The Azure Moon knights prepared dinner over an open fire, and the entire party was invited to eat within King Shen’s camp, while Captain Lancelot returned to his own command pavilion.
The meal consisted of only a single dish, a thick, hearty meat stew, but it tasted so incredible that absolutely no one asked for anything else.
King Shen sat near the fire and spoke to the paladin, gratitude lacing his tired voice. "I cannot thank you enough for coming here to assist me, Sir Gideon. I was genuinely losing my mind. I had no idea what to do. I have to return to the kingdom soon for Syra’s wedding, but I cannot leave without my son."
Yue paused with her wooden spoon halfway to her mouth. "The wedding has already happened, Your Majesty."
Shen lowered his bowl. He looked profoundly sad, yet not entirely shocked. "So I missed it," he muttered softly, staring into the campfire. "If Ryu had not entered that cursed rift, I would have at least ordered him to return home so Syra could be happy. He could have performed the ceremonial duel with the groom and fulfilled his duties as her older brother."
"You do not need to worry about the ceremony," Yue reassured him, snapping her jade fan open. "Solomon performed the duel in Prince Ryu’s stead, exactly as Princess Syra requested."
Shen furrowed his brow and looked around the campfire. "Who is Solomon?"
Yue gestured toward the silver-haired boy. Solomon was currently ignoring the royal conversation entirely, stuffing his face with a second massive bowl of stew without a single care in the world. Gideon sat right beside him, equally focused on enjoying the hearty meal.
"He is a student at the Azure Dragon Sect," Yue explained.
Shen thoroughly inspected the teenager’s striking features. He leaned closer to the pavilion master and lowered his voice to a whisper. "Is he your lover or a secret suitor? He is incredibly handsome. Which noble house does he hail from?"
"There is nothing like that between us," Yue responded, her tone perfectly flat. "He is simply a commoner."
Shen widened his eyes in pure shock. "A commoner? Then why on earth did you bring a novice student with you on a dangerous royal expedition?"
"He is not exactly what he appears to be," Yue clarified. "He is exceptionally strong."
Shen looked back at Solomon, his gaze drifting to the massive executioner’s sword resting against the boy’s chair. "He certainly looks physically capable," Shen muttered doubtfully, "but I feel like that giant slab of steel might be far too heavy for him to wield properly in a real fight."
[1Fizzy: the king is doubting Solo Man!]
[James_hayes: bro is about to get his mind blown later.]
[Mezz_3863: Solo Man literally uses that sword to play tag.]
[Tyler_Klare: the classic ’he looks too weak’ trope.]
[Wesley_Smith: wait until he finds out it’s an S rank Holy relic.]
Suddenly, a royal guard came rushing into the encampment, gasping for breath. "Your Majesty! The Prince has returned!"
Shen dropped his wooden bowl onto the dirt and quickly stood up. "Where is he?!"
"He is currently at the Holy Knight camp!" the guard responded frantically.
Shen, Yue, and Gideon abandoned their meals and hurriedly left the tent, rushing across the valley toward the opposing encampment.
Solomon stayed behind. He finished the last few savory sips of his stew, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and let out a satisfied sigh.
"I feel great right now," Solomon told the floating bronze owl, rolling his shoulders to loosen his joints. "I feel like I could slay a few giant beasts."
[System: Zoomtech has gifted 5 Copper Daggers (500 Points)!]
Message: "Are you not tired? You traveled and cultivated the entire day, climbed a mountain at top speed, used up all your aura, and then explored the ruined palace for the rest of the night!"
Solomon nodded at the screen. "Rather than feeling tired, I just feel a little slow right now. But now that I have eaten a full stomach of food, I should be good to go for a few more hours. Although, my aura reserves are still recovering."
[Fatal_Beauty: please take a nap Solo Man.]
[Foodball: bro is running on fumes and stew.]
[M00N: zero aura but 100% confidence.]
[Berell: the Man in the Solo Man is kicking in.]
[Stinosaurus: bro has no aura.]
Solomon finally left the tent and jogged toward the Holy Knight camp. He arrived to find a massive crowd of armored soldiers gathered around the main pavilion. He pushed his way through the murmuring ranks and entered the tent.
He saw King Shen standing over a row of bodies laid out on the dirt floor.
Solomon froze in shock. He stepped further inside and let out a sigh of relief upon realizing the knights were just severely injured, not dead. Palace healers scrambled around the wounded men, applying glowing salves and binding deep lacerations.
He spotted Yue standing near the edge of the medical perimeter and walked over to her. "What happened in there?"
"Only three Azure Moon knights survived out of the original thirty," Yue responded grimly, keeping her voice low. "Seven Holy Knights managed to return with them. The rest perished inside."
Solomon looked toward the open flap of the tent. He could see the ominous purple rift still pulsing actively in the distance. He instantly realized the combined expedition had failed to clear the dungeon.
Captain Lancelot, King Shen, and Gideon stood near the tactical map, intensely discussing their next move.
"The rift is a confirmed A+ Grade anomaly," Lancelot reported, his golden armor stained with soot. "The boss monster’s attacks cover a massive, unpredictable range. Furthermore, the creature possesses an extreme regenerative factor. Our standard crusaders simply could not bypass its healing."
"I will go in right now and force the anomaly closed," Gideon declared, grabbing his broadsword.
"You absolutely cannot do that, Sir Gideon," Shen argued, stepping into the paladin’s path. "If something were to happen to you inside that dungeon, I would never be able to face the Emperor."
Lancelot nodded in agreement. "I concur with His Majesty. A Paladin of the Lumiere Dynasty should not risk his life in a volatile spatial rift. I will immediately send a magical missive to summon the High Executioners of the Holy Empire. They are specially trained to handle regenerative anomalies. This is no longer a matter of securing loot or claiming rewards. This is about neutralizing a continental threat."
While the leaders debated the logistics of summoning the executioners, Solomon quietly slipped away from the crowded pavilion. He utilized Basic Stealth to navigate through the distracted guards, creeping closer to the pulsing spatial rift.
He hid behind a stack of supply crates. Four heavily armored Holy Knights still stood guard directly in front of the glowing portal, their halberds crossed to block the entrance.
’If I try to sneak past them, they will definitely spot me from a distance and start shouting,’ Solomon plotted in his mind. ’That will alert Gideon and the entire camp. I just need to find a way to distract them long enough to slip inside the rift.’
He tapped his floating blue interface and opened the Stream Shop. Scrolling past the weapons and armor, he checked the utility items tab. He quickly found a pack of ’Smokescreen Pellets’ designed for rapid evasion. The system imposed a strict weekly limit of two purchases for the item.
He immediately spent two thousand points, buying both pellets for a thousand points each.
[Frendscham: bro just bought smoke bombs!]
[Draken_Korin: stealth mission engaged.]
1
[MattMickyD: Solo Man is going in!]
[GoonLord: DO NOT DO IT YOU HAVE NO AURA!]
[PandoraLifeweaver: bro is about to solo an A+ dungeon.]
Solomon hauled the first smoke pellet over the supply crates, tossing it a fair distance to the left of the portal. The pellet exploded with a loud pop, releasing a thick, hissing cloud of white smoke.
"What was that?!" the left guard shouted, breaking formation to investigate the sudden noise.
As soon as the first two guards moved toward the smoke, Solomon threw the second pellet a few feet further away in the opposite direction. Another pop echoed across the clearing, drawing the remaining two sentries away from their posts to check the perimeter.
The path to the rift was completely clear.
Solomon calmly stepped out from behind the crates. He rested Eden’s Penance casually against his shoulder and walked directly into the swirling purple vortex.
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