Second World

Chapter 1161 1161. Another Portal-Closing Stone

”Letʼs celebrate with this!” Jack referred to the brimstone fruit in his hand. He had also gotten a recipe for this fruit, Hellish Spicy Steak. He wanted to try it out. He took out his cooking tool and the other ingredients. The other ingredients for the food were not that rare. They were available to buy from city shops.

”Arenʼt you going to give that to me?” Darmos asked.

Jack threw the fruit at him. Darmos caught it with the other hand that was not holding the fish. Jack took out another brimstone fruit from his inventory.

”How many brimstone fruits did you get down there?” Darmos asked.

”A lot,” Jack answered. ”Sit down. Iʼll tell you what happened.”

The two chatted while Jack prepared the meal. Afterward, they enjoyed the meals together. Jack couldnʼt finish his meal. It was indeed hellishly spicy. Darmos, on the other hand, wolved down the food ravenously. Jack knew then the draconian preferred spicy food. He even ate the food that Jack couldnʼt finish.

Jack asked him if he wanted another dish. He was unwilling to say it but Jack could see the answer from his expression. So, Jack proceeded to cook another dish for him.

When Darmos was finally full, he said, ”Take out your Kingʼs badge.”

Jack complied. Darmos then tapped his fingertip on that badge. A flash occurred during the brief touch.

”Okay, itʼs done. I will move to Mount Thenias tomorrow morning,” Darmos said.

”Thatʼs it?” Jack asked, looking at his kingʼs badge. Nothing seemed to change.

”Itʼs done. You can summon him now,” Peniel answered.

”For kingdomʼs matter!” Darmos exclaimed. ”Donʼt expect me to come for non-kingdom matters.”

”Thatʼs right. You can only summon a country guardian in an official kingdomʼs conflict and only within Themisphereʼs territory,” Peniel said. ”You can summon a country guardian outside your country if the other side summons their country guardian. Additionally, unless it is in the capital for defensive purposes, there will be a one-week cooldown for summoning a countryʼs guardian.”

Hearing that, Jack said, ”I see. No wonder the Grand Chief of Verremor didnʼt join the invasion war. Verremor should have a country guardian as well, right? If he did and he could summon their country guardian outside of Verremor, our army would be obliterated by that guardian.”

”You are right. But normally, a native sovereign rarely joins the war unless necessary,” Peniel said. ”Maybe they couldnʼt confirm Themosʼ real condition. They didnʼt know if Themos is truly unavailable or if he would appear at a critical time with Tiemezzys. The grand chief should be on standby to join the war when Verremorʼs army reached the capital. Thatʼs when their countryʼs guardian was truly needed. Because if they attacked the capital, Tiemezzys would surely interfere. They were saving their countryʼs guardian so they didnʼt have to wait for the cooldown when they attacked the capital.”

”Is there a time limit for how long a country guardian stays on the battlefield if summoned outside the capital?” Jack asked.

”Yes. One day,” Peniel answered. ”After one day, win or lose, the guardian will have to retreat.”

”This put the defending side at an advantage,” Jack said. ”The defenderʼs country guardian can defend the capital indefinitely, but the offensive side will have to wait one week if they fail to take down the capital in one day.”

”Thatʼs why a country without a country guardian is much more vulnerable. It will be extremely difficult to take down a country with a country guardian guarding the capital.”

”Which made Masterʼs feats of defeating two countries that much more impressive,” Jack muttered. He then added with a determined tone, ”But I will still defeat him!”

”Thatʼs the spirit!” Peniel supported.

”I have no idea what you two are on about, just donʼt work my old bone too much,” Darmos said. ”I like my peace and quiet.”

When Darmos saw Jackʼs awkward smile, he added, ”Which Iʼm sure will be a thing of the past now.”

He stood up and walked to his hut. ”Iʼm going to pack and rest. Oh… Getting forced to move from my home. How unpleasant. The bastard who does this is truly heartless!”

”Old man, shut your door if you want to keep on complaining like that,” Jack uttered.

After Darmos retired into his hut, Jack didnʼt sleep yet. He sent a message to John asking about the situation with Themelot.

n0/v//el//bin[.//]netʼ

John replied that the siege had been placed a few days ago. All the officials in Themelot were now aware of their intention. The city was completely riled up. The ambush option was out. John hoped that whatever Jack was planning could work. Otherwise, this would be a normal siege full of bloodbaths.

Jack said he would arrive there tomorrow.

After finishing with the messages, he took out the lockbox he had gotten from the underworld plantation and started working on lockpicking it. He spent several hours on the chore with the constant summoning of his Runestone of Probability to increase his success chance.

He sensed Darmos peeking at him from the hutʼs window. Probably wondering why Jack was still up. The draconian lost interest soon, though.

It was past midnight when Jack heard the successful click and quickly summoned his Runestone of Luck. Unfortunately, his lockpicking or runecrafting skill didnʼt level up despite the long usage.

When the box was opened, a familiar stone was seen inside.

”Didnʼt you say the chance of getting the same quest item from two lockboxes was very, very low?” Jack said to Peniel, who could only stay speechless as she stared at the stone inside the opened lockbox. The stone was another Portal-closing Stone.

Jack took out the stone and played with it in his hands while thinking.

”What are you going to do with this stone?” Peniel asked.

”I have a plan, but letʼs deal with Themelotʼs situation first,” Jack answered. He then used his Camouflage Tent to spend the night.

*

The next morning, Jack couldnʼt find Darmos anywhere after he woke up. He figured the dragon should have flown to Thereath as he promised.

Jack tried checking it using his kingʼs badge. He could communicate with his royal agents using that badge. He figured he should be able to do so as well with the country guardian.

He was right, but the voice that replied to him was not the grumpy draconian. It was the deep voice of Broidrireg, who asked why Jack bothered him from enjoying the view of Themisphere from the clouds. He said he hadnʼt visited the country for at least a century.

Jack told him his plan, to which Broidrireg complained that Jack was already forcing him to work on his first day in the office.

pαпdα-ňᴏνê|·сóМ Jack was amused the dragon understood the concept of office.

He ended the communication and summoned Pandora. Climbing onto the winged nightmare, Jack told her the direction to Themelot. Itʼs time to deal with the rebellion.