As the people gathered in the Duke Castle Grounds stared at the imposing man with curiosity and anticipation, Theodore Ryeagon continued his speech.
"Today marks the first day of the guild wars. On the right side, we have the Crimson Dawn, Fanged Legions, Mad Wolves, Grey Talons, Raven Shields and the Flare Sky Guilds."
"Who have come together to face off against the two guilds on the left side, Mystic Society and Twilight Choas."
He deeply eyed the leaders of the eight guilds who stood forward from the rest and narrowed his eyes as he stated loudly.
"With the rules set by his majesty, King Balthazar Draken, the mighty ruler of the Drakovia Kingdom. I hereby announce that the guild wars will be of the type of Dungeon Defence War!! Taking place in the Edenmont Dungeon!!"
His words spread throughout the field, garnering surprise and shock amongst the crowd of thousands of people.
"What?! The war will take place in the Edenmont Dungeon?!"
"Wasn't that place sealed off a few years ago?"
"What's the meaning of this?! Do they want us to all die?!"
A series of questions and exclamations were raised from all the corners of the place, as many people found it hard to control their emotions.
Rhodes muttered as he made a sarcastic smile on his face.
"They really think sending us to the Dungeon will be enough to decrease our numbers."
Dante on the other hand frowned in confusion, the dots in his mind slowly moving together.
"I don't think it's that simple. Theodore wouldn't make such a hasty and open move. Not if they aren't involved in this...."
Behind them, Felix asked his teammates with a curious face.
"Edenmont Dungeon? There's a dungeon in this city? Hey Roven, can you tell me more about it?"
He knew about the dungeons and their information from a book he had read in the forbidden library, but it was the first time he heard there was one in Edenmont City.
Roven similarly had a shocked face when he heard the announcement, but he nevertheless explained it.
"Well, it's not strange that you don't know about it. The thing is....."
Dungeons were a separate realm of the world with their own ecosystem and life, attached to the main world like bubbles and had entrances at specific places.
They were also the primary reason why places like Edenmont City and the others were chosen as one of the Nine Great Cities including the Royal Capital, each having their dungeons.
Dungeons were divided into five tiers, based on their size and danger, they were called: Mini-Dungeon, City Dungeon, Realm Dungeon, Abyss Dungeon and Void Dungeon.
The dungeon found in Edenmont City was the city-size Dungeon, named after the city like most others.
But the dungeon present in the Royal Capital was of a higher tier, a Realm Dungeon.
A few years ago, the Edenmont Dungeon was closed off from any activities by the Duke Family due to unknown reasons, causing much hostility among the guilds who were often travellers of the dungeon for resources and experience.
But the Council of Guilds failed to revoke the order, thus refusing them any access to the dungeon from then on.
Today, the Duke announcing that the guild war would take place in the dungeon brought forward lots of questions and exclamations.
Theodore remained calm under the slightly aggressive nature of the crowd, his eyes making contact with a hooded man at the far back of the crowd.
The hooded man gave a small nod and turned around, swiftly moving through the crowd and disappearing out of the castle compound.
"Alright, ladies and gentlemen. As the venue for the guild wars has already been decided, let me explain to you the rules of it."
No matter how much restless the crowd was, they turned back quite as they wanted to hear the rules.
'There's going to be a lot of skill points for me to harvest in this guild wars, that's a fact.'
A crazy smile threatened to widen on his face, but he made sure to hide it from scaring the already panicked Steve beside him.
"Is that man for real?! The winner takes them all? Even Miss Elsa's under-"
Felix and Eric were quick to cover the boy's mouth from uttering his next words, with Roven turning around with a curious face.
"You said something about my sister, Steve?"
The two of them let go of him as Felix pinched his back and whispered into his ear.
"Will you die if you close that mouth of yours for a moment?"
Steve groaned in pain as he waved his hand at Roven with a wry smile.
"It was nothing. I was just saying the rules are simple yet harsh for us."
Roven nodded as he frowned seriously.
"I agree. There are only two guilds on our side, meaning we'll only have two flags while they'll have eight. They also have more numbers than us. It's a complete disadvantage for us."
Felix shrugged as he pointed out something that they didn't notice.
"Don't you think this is much better than doing a battle royale type or a one-on-one competition? We'll be entering a huge dungeon, and if we make a proper plan by using the surroundings and the terrain, then it wouldn't be impossible to win."
His words made them nod as they realised the dungeon defence type of guild wars wasn't that bad for them.
Eric had an impressed face as he muttered.
"Didn't know you were the smart type."
Steve folded his arms and chuckled.
"Nah, what he said was simple. It's just you who's dumb to even understand that."
"What'd you say? Huh?!", Eric gritted his teeth as he angrily stepped forward.
"Oh, you couldn't hear? I said you're pretty du-"
Steve got smacked on the head before he could continue by Felix, who pointed to the front.
"The Duke's saying something...."
Steve and Eric could only harrumph at each other before listening to the man as Roven nodded at Felix gratefully.
"Keep it up, Felix. You can change them."
Felix waved off his hand as he replied.
"As long as they're not annoying me."
Roven couldn't help but sigh at his words, as he thought at least there was another person in the team who'd help him contain the troublemakers.
'He's the bigger yet the silent troublemaker of them all....'
Roven felt like crying at the hardships he had to suffer at such a young age, but he nevertheless opened his ears to listen to the Duke's words.
"My men have already opened two gates leading to the edges of the Edenmont Dungeon. I request the two groups to walk towards the gate's path shown by the guides."
"Ladies and Gentlemen, now without further waiting, let us begin the Guild Wars!!"