Zodiac City, two hours earlier.
The people of Zodiac City cheered wildly in celebration moments after they witnessed one of their own – a half-blood – win the third place of the Magus Tournament. Emery had inspired all half-bloods by coming out victorious against one of the renowned human geniuses: the Sword Saint.
At the same time, in the magnificent palace that towered over the bustling city, the 8 Flag Bearers and 3 Elders who had gathered in a meeting seemed to have come to a decision.
"Good! With six to five votes, the decision is final! Gather the troops, we are heading out to rescue our king!"
The passionate voice belonged to none other than one of the few women in the room, Grand Magus Lilith the Black Salamander. Sitting a chair away from her was one of the elders hailing from the Bird bloodline, Elder Sinure. His expression was complicated, as the vote result made him unable to stop her anymore.
It had been 36 hours since their leader King Alduin was held in Golden City with no actual news whatsoever. Just hours ago, information made its way to the table of this meeting reporting that the half-blood community within the said city was being harrassed, abused and locked away with no actual crime committed.
There was even a rumor that the King was being gunned down fighting against two Supreme Magus. Based on their king's personality, that seemed to be a plausible reason as to why the man still had not returned until now.
With such an issue being brought forward, coupled with the arrival of Elder Kurma of the Tortoise bloodline, a vote to overturn Elder Sinure's temporary leadership in the king's absence was inevitable.
"It's settled, Sinure. You have to support this now!" Lilith said in her capacity as an elder herself.
Facing the stare coming from beside him, the man with wings on his back was silent for a while, before he eventually nodded with a heavy heart. Standing from his seat, he stared at the 8 Flag Bearers before him for a moment before speaking.
"We are leaving now!"
Since all their teleportation portals were currently locked from any access, the group had to settle their journey to Golden City with spaceships.
Unfortunately, Zodiac City had a limited number of spaceships in their possession. Their entire inventory only had a dozen Gemini type ships, two Virgo type ships and one Taurus type flagship. These ships were capable of transporting thirty, five hundred and three thousand people respectively.
More than twenty-thousand half-bloods from Zodiac City's army were summoned to the Zodiac Palace's courtyard, in which the best fighters amongst them were picked out to go with 3 Grand Magus. The same also happened in the magus division, where thirty out of the fifty magus were chosen for this operation.
When the army consisting entirely of half-bloods had gathered, suddenly the sky above the city started to grumble as two huge shadows appeared out of the clouds.
Two of the three Magus Alliance spaceships that had been orbiting in outer space descended to the planet. This sudden action naturally caught the attention of everyone in the city.
A moment later, a loud sound echoed through the cloudless expanse.
"Residents of Zodiac City, you are prohibited from leaving the planet. Return to your home at once. We repeat, return to your home at once."
Instead of compliance, however, what followed after the announcement was the sight of three large dragons and a massive salamander flying out of the palace courtyard, led by Grand Magus Lilith herself.
"We are not afraid of you! Get the fuck off our planet! Or pay the consequences!!"
The two forces looked ready to clash, until their attention was distracted by the city's portal that suddenly opened. A group of a dozen magus led by the Supreme Commander himself had arrived at the city.
*****
Golden City
As soon as the final match ended with the loss of the half-blood Dragon Prince Zach, riots started to break out in many areas throughout the massive Golden City.
"That monk must have cheated!"
"That's not a fair game! We don't accept such a result!"
Every area where the riot took place was led by a few people who had obvious half-blood features on their bodies and faces. These people were wearing clothes that clearly showed their identity as they ravaged the streets. Burning down a shop and public area where thousands of other Golden City's residents gathered.
Inside the Magus Alliance headquarters of Golden Zity, a grand magus and figure of authority, Magister Barty, was busy deploying his team of enforcers to swiftly deal with the various riots happening throughout the city.
"This is outrageous. We caught hundreds of them all night, yet this still happens?!" Magister Bardy said in disbelief as his eyes stared at the screen showing the areas where the riots had occurred.
"Sir, there are too many of them! We are short on enforcers to cover all areas!"
"Request the assistance from the city guard"
"Yes Sir."
The magister then completely focused on the screen, waiting for updates from the forces that had been deployed. His eyes lit up when the first group of anarchists were caught, but his face immediately changed when he was informed those people were simply half-blood thugs for hire.
A foreboding feeling couldn't help but grow in his heart when he found out. Immediately, he sent orders to all of his men in the field.
"Be advised, these people are most likely just a distraction. We need to know their real target!"
****
If the magister had enough time or manpower, he would have known that at every incident happening all around the Golden city there were a few men in black cloaks hiding in the shadows, observing everything that was happening.
At the same time, a dozen men in identical black cloaks could be seen gathered in an empty house. Each and every one of them was a magus-level figure, primarily of Half Moon with a few even Full Moon.
This group of powerful individuals seemed to be led by two people who possessed half-blooded traits of the Tiger bloodline. While the man was a Grand Magus, the woman was unexpectedly only a magus and in the Crescent Moon stage no less.
One of the figures in black cloak stepped forward and spoke to the dark furry grand magus.
"Elder Shan, the Supreme Commander has been confirmed to have left the city."
"Good. Now, we just need to wait for our second target. Make sure to keep watch closely," ordered the dominating grand magus figure."
"Yes, Elder." The cloaked magus responded before retreating.
Right after the cloaked magus left, the female magus standing beside him opened her mouth. "Urghh… I can't wait anymore, brother! I really want to kill him for what he did to me!" Her anger made the temperature around the place drop a few degrees.
"Calm down, Nameria! Focus on the mission!"
Hearing such words, the female tiger half-blood knew she could only swallow these grievances of hers for now. With a hateful gaze, she looked out the window and stared at the huge castle-like construct in the distance.
It was the most secure building in the Golden City, the Magus Alliance headquarters.