The waves of gravity grow more intense, and the red aura surrounding the two A-Class hunters glows brighter.

While the levels of all three of my body doubles are quite similar to these two, the fact that they're A-Class hunters and more than double Rodrigo's level makes me certain they have powerful Soul Energy that will likely overpower my body doubles' pure mana control.

The wind user speaks up after I remain silent in response to their threat, he pulls a bright white bow out of an item box and holds it by his side.

"Where is your leader? The Flame Emperor. Bring them to us now so we can accept ownership peacefully. Refuse, and your barrier will fall."

The bright green and blue flashes of light grow brighter below me. At the same time, the fire wielder pulls a large red glowing axe from his own item box and stares down at me like I'm nothing but a grain of sand.

I smile inwardly at their overconfidence as I sense another pair of blue and white energies coming from the guildhall, zipping directly toward the canyon of dungeons—likely Lydia and Fisher retrieving the army from their training.

With these thoughts bolstering my confidence, I finally respond.

"You're looking for the Flame Emperor? Well, you're talking to him right now. I assure you, surrendering this city isn't going to be an option I'll accept."

Theories rush through my doubles' minds as I try to figure out why the Hunter's Association would show up here of all places and use that name.

They even mentioned the B-Class exams...

My main body must have a plan in motion, and the higher-ups in the Association have already caught on and are trying to stop it.

This city's population has grown to over 1,000, and the number of traveling traders that visit the outer village has reached as high as 4,000 on some busy days.

Word has been spreading fast among Dark Continent cities, and the currency I've created has been used and accepted in Solara and Valor City on many occasions already, thanks to Lith and Chester's help in my expansion.

Solara is still a very large city with business influence rooted in the 8 Great Regions. Chester is only the Sector 4 underground trade leader; he doesn't have direct influence over the entire city just yet.

This leads me to believe there must be many Association workers hidden in this city, and it would be extremely easy to investigate further, considering the Crimson City's outer trade villages are open to the public at any time.

If my main body revealed itself or forged new alliances during the B-Class exams to gain more powerful allies outside of the Dark Continent, I can see how the Association leaders wouldn't like this rapid expansion once they put all the scattered clues together.

They see my City's exponential growth as a high potential threat to their control over this vast and profitable Dark Continent land, so they must extinguish my influence before it's too late.

The angry yell from the wind user makes far more sense once I realize what exactly is going on here. He creates an arrow of white wind in his bow and points it down at me.

"Well then, give us your decision! Surrender and submit, or die by the hands of the 8 Great Regions. This is not optional, this is an order. We have been ordered to eliminate any growing threats that endanger our country. Your actions place you high on our immediate disposal list."

I think to myself as the gravity waves of red energy increase in strength again, and I feel a mental attack pushing down on my psyche, while the air around me thickens.

However, I still respond calmly.

"I am just a threat to you? A weed growing too large to keep in this tidy garden of a kingdom of yours?"

The fire user smirks as his axe charges up with dark flames.

"You're a smart one, aren't you? I don't know what kind of artifact you managed to use to make a barrier this strong, but I can still sense your mana control through it. You don't have what it takes to challenge us. We'll kill every strong hunter that stays loyal to you, if you don't surrender now. We are the law; you can't ignore it."

As he says these words, I remember when something similar happened in the past.

On my first big mission into the Dark Continent, as a brand new honored Elite Hunter of the Association, there were unexpected results.

My team of hunters managed to clear a labyrinth and came in contact with Demonic Energy, something the Dark Continent leaders and the Association were very keen on keeping for themselves.

So much so, that they worked together, putting bounties on our heads and ensuring that we were all dead. This was just to make sure they got more money in their pockets and their recruits, who were growing too fast, were eliminated from the picture.

To the higher-ups, this may have been just another day of business as usual.

Killing off the weak when they discover valuable information or grow faster than expected.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Eliminating dangerous outliers works well to keep a functioning system in line, but one mistake can be the end of it all.

They never managed to kill me or my teammates off then, and now they're coming back to try it all again. Even though they likely don't know our true identities, it feels all the same to me.

I let out a sigh, looking down below me as the blue and green flashes of light grow bright enough to fill my entire vision. Then, I look back at the two men and reply.

"If it's a fight you want, I'll give it to you. Just don't expect mercy from me when this is all over, because that is not something you granted me."

As I finish speaking, Maria flashes by my right side, covered in visibly dense royal blue Soul Energy.

She pulls her ice-imbued, blood-bonded sword from her item box and swings it, her eyes locked on the enemies. Her eyes glow bright blue, and I watch her body grow larger as she activates her greater form.

Abby flies by on my left. Her double ranked-up buff is activated, making her entire body glow with a bright green aura.

From what I gathered the last time I saw her in this form, it was impossible for her to attack, but she was also immune to any physical or magical attacks.

It seems her new training sessions have caused a shift in her innate abilities, because I see six large spears of summoned stone rotate around her body. They are all so densely infused with Soul Energy that the spears almost glow as bright green as Abby herself.

Both of them leave trails of Soul Energy behind as they phase through the Crimson City's defenses and face the two A-Class hunters alone in the sky.

Now that I get a better look at them, both of the women are above level 2,500 after training in the Labyrinth, but there is definitely something different about their Soul Energy auras.

Looking back on the memories that flash through my mind, I can tell that the two months of cultivating Qi beneath Valor City in the dense-aired mines have paid off.

The thick plumes of dense Soul Energy surrounding both of their forms are magnitudes higher than they were in the last major battle we had against the Lich King. They're reached an entirely new level of power, possibly even stronger than my main body was when I left for the B-Class exams.

As the two A-Class hunters see this happening, they reflexively go into attack mode, and I watch shimmering golden Soul Energy surround their bodies from the collars around their necks.

Around this golden glow, the same red light I saw before gives their bodies an aura of dense gravity that makes it seem as if their presence is heavier, rooted deeper in reality.

The fire user yells out loud, letting plumes of golden and red flames erupt from his hands and surround the fiery axe as he lifts it above his head.

"You have sealed your fate! I hereby declare The Flame Emperor an enemy of the 8 Great Regions! All threats will be dealt with; there will be no exceptions."

He swings the axe downward, and a dense wall of flames comes flooding out.

At the same time, the wind user's bow becomes flooded with golden light, and the wind arrow pointed down at us is packed with the same energy now covered in a red and golden glow.

He speaks out loud too, as he makes the arrow grow in size, filling it with golden light and releasing it down toward us.

"So long, you will not be remembered."

Looks of disgust cover both of their faces, like they're stepping on ants that crawled in front of their footsteps on a morning walk.

However, this quickly changes as Maria's Goddess-like Ice form, completely imbued with Soul Energy, sends a massive wave of royal blue ice upward at the incoming wall of flames.

It makes contact with the heavy red and golden mass of heat. Both attacks collide, making the entire desert shake, making the clouds in the sky part.

An ear-shattering crack ripples outward that can be heard for hundreds of kilometers.

Less than half a second later, Abby sends out her charged earth spears to collide with the golden arrow of wind that comes her way.

A series of gravity waves, cracks, and violent explosions ripple through the air as her spears collide with its tip, holding the wind manifestation back from falling down and piercing the dome below.

It all happens extremely fast.

Maria continues to activate her full-ranked up buff, letting more and more Soul Energy out from her seemingly endless supply within her core.

The overwhelming wave of ice envelops the golden fire. The ripples of red light tear through her ice, making the flames hotter and heavier, but the sheer amount of soul energy imbued ice that continuously pours out of the bottomless pit that is Maria's Qi and Mana stores suppresses the flames.

The fire user retreats as his attack is completely nullified. Shock and dread fill his eyes as he can't believe the sight before him.

Abby and the wind user stay at a standstill, appearing to be on equal footing at first. However, once Abby deactivates her Immortal Energy Form Buff, seeing that there will be no threat of a sneak attack, she's able to channel all of her available bright green Soul Energy into the six sharp spears.

They looked as if they were about to crack and shatter to pieces moments ago, but now the spears vibrate with energy, mending their own weak points, and pierce right through the arrow of wind, dispersing it into a meaningless energy in the air.

The spears fly forward, and the wind user is filled with terror as he tries to dodge the deadly incoming barrage of attacks.

Two whiz by his head, while the others just barely missing his vitals as he uses red and golden light imbued wind magic to push his body out of the way with milliseconds to spare.

He retreats higher into the sky too, utterly baffled by the fact that his ultimate attack was somehow matched in power.

The flashes of green and blue light grow even brighter as they follow the two A-Class hunters high into the sky.

–

Down below, surrounding the outer city, I sense the few dozen level 900+ hunters shift their battle formation completely.

At the sight of their leaders letting out powerful attacks, they assume the barrier will soon be lifted and now begin their march toward the base of the dome.

Based on their levels and perceived mana control, I find it very unlikely any of them could possibly force their way inside.

However, there are 10 members within their ranks that all use the same golden Soul Energy collars around their necks.

Based on the battle I had with Rodrigo months back, I come to the assumption that these select few will be extremely strong. Of course, not nearly as skilled as the A-Class Hunters in the sky, but they will not be average B-Class Elites either, I'm sure of that.

I don't want any innocent citizens getting caught up in the middle of this crisis, so I plan to end things as fast as possible.

In the same moment that I sense their forces moving in, I sense my own moving out.

The Crimson Army, consisting of dozens of level 1,300-1,500 hunters, bursts out of the canyon of dungeons with two body doubles as well as Lydia and Fisher guiding their lead.

I send out a pulse of telepathy to talk to all of them at once as an announcement, explaining the situation exactly and assigning their roles based on their power levels.

Within seconds, the entire dome is surrounded by the Crimson Army as well, split up into small battle formations to take on strong hunters.

My doubles, Fisher, and Lydia are tasked with holding off all enemies with golden light, while all other army members are ordered to steer clear of special Soul Energy wielding opponents like this and focus on the other Elite B-Class troops.

On this peaceful sunny morning in Sector 2 of the Dark Continent, an unexpected all-out war with the Association has begun.