Aim For Something Bigger
After Leon urged the group, the three ladies quickly followed Leon's lead and arrived at the source of the battle.
Upon their arrival, they immediately felt several sharp, fiery sword waves cut through the air, one of which headed in their direction.
However, Leon quickly swatted the sharp, fiery sword waves away with his bare hand. At the same time, the sheer force of his wave briefly dispelled the heavy mist in the area, allowing everyone to see the battle ahead of them.
"Mother!" Leon called out to Queen Elizabeth with joy and relief upon seeing his mother fighting the Mid Rank 2 Transcendent-level vengeful spirit.
His voice distracted Elizabeth from her fight, but Aria quickly moved in to intercept the vengeful spirit's attack.
Yiiii—!
The Mid Rank 2 Transcendent-level vengeful spirit screamed after the ray of lightning Sword Intent struck its disintegrating spiritual body. A few moments later, only the soul core remained behind.
"My son! What are you doing here?" Elizabeth was pleasantly surprised before approaching Leon with great joy.
"I—"
Before Leon could answer, Elizabeth showered him in her motherly love as she embraced him, completely treating him like a child.
Leon could only helplessly surrender himself to his mother's whims while the three ladies watched them with soft giggles and smiles.
"My, look at you. Finally decided to come home, eh? You must have grown a lot in these past few weeks," Elizabeth held Leon's broad shoulders before studying his changes.
"Well, we're not exactly home, are we?" Leon replied with a wry smile before adding, "I came to fetch you and Lynne, Mother."
"I didn't expect you to venture so deep on your own. How did you deal with Mid Rank 2 Transcendent-level vengeful spirits at your level, Mother?" Leon asked curiously shortly after.
"Hm? Are you looking down on me now that you have grown so much stronger than your mother?" Elizabeth put on a fierce look when she questioned him.
"Of course not," Leon replied wryly.
"I'm just curious since your levels are mismatched, Mother. I sensed the fire element earlier. Did you finally decide to raise your fire ability to the Transcendent level?" Leon asked shortly after.
Elizabeth nodded at first but then shook her head after.
"Yes,
"But you're probably wondering how I can deal with Mid Rank 2 Transcendent-level vengeful spirits with only 9-star fire ability, right? Well, there's nothing much to it. You should already know that Sword Masters have extreme attack power due to their Sword Intents."
"My Peak Preliminary Accession-stage Transcendent-level metal ability further enhances this attack power. Although it doesn't work on vengeful spirits… However, after merging my fire ability with my Sword Intent and metal ability, they turn into an elemental attack that can finally hurt the vengeful spirits."
"That makes sense," Leon nodded with understanding after listening to Elizabeth's explanation.
"However, Mid Rank 2 Transcendent-level vengeful spirits seem to be the limit of my ability. If I can't find Lynne in this region, I will have to turn back eventually—had I not met all of you here," Elizabeth said.
"Nevertheless, I see that you had also brought my daughters-in-law along on this trip. Have you all been well?" Elizabeth shifted her attention to the three ladies shortly after.
"Yes, M-mother."
"Yes, Mother."
Aria and Darlene stuttered nervously, while Faelyn addressed Elizabeth more comfortably than the two.
"That's good," Elizabeth nodded approvingly. Then, she studied Aria and Darlene before saying, "The two of you must have grown a lot while following Leon. That's great. You can help me take out these vengeful spirits in this area."
However, Aria and Darlene opened their mouths without uttering a word, unsure how to respond to Elizabeth.
They turned to Leon for help shortly after.
"Do you plan to hunt vengeful spirits and stop looking for Lynne, Mother?" Leon asked with furrowed brows.
"It can't be helped," Elizabeth replied helplessly.
"Even if we want to look for Lynne, it's too dangerous to proceed any deeper in this forest. There are most likely to be even stronger vengeful spirits in the depths of this misty forest. Thus, the best we can do is kill more vengeful spirits. They're not only a threat to Lynne but also to the entire empire."
"I didn't realize how much threat the vengeful spirits posed until I ventured this deep. Now that we have integrated the Durham Kingdom, Valaran Kingdom, and the Elven Tribe, our population has grown fourfold. But that also means fourfold the concern."
"Since Extreme Misty Forest occupies the entire north of our empire's northern borders, it would be disastrous if a vengeful spirit outbreak ever occurs. That's why we need to kill these vengeful spirits here, for everyone's sake."
After hearing that, Leon understood his mother's intention and concern.
While his mother guessed that they had grown a lot in the past few weeks, his mother didn't understand precisely how much they had grown.
"There's no need to worry, Mother. We're very strong now. Early Paragons are no problem for us," Leon assured with a smile. "We plan to look for Lynne in the central region. So we won't be stopping here, Mother."
Nevertheless, Elizabeth and Faelyn were shocked after hearing Leon's claim.
They knew Leon had grown strong. However, they didn't know he had grown THAT strong—strong enough to treat Early Paragons like nothing.
Furthermore, by Leon's words, it wasn't just him who attained this level of strength but also Aria and Darlene.
Elizabeth was so shocked she couldn't find words to reply.
"There's no need to be so surprised, Mother. I explored an entire secret realm during my travels in the Dark Abyss Continent with Aria and Darlene. I've also brought back a lot of primordial techniques and resources for everyone," Leon stated.
"Nevertheless, Mother made a valid point. The vengeful spirits of Extreme Misty Forest are a significant threat to the empire. However, we shouldn't just look at exterminating vengeful spirits, Mother. We should aim for something bigger."
"What do you mean, Son?" Elizabeth asked with doubt.