878 Matriarch
Ruby Prince, Sapphire Prince, and Emerald Prince passed through a vast forest as they headed for the ‘entrance’.
On their way, they each encountered strong monsters of varying powers. Be it giant trees whose leaves poisoned the air, birds that breathed fire, tigers that spat lightning, and space-twisting snakes, they faced them all.
Even though the Synthetic World had large numbers of powerful monsters, none reached the Celestial Rank.
In fact, the number of Sovereign state monsters was few. Compared to the well-trained, well-equipped Sovereigns from the Duchies, these wild monsters were more than a notch weaker.
So, when the Sovereigns released their aura, the clever monsters hid. Some of the foolhardy beasts didn’t care and confronted them and turned them into dead meat in seconds.
Unlike the groups of the three Duchies, Prince Shak moved cautiously. He didn’t let his group’s Sovereign unleash his aura nor did he prefer combat.
Whenever they encountered a beast, they avoided it and moved forward.
An hour later, Prince Shak was almost near the entrance—a three-colored vortex. The entrance was on the other side of the river and was surrounded by dense trees and plants.
As Prince Shak was about to cross a river, he noticed a few corpses floating by—Humanoid corpses that weren’t much different from the species in the Jewel Kingdom except for their normal skin.
“Master, these are the natives.” Sovereign Alban said in a serious voice as he glanced around with a cautious expression. “This is the most dangerous phase for our entrance.”
The thick forest around them was filled with dangerous creatures. The red river was contaminated with various liquids that would eat away the lifespan. The air was occasionally filled with poisonous gas released by a tree or a creature.
In short, this area was the most dangerous they came across so far. Without the protection of a Sovereign, death was likely.
Adding to the woes, ‘natives’ existed here.
Every Synthetic World had its natives. And by the virtue of living in such a dangerous environment, they grow into a strong and dangerous group.
Their strength was equal to the strength of two or three planet armies of a civilization that rules its own star system.
And their groups entered the Synthetic World—home of these natives and were considered as ‘Invaders’. Natives would naturally show hostility. The most frequent place for ambushes was usually the entrance to the ‘Inside’.
Of course, Alban wasn’t afraid of them. The cap on any Synthetic World was the Sovereign state. The ones stronger couldn’t enter. And if anyone reaches the Sovereign state inside, they’d be expelled.
So, a Sovereign inside a synthetic world means near invincibility.
“I will survey the area first and then we can enter,” Alban said and teleported right next to the vortex.
His space sense was open all this time, but it didn’t detect any natives. But the moment he appeared beside the vortex, he immediately sensed thirty natives hiding inside the hollows of the trees.
These trees apparently had a shielding function and managed to keep the natives hidden until now.
“Die!” Alban waved his hand, and the space fluctuated violently.
It looked like a mirror breaking. The trees were sliced into countless pieces and so were the natives inside them.
The smell of blood filled the air as pieces of meat and bones scattered all over the place.
Prince Shak frowned but didn’t comment. He simply gave a signal to the third person in the group who had been silent the whole time.
The thin man in the team with hollow eyes stepped forward. He was the ‘6-path’ Hybrid sent by the Royal Department to assist Prince Shak.
‘Two origins with three paths each, just how strong would that be?’ Prince Shak wondered as the Hybrid snapped his fingers.
The flesh and blood, including the remnants of the trees, caught fire and burnt to ashes.
Then, he nodded stiffly to Prince Shak and performed a saluting gesture even more rigidly.
From the beginning to the end, his eyes remained hollow.
‘There’s nothing alive about a Hybrid.’ Prince Shak shook his head and entered the vortex.
Every Synthetic World was divided into two parts.
The Outer Region where the natives resided was often filled with dangerous creatures and a hostile environment. It’s a world of its own.
Then there was the Inner Region. It’s relatively much smaller in area, almost 100 times smaller.
It was much richer than the Outer Region, be it natural treasures, aura concentration, or creatures.
Other than staying significant, the treasures found in the Inner region were a major reason the Princes and Princesses of these Duchies took up this task.
As the silhouette of the Hybrid who entered the vortex last disappeared, the leaves of the trees nearby rustled.
One after another, humanoids landed in front of the vortex. They were wearing colorful dresses made from furs of different creatures. Some were even wearing armor made of precious alloys.
The Princes encountered ‘natives’ who were wearing animal fur and leaves, and looked incredibly savage.
So, they thought these natives were barbaric.
Natives were different in every Synthetic World. Some were still living like a tribe. Some formed various kingdoms. Others even formed a unified Empire and negotiated with the invaders.
So, the current invaders didn’t feel it was weird to encounter barbaric natives.
If they saw the current attire of the so-called ‘barbarians’, they’d realize it was all a scam.
“Ho, did they all die?” A beautiful middle-aged woman walked toward the ashes. Adorned in green clothes woven with the finest silk, she looked dazzling with a tiara made of gemstones on her head.
Hearing her words, everyone on the scene stiffened and bowed toward her. “Glory to Matriarch!”
The woman waved her hand and pointed to the corpses floating on the river. “Burn them. Undead are disgusting.”
“Yes, Matriarch!”
All the dead natives were thrown into a pit and burnt to ashes.
Watching the smoke reach the sky, the middle-aged woman’s lips raised slightly.
Her political enemies took the bait and became the ‘Heroes’ who wanted to defeat the invaders. Now, she’d have less opposition.
As the Matriarch was about to leave, an anxious voice spoiled her mood.
“B-But Matriarch, they have a point. The Invaders should be stopped. What if they pass the test and conquer this world?”
“Pass?” The Matriarch turned around with a sneer and pointed to the vortex. “We lost our ancient history records, but our oldest writings date back to thirty thousand years.
In just recorded history, more than three million invaders have entered that land. None of them returned. Those idiots must still be thinking that our world is like any other Synthetic World. They’re in for a rude awakening. But meh, they’ll all die anyway.”
The woman who asked the question bowed her head and turned silent. Along with relief that their lives were going to be fine, she was now filled with fear.
This Matriarch was the same person who encouraged some people in the political faction to attack the invaders by saying that the moment this world gets conquered, they’d be slaughtered.
They took the bait and died a gruesome death.
“M-Matriarch,” a stiff voice called out.
“Yes?”
“We’ve encountered only twelve people so far. We didn’t even find the traces of the last three.” The reconnaissance officer reported.
“Oh,” The Matriarch narrowed her eyes. “I still have a few more ‘Heroes’. I’ll send them to hunt down these invaders. If the invaders die, well and good. These Heroes will succumb to their injuries and become martyrs. If the invaders kill them, it’s a pity.”
“…”
Everyone in the scene pitied the next invaders and the heroes. No matter what they do, they’d both die in the end.