Second World

"Enemy?" Diana asked.

Jack didn't explain his words to Diana. He instead asked Severus, "How about opening just a little gap for a small team to enter and close it again after that? I don't think the demons will expect that a gap will suddenly open in this dome."

Severus pondered Jack's suggestion and said, "Well, that is doable. But whoever wants to go in like that is either insane or has a death wish. Do I need not say again that a mythical-grade demon might be waiting inside?"

"But their number can't be that many, right?" Peniel joined the conversation. "Original demons from the underworld require corrupted mana from that realm to survive. If the portal has shrunk down, the corrupted mana will lessen. This limits the number and also the power level of the demons that can exist behind this dome."

"You are very knowledgeable, miss," Severus praised. "But as I said, we don't know the real situation behind this dome. It is still a high risk to enter. One other thing to note, if Your Majesty truly wants to send a team to go inside to take one of the artifacts, Your Majesty has to be in that team."

"That is out of the question!" Diana uttered.

Jack turned to her. He expected her loyalty to have increased, but he didn't expect it to increase to the extent where she showed such a concern for him.

Diana noticed Jack's gaze. Her cheek became red and she turned away. "Our… Our kingdom has just lost a king. If we lose another one again, it will be a catastrophe."

Jack smiled at her words and said, "Don't worry, I won't die." He then turned to Severus and asked, "I do intend to go in myself, but why do you say that I have to?"

"Because an enchantment had been placed on the artifacts," Severus answered. "Only Themisphere's king can take them away. Well, for the Totem Banner, an additional exception was placed where Verremor's grand chief can take it as well. This was the demand of past Themisphere's fourth king. He didn't want anyone to steal the artifacts once the portal was closed."

"You mean he didn't want the Order of Magi people to take them once the job is done," Jack said, to which Severus just shrugged.

Jack then asked, "For how many people do you think you can open the gap safely and then close it again before any of the demons inside can react?"

Severus made a few mental calculations and said, "Well, if you can find people insane enough to follow you, I reckon five should be okay. Going for six might push it a bit into the risky zone."

"Five… After I enter, can I summon my royal agents inside?" Jack asked.

"No. Royal agents are considered natives of this world. Once you enter, you are cut out from the outside world. You will not be able to call for help from the natives. But you can still summon something that is from within you. Like your summons or your pet, for example."

The knowledge that the king was an outworlder with Blade Dancer, Archmage, and Beastmaster classes was already common knowledge to the mass.

"Dang!" Jack cursed. 'Therras just has to go through a metamorphosis at this time,' he thought.

"You can summon your royal agents prior and have them follow you inside if you want," Severus said.

Jack turned to Diana and asked, "What are the level and grade of the strongest officer in this city?"

"That will be Knight Captain Dimitri. He is a level 60 rare elite," Diana answered.

'Not so high,' Jack thought. He himself is stronger than this Knight Captain. But what can he expect? This is not the metropolis-level main city.

"Who is the next strongest?" Jack asked.

"The next strongest is Rowan, a Knight lieutenant who was a level 65 special elite," Diana answered.

"Do you have another rare elite after Dimitri?"

"We have a few, but the highest level after Dimitri is level 50."

Jack made some pondering.

"Should I call the officers from other cities?" Diana asked.

"No. I prefer to not let too many people learn about this place," Jack replied. "Do you trust this Dimitri and Rowan?"

"I do."

"Call them over, please. For the other two, I will summon my royal agents," Jack said.

"Right now?" Diana asked.

"The sooner we deal with this, the better," Jack nodded.

"All right," Diana said. She then called one soldier over. She instructed him to head up and look for Dimitri and Rowan.

"Hold!" Jack suddenly uttered.

Diana turned to him questioningly.

"Don't need to call Rowan anymore. Just call Dimitri, but have him come here tomorrow morning instead of now," Jack said.

Diana was puzzled by the sudden change, but he asked the soldier to do as the king said. The soldier went away to look for Dimitri.

"I assume you are not going into that dome today then," Diana said to Jack.

"Yes. One of my helpers just become available, but he can only come tomorrow morning. We will wait for him," Jack said.

Diana wondered if what Jack meant was another outworlder, but she didn't push for an explanation.

The one who had just become available was Arlcard. Jack had just received a mental message from him. Jack asked him if he could come. He told Jack to give him one night to recuperate. He just came out of his cocoon. He wanted to adjust himself to his current power first.

'Current power. That sounds promising,' Jack thought.

If Arlcard truly had become a mythical grade as Peniel mentioned, then Jack had to have him when he entered the dome.

Since he had free time now, Jack asked Severus if he wanted to hang out in the city. Severus gave him a rain check. He said since Jack wanted to go in tomorrow. This gave him time to double-check his estimation about opening the gap safely and prepare for tomorrow's incursion into the dome.

Jack gave the large black dome another glance before saying farewell to Severus. He and Diana then left.

During the ride back in the carriage, Jack told Diana to have the carriage bring them somewhere secluded. He transformed into his disguise inside the carriage, which surprised Diana.

Jack told Diana that he would come directly to the warehouse tomorrow morning. He then left.