In a couple of minutes, the bridge was cleared of the crawlers and the hordes. The defense troop came to sweep the bridge and pick the soul stones. Shortly the ark continues forward as it passes through the bridge to the other side and a message pops up in everyone's mind.

[ Welcome to Abyssal Desert Horde Territory ]

[A race of evil beings and their sole growth comes from devouring other races.]

[To pass through, you need to conquer the territory.]

[Territorial Battle has begun]

[Kill: 2000 grade one abyssal Horde]

[Kill: 1000 grade two abyssal Horde]

[Kill: 500 grade three abyssal Horde]

[Kill: 100 grade four abyssal Horde]

[Kill: 1 grade five abyssal Horde]

[Time to conquer the territory: 3 days]

[Rewards: loot the territory]

[Failure: Turn into the horde minions– Crawlers]

[Good Luck]

Everyone on the ark held their breath as they stared at the disappearing notification with their heart in their mouth. The howling of the ark echoed in the still surroundings as the ark fell into grave silence. The ordinary people recovered quickly since most of the battle had to be done by the higher echelon of the ark. Thus, they resume their work with faces full of smiles.

Ignorance is bliss.

In the elite and noble sections, the atmosphere was dire with grim expressions on their faces. No one knew what a territorial Battle was, this was the first. Various thoughts flew through their mind but there wasn't any solid explanation. Thus, they could only wait for their king's decision.

Inside the conference room, all the upper echelons were seated around a wooden table and looked at their king.

"What do you think?" Justin asked with a calm expression.

Everyone in the room took a deep breath and glanced at each other before they lowered their heads. This was a first, so no one knew how to approach the situation.

Seeing this, Justin twisted his lips slightly and tapped his teeth lightly. Previously, he senses things are moving too smoothly for them and their schemes are going in the dark. Now, seeing this, he realized his instinct was right.

The situation was dire already with the beasts and otherworldly beings. Now that a forceful battle has been added to the tray. They have to survive or become minions and their only reward was to loot the territory.

What an evil scheme. He grumbles in his heart.

"Things will continue like before. However, the defense team would be spearheaded by one of you."

"All the third circle will lead a 10-man team each while the second circle will lead a 20-man team."

"This is a battle that must be won.. So there mustn't be any reckless action during this period."

"Grandpa Philip and Nika, your killing rate is too slow. Fighting while prolonging the battle is meaningless. This is a battle to kill, and it must be done in the shortest time frame." He said in a solemn voice.

"Kira would serve as the recon team. And question?" He asked.

"How are we going to find the horde?"

"Simple. They will find us. We are the ones entering their territory and so they will try to defend it." Justin answered calmly.

"How is the study going?" Justin asked.

Chloe's face brightens and adjusts her seat. "We have reached the trial face. I have created the runic pen and I was waiting for Susan to join me in inscribing the first rune."

Hearing this, the solemn expression on everyone changed as a bright smile crept onto their faces. At least, this was good news.

"Are you going to show us now or what?" Justin asked with a light smile on his face.

"We need a medium to inscribe the basic rank 1 runes," Susan said without any expression on her face.

Runes are divided from basic rank 1 to rank 9. Hence, Susan and Chloe were trying to inscribe a basic rank 1 rune. Although it was only a rank 1 rune, it would mark their beginning in the journey of rune inscription.

"What kind of medium do you need?" Justin asked.

"Beast skin, weapons, and other objects that could hold runes," Chloe responded.

"What about my weapon?" Pipe man said with his weapon appearing in front of him.

Seeing this, everyone turns to Susan and Chloe, waiting for their response.

"We shall try it," Susan said and stood from her seat and walked toward Chloe. Although she was a proud lady, she knew when to let her ego control and when to get along with others. Working with Chloe, she realized the monster she was. Studying and researching for hours was child's play for her and her monstrous comprehension shook her to her core. Besides, Chloe was an easygoing lady that only focused on her work.

Susan arrived beside Chloe and had a quick conversation before Chloe took out a crude metal pen with pride. She took Pipe man's weapon and scrutinized it with her big glasses. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and when she opened her eyes. The heaven marking on her forehead glowed and her eyes were full of total concentration.

She channeled her power into the runic pen and a glow appeared at the tip of the pen. At once, she began to write various runic symbols on the sharp metal pipe.

Everyone inside the conference room held their gaze as they watched Chloe perform a miracle. This was the first rune inscription on earth and they bear witness to it. Rows of runic symbols were written on the metal pipe and it shook back and forth.

After a couple of seconds, Chloe stopped and took a deep breath before she added the last symbol.historical

Buzz!

The sharp metal pipe vibrated for a couple of seconds as everyone's heart was racing. Is she going to succeed on her first try? They shouted in their heart. Afterward, the mental pipe stops vibrating and lies quietly on the table.

Huh!

Chloe exhaled slowly and wiped the bead of sweat from her forehead. She picks up the weapon slowly with her hands trembling slightly. She looked at the weapon with obscure rune symbols and nodded.

'Success!' She screamed in her face as she tried to hide her excitement.

"The runes inscription is.. successful" She shouted with joy.

What!

The room descended into upheaval as everyone stood to check the runes' weapon. Justin didn't leave his seat but the smile on his face told everyone he was happy.

"What type of runes do you inscribe on it?" Merab asked with the weapon in her hand.

"I have seen Pipe man battle and his weakness is his weapon. It didn't have enough penetrating power. Thus, it became useless against a strong foe. So, I chose to inscribe a penetration rune." Chloe paused with a confident smile on her face. "This increased the weapon penetration by 4%"

Although they don't understand the gravity of 4% penetrating power on an ordinary weapon. Nevertheless, they knew this was a game changer for them.

When the group satiated their curiosity they went back to their seat and dared not look at Justin. They'd all forgotten about his presence and it was only now they remembered his presence.

"Well done both of you.." Justin said calmly. " How many types of runes can you inscribe for now."

"Five," Susan responded.

"Good. Keep working hard. You can try your inscriptions on the weapons you forge previously. I believe some would have the tendency of holding the rune symbols." Justine said.

"Since Chloe and Susan are improving, I can't fall behind. Follow me." With that, Justin stood from his seat and left.

The group looks at each other and rushes to follow him. After a couple of minutes, the group arrived behind the ark in front of an empty car. They looked at each other and wondered what they were doing in front of an empty car.

"I need a volunteer," Justin said without looking at them.

"Let me." Grandpa Philip stepped out of the group with his staff in hand. His instinct was telling him the empty room was dangerous.

"Try to enter the room. If anything happens, you can attack. The mission is to enter the room and you can use any means." Justin said casually.

"Alright." Grandpa Philip nodded. He sauntered forward with his chest puffed out. He didn't know what was strange about the empty room but he had confidence in smashing everything to pieces.

Everyone waited patiently with their gaze fixed on Grandpa Philip while they gave Justin a cursory look. What is the king trying to do?

'Do you know what he's trying to do?' Kira heard Susan's voice in her soul.

'Little sister, you should know the kind of man he is. Although, I don't know what is inside the room. But it is related to array formation and it is dangerous.'

Susan didn't have a change in her expression as she wanted to see what kind of formation would be dangerous to them.

Buzz.

Grandpa Philip tried to enter the empty car but was stopped by an invisible force. He raised his brow and tried to force his way in but everything was futile. He got curious and furious. Thus, he raised his fist and slammed it into the barrier. And behold, what next scares the shit out of them.