Chapter 178: Make It Quick

"Six days!! Do you know the cause?! So many monsters won’t just attack like this... What is the strongest rank among them?" Marianne asked urgently, her eyes glued to the glowing map screen.

​"SSS-RANK, but there is only one reading of that magnitude," the analyst quickly answered, his fingers flying across the glowing keyboard before him.

​’SSS-RANK? A monster of that scale should be a special Boss-stage creature... This is extremely bad. We don’t have enough time to request reinforcements from other cities—the travel time alone would take them two weeks at minimum,’ Marianne thought, her jaw tight as she stared at the pulsing red cluster.

​"Alright, send word to the other top guilds immediately! Not just the top ten, but the entire Top 50!! Every Awakened above C-Rank must prepare for battle!" She commanded, her voice echoing with absolute authority throughout the command center.

​"Yes, Guild Leader!"

​"What is that?"

​Asher’s calm, measured voice cut through the tense atmosphere, instantly drawing the attention of everyone in the room. The analysts and officers turned, staring at his outstretched finger, and followed his gesture to a specific sector of the map.

​"What is that blacked-out region?" He asked, eyeing the massive dark void adjacent to the red signatures.

​"That is a dense forest sector... The canopy foliage and energy are too thick for our long-range sensors to penetrate, so the system feed automatically renders it as a black zone," Marianne explained, stepping closer to the display.

​"Those monsters are flooding directly out from that dark forest... Do you think a dungeon gate opened and broke out in that location?" Asher asked again, his simple question stunning everyone present into dead silence.

​If an unregistered dungeon had reached its critical timer and experienced a full breakout, it meant waves of wild monsters were being discharged into the world—and the final entity leading them was always a creature ranked either a full rank higher than the dungeon itself or sitting at the absolute peak of that dungeon’s rank.

​They all turned their eyes back to the screen in growing dread. If Asher’s logical deduction was correct, then the origin point had to be at least an SS-RANK or even an SSS-RANK dungeon gate.

​’Damn it!! Did a disaster-level breakout occur deep inside that unmonitored zone without us even noticing?!’

​Marianne gritted her teeth in bitter regret: "This is precisely why I instructed Tyson to deploy his strongest scouts to map and mark that forest sector!" She muttered under her breath, her fist clenching by her side.

​Asher stared at her stressed expression, then shifted his gaze back to the glowing holographic map. Silverspire, as the grand capital of Vaeloria, was a sprawling metropolis housing a population of tens of millions—approaching nearly a hundred million citizens across its sprawling districts. A city of that scale surely possessed enough high-tier Awakened personnel to manage a monster surge, didn’t it?

​Furthermore, the city was fortified with ancient, multi-layered defensive walls and a heavy magical barrier designed specifically to shield the civilian population from high-rank beast tides, making its exterior geography the single premier defensive stronghold in the world.

​"I will get going." Asher said suddenly, breaking his silence and turning toward the exit doors.

​"...?!"

​Marianne whipped around toward him, her eyes wide: "But Lord Asher! We will need all the help we can possibly get for a threat of this scale!" She called out. ℴ

​Asher paused, looking back over his shoulder at her with a slight, cool frown appearing on his face: "Your own analyst just said it—the strongest monster in that horde is only SSS-RANK."

​’Only SSS-RANK...?’

​Every officer and strategist in the room blinked in stunned, dumbfounded silence, processing his casual words, as Asher continued smoothly:

​"Are you telling me that the gods Guild, Celestial Guild, Holy Sword Guild, and Dragon Guild combined cannot handle a single monster attack of that level?"

​"....?!"

​Marianne froze, completely speechless. Her stiff shoulders slowly slumped as a surge of grim reality and pride washed over her: "I understand... We will not fail your trust!" She nodded her head firmly, straightening her posture:

​"Please leave this to the Guilds! We will settle this issue cleanly without disturbing the daily lives of the citizens!" She declared with fierce determination.

​"Good."

​Asher replied plainly, pushed open the double doors, and walked out of the command center.

​The room remained silent for a beat before the team turned back to their leader, who exhaled a long breath and barked her orders:

​"Contact the Top 50 Guilds immediately."

​"Yes, Guild Leader!!"

​Marianne let out a heavy sigh. At the moment, they lacked complete intelligence regarding their enemy’s exact composition and total numbers—their thermal and energy tracking could only provide detailed physical scans once the monsters crossed into the thousand-mile perimeter.

​’The broad red dot alerts give us a rough trajectory, but they don’t provide precise biological data on the vanguard. For now, we must mobilize every soldier and Awakened capable of wielding a blade,’ she thought, her mind racing with defense strategies.

​Asher walked smoothly through the grand gates of the Holy Sword Guild Headquarters and stepped onto the busy pedestrian avenue. He paused for a brief moment, looking back over his shoulder at the towering glass peak of the skyscraper.

​’That blacked-out forest sector doesn’t sit well with me... Though perhaps I am just overthinking things,’ he thought, turning away. His physical body instantly shimmered and vanished into complete invisibility as he activated his stealth ability.

​’It has been years since a full-scale monster tide threatened the capital, and now an entire army rushes out simultaneously... A major dungeon breakout definitely occurred in those woods.’ He pondered, taking a slow breath as he walked through the heavy crowd. Unaware citizens brushed past his position, completely unable to sense his presence or aura.

​’Regardless, my main priority right now is curing Kelly. Everything else comes second...’ Asher suddenly checked his pace, turning his head toward a high-end luxury electronics storefront before him. The pristine glass displays showcased cutting-edge smartphones, sleek magical laptops, and various personal communication devices.

​’Wait... None of my wives have modern personal phones.’ He realized, his eyes narrowing slightly in thought. ’I should get them one each, along with laptops and whatever communication gear I can find.’

​With a simple thought, he deactivated his stealth skill. His figure materialized out of thin air right near the entrance, startling several nearby pedestrians.

​"....?!"

​"Did he just appear out of nowhere?!"

​"He must be a high-rank Assassin-class Awakened..."

​Asher completely ignored the hushed murmurs around him and walked directly inside the air-conditioned store.

​DING!

​"Good day, Sir! Welcome." The chief receptionist behind the counter greeted him warmly, her professional smile instantly melting into genuine awe as she looked at his face.

​’Wow, he’s insanely handsome... I can’t even look away,’ she thought, her heart skipping a beat.

​"I want to purchase three phones for my wives... Give me the absolute best models available. I don’t care about the price," Asher stated calmly, staring straight at the attendant.

​"Um... Oh! Yes, sir!" She snapped out of her daze, nodding quickly before gesturing with her hand to summon a senior sales consultant over to the counter.

​Asher stood quietly, his posture relaxed, as the receptionist swiftly relayed his explicit instructions and demands to the salesman, who nodded respectfully and hurried off toward the secure inventory vault.

​"He will be right back with the top models, Sir..." She said politely, booting up her primary register terminal and tapping on the screen.

​’Wives? So he’s already married—and to three women?! Buying three top-tier flagship phones without even asking for the price... Those wives must be living the ultimate luxury life.’ She mused, stealing another glance up at Asher’s striking features.

​’Maybe a man like him would take a fourth wife... I certainly wouldn’t mind—gosh, what on earth am I thinking?! Focus, girl!’ She shook her head briskly to clear her scattered thoughts, her sudden movement causing Asher to raise an eyebrow in mild confusion.

​"Sir, the total price for the three flagship smartphones comes out to six million dollars. They are all matching current-gen models, each priced at two million... Currently, these are the highest-spec devices on the market."

​"Alright, I will take them."

​"Sir, due to the high transaction amount, our policy requires electronic payment rather than physical currency. Please initiate the transfer, or—"

​"—Sure... Be quick about it."

​Asher cut her off smoothly, reaching into his casual jacket to pull out a sleek, obsidian-black card, extending it toward her.

​"Is that... a premium limited-edition Black Card?!" The receptionist gasped, her professional composure completely slipping. As someone who handled wealthy clients daily, this was her very first time seeing such an exclusive, uncapped card held by someone so young.

​"Yes, Sir... Right away." She said nervously, her hands trembling slightly as she gently took the card from Asher’s fingers and swiped it through the high-security terminal. Asher leaned forward and casually entered his pin on the encrypted pad facing him.

​{Payment Successful.}

​"....?!"

​The receptionist carefully removed the card and handed it back to Asher with both hands just as the salesman returned carrying a sleek, branded gift bag. She took the bag with a respectful nod, pulled out one of the sealed phone boxes, and presented it to him:

​"Sir, please feel free to inspect and test the seal—"

​"—No need. I don’t believe a store of this caliber would dare attempt to cheat me," Asher said simply, taking the bag.

​The receptionist let out a slight, nervous laugh, quickly organizing the remaining documentation and warranty slips before handing him the finalized receipt:

​"Thank you so much for your patronage, Sir! It was an honor serving you."

​Asher gave a short nod and took the receipt. He paused at the threshold, glancing back over his shoulder at the rows of high-end laptops and tablet displays lining the store interior.

​’No need to rush this myself. Looking through all these additional devices will only delay me getting back to the estate. I will just send Tang or Jessica here later to buy the rest of the equipment,’ he thought, stepping out of the showroom and disappearing down the street.