The Stone Giant

Ultimately, Ye Chuan decided to personally head to the Dior territory to find Count Grey and see exactly what was going on.

"Teacher, you have to be careful. I heard there are two Tier 7 experts in Count Grey's territory. When you sneak in, make sure they don't spot you."

Elara seemed rather worried after learning that Ye Chuan planned to go see Count Grey alone.

The Dior territory was renowned for its vastness. Generally speaking, it was already quite formidable for an ordinary count to have even one Tier 7 combatant under their command, let alone two.

Often, a single Tier 7 combatant was enough to sway the entire tide of a battle.

"Two Tier 7s?" Ye Chuan said upon hearing this.

Elara nodded earnestly. "Mhm!"

Ye Chuan suddenly smiled playfully. "Elara, since you're so worried about your teacher, why don't you just come with me?"

"Eh? Together?" Elara pointed at herself. "C-can I really?"

If she went, wouldn't she just drag him down?

"Let's go. We're setting off right now." Since Ye Chuan had already gotten a map from the little dragonman anyway, he simply scooped Elara up with one arm and took straight to the sky.

"W-wait, Teacher! I'm dizzy..."

Taking off from where he stood, Ye Chuan carried Elara and turned into a streak of light, quickly vanishing into the horizon.

Elara felt the world spin around her. Left with no other choice, she clung tightly to Ye Chuan's clothes, her blue twintails already blown into an absolute mess by the wind.

It wasn't until a while later that Elara finally felt the howling wind around her subside. Opening her eyes and looking to the side, she saw a massive complex of buildings not too far away, enclosed and protected by a circular city wall.

In the distance, a castle-like structure stood out prominently; it appeared to be the lord's residence.

"This territory seems even bigger than the little dragonman's," Ye Chuan remarked. Noticing that Elara was still dizzy and swaying unsteadily on her feet, he gave her a gentle pat on the back.

"Are you alright?"

"J-just a bit... dizzy." After Elara finally managed to compose herself, she looked at the Dior territory ahead without much surprise.

After all, given what she had learned about Ye Chuan so far, it would actually be stranger if he hadn't been able to fly them all the way here.

"Teacher, how... how are we going to get in? Should we find a hidden spot to lie low first, and then sneak into the lord's manor after dark?"

In her mind, scouting out the enemy was something that had to be done completely silently. But judging by Ye Chuan's demeanor, he had absolutely no intention of hiding.

"Sneaking around is too much of a hassle."

He raised his hand and pointed at the city wall ahead.

"Elara, fire a water cannon at that wall to say hello."

"Eh? Just... just cast magic right at them?" Elara was dumbfounded.

"But won't that expose us immediately? Plus, there are definitely defensive magic arrays on that wall..."

She instinctively wanted to object, but meeting Ye Chuan's encouraging yet irrefutable gaze, she swallowed the words right back down.

Regardless, listening to her teacher was definitely the right move.

Biting her lip, Elara obediently stepped to Ye Chuan's side. She brought her hands together, rapidly gathering the water elemental magic within her body.

A pale blue halo lit up in her palms. As the magic surged, a massive water cannon materialized out of thin air and hurtled whistling toward the walls of the Dior territory.

Bang! The water cannon smashed fiercely against the wall, but instead of exploding as expected, it was blocked by a pale purple magic barrier, sending ripples across the shield's surface.

Buzz! Triggered by the impact, the barrier instantly flared with blinding light. Purple runes lit up along the entire top of the wall, and a piercing alarm tore through the sky, instantly echoing across half the territory.

The guards on the wall, who had been lazily patrolling just moments before, immediately tensed up at the sound of the alarm. Grabbing their weapons, they looked toward the source of the water cannon and quickly locked their eyes on Ye Chuan and Elara standing outside the gates.

"We're under attack! Quick! Form defensive positions!" the captain of the guard roared from atop the wall. Immediately after, a well-equipped squad rushed down the stairs. The leading soldier, wielding a spear, glared vigilantly at the duo and demanded sternly:

"Who are you? How dare you trespass onto Dior territory!"

Ye Chuan smiled. "We're from Miral. We're here to discuss a few things with Count Grey. Tell him to come out and see me."

"Miral?!" Hearing that name, the leading soldier's expression drastically changed, his eyes instantly turning fierce.

"The Count has already given orders, anyone from Miral is to be killed on sight! Attack!"

At his command, the soldiers behind him immediately spread into formation. Several small magic cannons were quickly pushed to the front, blinding firelight gathering at their muzzles.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Several scorching magic beams blasted toward Ye Chuan and Elara, the sheer heat slightly distorting the air itself.

Elara cried out in fright and instinctively hid behind Ye Chuan, her hands tightly gripping the hem of his shirt.

Seeing the incoming beams, Ye Chuan casually waved his hand. A barrier materialized out of thin air, firmly shielding the two of them within.

Bang! Bang! Bang! The magic beams slammed fiercely against the barrier, but they only rippled the energy shield, failing to leave even a single crack.

Seeing this, the soldiers on the wall were completely stunned, their faces written with sheer disbelief.

Those were magic cannons capable of piercing through heavy armor, yet they couldn't even put a dent in this guy's barrier?

The leading soldier instantly realized that the two people before him were no ordinary individuals. He hurriedly shouted to the messenger behind him:

"Quick! Report to the Count immediately! Tell him that powerful experts from Miral are invading, and our magic cannons are completely useless against them!"

Not daring to delay, the messenger turned and sprinted frantically toward the lord's manor.

But right at that moment, the ground began to tremble slightly, and a low, deep chuckle echoed from behind the city wall.

"Heh heh, powerful experts from Miral? Other than Count Kaiaolen, who else has the right to act so arrogantly?"

Everyone turned toward the voice, only to see a man dressed in a black robe and a pointed hat slowly walking over.

"It's Lord Balin!!!" a soldier suddenly cried out in excitement.

Balin?

"Teacher, that's one of Dior's Tier 7 Grand Magus, Balin the Master of Rock," Elara whispered to Ye Chuan.

Gripping a staff embedded with an earth elemental crystal, Balin fixed his sharp, triangular eyes on Ye Chuan.

"Who are you?"

"Me?" Ye Chuan pointed at himself.

"Since you asked so sincerely, I will mercifully tell you. My name is Daddy."

"Daddy?"

"Yep!"

Balin: "...?"

Ye Chuan: OvO (Thumbs up)

Balin: Motherfucker.

"You dare play me! Spirits of the earth, heed my call and awaken!"

As the incantation ended, Balin viciously slammed his staff into the ground!

The ground instantly splintered into massive, spiderweb-like fissures, surging with a scorching earth elemental aura. Two rock giants, towering like mountains, slowly pushed themselves up from the chasms, violently tearing the earth further apart as they rose.

They stood dozens of meters tall, towering even higher than the walls of the Dior territory. Their bodies were pieced together from solid blocks of hard rock. Veins of dark reddish-brown ore were embedded in the crevices between the rocks, resembling streaks of congealed blood that gave off a cold, matte luster in the sunlight.

"It's a Summoner!" Elara gasped softly. Hiding behind Ye Chuan, she clutched tightly at his clothes.

"Teacher, his rock giants are said to have hunted down dragons!"

"Oh? That impressive, huh," Ye Chuan said with a smile.

"Actually, I happen to know how to summon too."

"Come out, Della."