Next, they descended from the massive flying creature, touching down smoothly on the ground below.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

Leon stood alongside Archon Vyrra, with Ira positioned beside him on one side and Korvek standing on Ira's other side—forming a line of command.

As soon as their feet hit the ground, someone hurried frantically toward the Archon with urgent news.

RUSH! PANT!

The messenger held up a device for Vyrra's inspection—it appeared to be a simple pole-like object, roughly staff-height. However, its color had shifted to a darkish silver verging on black, with glowing symbols etched across its surface.

Those symbols are pulsing. Active.

The air around it shimmered faintly—charged, almost metallic, with the smell of scorched ozone.

Leon distinctly remembered seeing these detection poles before—thousands of them positioned strategically across the border perimeter of the city and even scattered throughout the interior. He'd initially dismissed them as some sort of decorative accessory or cultural monument.

But they were monitoring devices all along. Rift detectors.

He recalled they'd been leaning more toward pure silver in coloration when he'd first seen them.

The color change must indicate proximity or intensity of rift activity.

The messenger was a woman carrying an enormous warhammer strapped to her back—easily as tall as she was, and she was not small. She was speaking rapidly to the Archon in Pyrrhan:

"Archon Vyrra, I've detected strong reactions concentrated in the far southwest border sector of the city. Multiple rifts are forming. They'll fully manifest in approximately two to three minutes by current calculations."

However, Leon detected something else in her demeanor. When this hammer-wielding woman's eyes briefly gazed upon him, her expression didn't look welcoming toward him at all—there was clear hostility and suspicion there.

Leon noticed the subtle tightening in her jaw as she stared—like someone preparing for war, not conversation, she clearly doesn't like the sight of him.

Leon simply ignored the negative attention, keeping his expression neutral.

After receiving this critical piece of tactical information, Archon Vyrra immediately began issuing rapid commands. She assembled roughly twenty elite warriors from the gathered forces.

The chosen warriors dismounted their own beasts and joined Vyrra's creature—consolidating into one high-command unit.

The sky above was filled with countless flying beasts without riders—autonomous forces that would fight independently.

They're a force of their own in this battle. Aerial superiority and independent strike capability.

Leon could immediately tell these creatures represented significant combat power beyond just transportation.

However, Ira was not following the boarding group this time. She remained standing on the ground, clearly having been excluded from the command unit.

Leon turned to her and said firmly:

"Come with us. Follow."

But she shook her head, refusing quietly:

"I am capable enough. I should stay with the ground forces—"

However, before Leon could argue further, the powerful voice of Archon Vyrra called down from the creature's back above them:

"Ira! You may join the command unit. Board immediately!"

Permission granted.

After hearing her aunt's explicit approval, Ira quickly climbed up alongside Leon, joining him on the massive creature's back.

CLIMB! GRAB! PULL!

Once everyone was assembled and positioned, Archon Vyrra stood tall and delivered a brief but intensely inspiring speech to the massive army assembled below them and the elite unit behind her:

"Warriors of the Pyrrhan clan! We have done this every day for generations! Today will be no different! We fight! We survive! We protect our home!"

Her voice carried across the entire city with supernatural amplification.

"For our fallen! For our future! FOR PYRRHA!"

In response, a truly massive war cry erupted from the Pyrrhan warriors below and the aerial creatures filling the sky above.

"FOR PYRRHA! FOR PYRRHA! FOR PYRRHA!"

ROAR! SCREECH! BOOM!

The sound was deafening, thousands of voices united.

Among the elite warriors assembled on Vyrra's mount—individuals who clearly served as squad leaders commanding many others—Leon spotted the same Pyrrhan woman he had utterly defeated in the arena earlier.

She was glaring absolute daggers at him with barely controlled hatred, her eyes burning with the desire for revenge.

She hasn't forgotten. Or forgiven.

Beside her stood the hammer-wielding woman who'd just delivered the rift report to Vyrra, also staring at Leon with obvious displeasure.

Right. The woman I injured in the arena. No wonder the hammer warrior dislikes me—they're probably close friends or relatives.

Leon understood immediately why these unknown warriors didn't seem to like him at all.

I humiliated them in front of their entire civilization. That kind of shame doesn't fade quickly.

The woman with the greatsword still appeared injured based on how she moved, favoring her left side slightly.

Her ribs are still healing from where I struck her. Good to know, she was merciful enough not kill him at the start, but she wasn't nice in the fight.

After her inspiring speech concluded, Archon Vyrra made another announcement—but this one was directed specifically only to the elite warriors assembled on her mount.

She pointed directly at Leon, her gesture unmistakable.

"While some of you may know this outsider and others may not, it doesn't matter. He will be appointed as the leader of a new special combat unit, effective immediately."

Shocked murmurs rippled through the elite warriors.

"And Ira will serve as the vice leader of this unit."

Even more surprising, Ira was young and relatively inexperienced compared to these veterans.

"These two will be assigned an operational area to defend alone, independent of standard command structure."

Most of the assembled elite warriors looked visibly displeased by this information—their expressions showed clear disapproval and resentment.

They think I don't deserve this. That I'm being given special treatment.

But despite their obvious discontent, not a single warrior voiced objection aloud. They simply responded in unison:

"Yes, Archon Vyrra!"

Their leader's words were absolute law, regardless of personal feelings.

Leon hadn't intervened during this announcement—she'd made the decision and informed everyone without consulting him or asking for his agreement first.

Well, I don't actually mind. Fighting independently suits me.

However, after Vyrra finished informing everyone of the organizational changes, Leon quite brazenly added his own stipulation loudly enough for all to hear:

"I'll be keeping all loot and materials from any monsters I personally kill for myself. I'm not fighting to share resources."

The elite warriors on the mount—leaving aside only Ira, Korvek, and Archon Vyrra herself—everyone else was immediately and clearly displeased by what he'd just announced.

How dare he—?!

Taking a specific territory assignment and being designated a new unit leader already meant the existing squads would be getting less total loot and fewer resources for their respective units due to a reduced operational area.

That's bad enough. But now he's demanding—

What Leon was actually demanding was functionally refusing to pay the standard five percent resource tax that all warriors contributed—funds that went specifically to support those who weren't capable of fighting for themselves and didn't have family members to provide for them.

He's refusing to help the civilians and the injured. That's... that's against our entire culture.

That tax helped the weakest clan members grow stronger and sustain themselves through training and equipment.

Surely Archon Vyrra won't accept this outrageous demand—

But they were completely wrong.

Vyrra agreed immediately without hesitation:

"Accepted. This is my way of repaying you for all the trouble and injustice my clan has caused you, Leon. Keep everything you earn."

Her voice was firm and carried no room for argument.

Leon accepted gracefully with a slight nod:

"Thank you, Archon. I appreciate the consideration."

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