, Mage skill books, or no connection with any Anito was a death sentence. Of course, there might be some exceptional cases, but tales of such stories have yet to emerge.

"Oh my, that was much easier and much more effective than I expected." Elder Aran shook his head as he chuckled.

"It only showed how dangerously overpowered Stealth can be." Sura commented.

The definitely had ways to detect individuals in stealth and prevent them from sneaking in one's nation. The Sovereign Nation, despite being so ahead, did not skimp out on this. Luna was more than willing to spend the resources despite it being really expensive. Emil, on the other hand, wasn't as willing. He believed that he had kept his core member's levels high enough to detect any random invaders.

He definitely got too comfortable and even with Luna's emergence, he would never consider that the leader of such a large nation would be willing to put himself in any possible danger. While this line of thought was logical, it was easily exploited by Luna.

"Compounding on that statement, it shows just how much of an advantage levels can give," Alea spoke up as well. Her voice was as angelic as it always was.

"Most importantly, we have all the information we need to take down Emil's nation even without Mascardo's cooperation. Should he attempt to betray us, the only difference it would make is that he falls along with Emil." Luna added before turning towards Max, "Max, how has the beast taming been going so far?"

"Pretty good! I'm maximizing my taming skill every day, and along with the taming items we've collected, we're on track to pair most of our soldiers up with their own mutant beast partner."

"Good to hear. We'll set up mutant beast registrations later on to assign most people their own. Will they be able to form a soul connection?"

"To some degree, yes. Unlike the one we have, the beasts won't die if their 'owner' dies, but they will be able to communicate on the level of the soul. I can tweak it to where as long as they don't betray the Sovereign Nation, the beast will remain completely loyal to them. Of course, after bonding with their partner, the beast will have a deep connection with them, but a betrayal is still a betrayal, and to these creatures, loyalty is above all else." Maxene explained enthusiastically.

This concept could be compared to a pair of really close friends or lovers, you could have the best of times, but if your friend did something to harm you intentionally, or you caught your lover having an affair, you would immediately cast them away... Unless you were an idiot.

Maxene got up as she skipped towards Luna and receive the pat in the head that she enjoyed so much. Max had a face full of bliss and satisfaction when Paco came for his report.

"Lord Luna, we've scoured the majority of the entire country. Luzon proved much easier than we thought, and Emil seems to be the only superpower here. I'll send you the report of our current inventory of Agimat and Upgrade materials as well just so you can see if it matches what is in the Nation's storage. General Leman has slowed down his mission as per your instructions as soon as Apple's Mage Corps left."

Luna has specifically instructed General Leman to slow down a bit, not just due to him wanting to make use of Apple's Mage Corps, but also due to the previously unknown, yet rising superpower in the South. Originating from Davao City, the also had someone who was might either be on par with Emil's nation if not better. This unknown leader was also quite ruthless. When some members of the Sovereign Nation got too cocky and explored a little too far, they were captured. Only after trying to use the Sovereign Nation's name were they actually spared, but not after experiencing intense torture from the leader who had his pride hurt after being forced to release them. There was still a way to negotiate after that, but if he had killed them, Luna would have every reason to send him and his nation to kingdom come.

After confirming the amount within the Nation's storage, Luna looked up and exclaimed, "Excellent! Now, to confirm with Emil that we'll arrive by the following week. Paco, invest all the into our existing walls. Expanding further would do more than harm. We have everything we need to work with. Now, let's see how this clown is going to dance for us." Luna smiled.

After getting level 60, he had actually invested all of his points into STR. This wasn't just to balance out his stats, but because he had to display an overwhelming display of strength. He could have invested it into AGI, but revealing herculean strength would be more impressive. Not to mention that his current Agility was beyond 100, his battle with Juan showed him that his strength needed more improvements when he was barely able to pierce the Enkanto's skin. Had it been a tank-type monster with the same level as Juan, their chances of success would be much lower.