The Stromhall city guild was filled with crowds. Adventurers sat on long benches with pale faces, some of their bodies wrapped in bandages, and the smell of dried blood still lingered heavily in the room.

Some had broken bones, and many more were being treated in critical condition. Several others had been killed.

Crowne, Lina, and Daisy stopped right in front of the door. Seeing the guild's condition, they were speechless.

No one cared about Crowne's arrival. They all kept their heads down, mourning what had happened.

"The situation is really bad," Daisy muttered, holding her breath.

Crowne stepped forward, heading toward the receptionist's desk. When he arrived, the receptionist seemed lost in thought. Her gaze was half-empty.

When Crowne called out to her, she finally snapped out of her daze.

"Where is the guild master?" Crowne asked.

"He is in his office," the receptionist answered shortly.

Crowne nodded and immediately headed to that room with his two companions.

As they began walking into another hallway, Lina glanced toward the adventurers. She swallowed hard.

"The situation is really bad," she said.

**

Knock... knock!

"May I come in?" Crowne asked.

"Come in!" someone replied from inside.

Crowne opened the door at once, and Dorian was sitting at his desk, holding his forehead. His face looked gloomy. His eyes were tired, as if carrying heavy pressure.

"Sit down," Dorian said to Crowne, Daisy, and Lina.

Crowne, Lina, and Daisy quickly took their seats. Without wasting time, Crowne went straight to what he wanted to ask.

"What happened? This city looks destroyed."

"Stromhall was attacked," he said quietly, his voice cutting through the room.

"Yes, we saw the aftermath," Lina replied. "But by who? Or what?"

Dorian clenched his fist. "Hundreds of beasts appeared all of a sudden, right in the middle of the city. They scattered and attacked anything they could. It was utter chaos because there was no preparation at all. Everything happened too suddenly."

"The middle of the city? How is that possible? Beasts should not appear from inside a city!"

"That is the problem," Dorian answered in a low tone. "They did not come from outside. They appeared out of nowhere, as if thrown through a portal or summoned by magic. According to several witnesses, dozens of magic circles appeared in the sky right before the beasts emerged. It seems like someone intentionally caused this."

Crowne leaned forward. "What kind?"

Dorian shook his head. "All kinds. Thunder Wolf, Ironclaw Bear, Black Serpent, even two Mountain Fangs. All of them were high ranked. If this happened outside the city, we could have held them back. But this..."

He pointed at the map of Stromhall. Almost the entire central area of the city was marked with red circles.

"They appeared at the same time. No time to prepare. The citizens panicked. Many died."

Daisy and Lina exchanged looks. They had just solved the crisis in Doomsty, and now Stromhall was suffering something terrible.

"How many casualties?" Crowne asked.

Dorian fell silent for a moment, then said, "More than a hundred soldiers. Including rank C adventurers and several rank B. And that is only from our side, not counting civilians who may have surpassed a thousand deaths. The city guards also lost many."

Crowne took a deep breath. That was an enormous number. It meant the beasts sent were in the hundreds, and like Dorian said, they were strong.

"Do you know who is behind this?" Crowne asked.

Dorian shook his head again. "I do not know, but there is one thing that makes everything even stranger."

He took an item from a small box on his desk and placed it in front of Crowne. It was a crystal fragment, thin, cracked, and still radiating magical energy.

"What is that?" Lina asked.

"This was found at the first appearance point of the beasts. We are not sure what it is, but it seems like some kind of ancient relic created hundreds of years ago," Dorian answered.

Crowne picked up the fragment. He frowned. It felt very familiar to him. He felt like he had seen it before, but he could not quite remember.

"Will you bring it to the capital?" Daisy asked.

Dorian nodded. "Of course. Everything will be examined there. We do not have the capability to do it without help from the central headquarters."

Daisy and Lina nodded. They knew that branch guilds did not have complete facilities. If they needed something researched, they would send it to the capital. There, everything would be analyzed, and if it was truly useful, the central headquarters would inform each branch. They might even create a replica.

"I plan to send it tomorrow morning," Dorian said.

Lina and Daisy exchanged glances. They nodded, just about to offer themselves to bring the relic to the capital since their destination was the capital anyway.

However, before they could even say anything, Crowne suddenly stood up. He stepped forward while taking something out of his inventory.

Then he placed two items on the table. "Aren't these similar?"

Two relics were on the table, looking almost identical. The only difference was that one of them shone more brightly than the other.

Dorian held both relics, examining them carefully, and he immediately realized they were indeed similar. Then he looked at Crowne.

"Where did you get this?" Dorian asked.

"I forgot," Crowne replied. Of course he was lying. "That is not the main point."

He took both relics from Dorian and placed them on the table again. Then he channeled Mana into both relics. One second later, the relics emitted light.

Dorian immediately grabbed Crowne's hand. "What are you doing?" he scolded.

Of course he was worried because if the relic really was something that could summon hundreds of beasts, what Crowne did was extremely risky. But a few seconds later, the relics dimmed again.

"Look," Crowne said while pointing at them.

At that moment, Dorian's eyes widened. He looked at Crowne and the relics back and forth. He shook his head in astonishment.

"They have two different patterns," Dorian said.

"It seems like both relics were made by the same person, but they have different functions."

Dorian looked at Crowne again. "How did you know?"

Crowne shrugged. "I just guessed, but I am sure my guess is right."

Dorian leaned back in his chair and stared at the relics once more.

"Tell me. Where did you get that relic? This will help us. I will pay a high price if you want to tell me," Dorian said with a smile.

Crowne smiled faintly. He already knew Dorian would say that.

"Fine. Tomorrow morning we will go there, but do not bring too many people. That place is secret," Crowne replied.

Dorian's expression turned serious. He nodded.

"Sure."

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