Supreme Monarch

After leaving the VIP meeting room, the pair found themselves back in the main hall of the Magicians c institute, and as expected, they were faced with scrutinizing gazes as they nonchalantly walked out of the building.

They soon left the Magic institute on their carriage as the pair headed to several of the many luxurious clothing shops in the area. While Tyler normally wouldn't care what he wore as long as it was simplistic and a bit stylish.

Such things can be easily made for him in Paragon city. However, his family seems to have grown drastically recently so he needed to provide more variety and samples to improve the skills of the city's tailors.

After spending a few hours picking the most expensive and complicated outfits, they both went to an impressive restaurant for launch, giving Tyler another chance to try one of this world's delicacies.

After having a launch, it was already a bit past noon and they should've already been at the city's lord's mansion but Tyler wanted to be the last person to arrive.

He wasn't sure how many people had received the same quest as he did so he didn't waste his time summoning a creature to keep taps on the miniature castle.

After waiting for an appropriate amount of time that wouldn't make him an asshole, the pair got back on their carriage and headed straight for the lord's mansion atop the hill at the center of the Royal borough.

He had originally planned on rejecting any request from the city lord and hadn't expected the Magic Guild leader to personally offer him that quest with the right rewards to tempt him.

Whoever this new lord may be, there was one thing Tyler was certain of. He was surely more capable than the old one and had clearly planned ahead. However, even though this scenario had been predicted by Uriel and Tyler now knew how things should proceed from this point onwards.

This also meant nothing had gone awry with the card he had placed in the castle so there was no longer a need to reject such a lucrative quest.

He also couldn't help but shoulder the blame for the missing hunters as he had been responsible for their disappearance and possible death. If he hadn't taken away the minders and killed the Royal knights that were protecting them, this situation would've been avoided.

While it was extremely dangerous for a knight to venture to and from the Farbelt pass successfully without any assistance from experience Hunters, it was surely still possible and there was a chance those knights had tools and equipment for contacting the city's lord for help during times of emergencies.

So basically, Tyler's actions that day led to him receiving this quest. However, this wasn't a bad thing for his character of Lix. If anything, this situation had turned out more favorable for him than his initial expectations.

Not only could he strengthen the reputation of Lix, but he could also expand his influence rapidly, creating a wide net of connections for him that may be of use to the Darknar family in the future.

Their journey to the city's lord castle had taken less than a few minutes and they soon arrived in front of the massive gates that protected the castle.

As expected, there were two armored knights standing guard in front of the gate as they stopped their carriage from proceeding any further.

"Halt!"

One of the guards held at the top of his lungs as he walked over to the side of the carriage while casting a scrutinizing gaze on the carriage before returning his gaze to the pair seated at the driver's seat and asking:

"Please identify yourselves and state your business here?"

Tyler wasn't one to take offense to someone simply doing his job even though he was invited here and the guards should've been aware of his arrival. Without sparing the matter a second thought, he answered simply.

"I am known as Lix and this is my partner Lilith, we're from the Magic institute."

His words were to the point and brief, not saying more than was required.

"From the Magic institute?"

The knight's eyes naturally went to the Rank 2 badges on their chest and nodded knowingly before responding. He seemed he had already been given instructions about their arrival but the information had slipped his mind due to their late arrival.

As the persona of Lix and Lilith were a lot less known here in the royal borough, it seems Tyler's decision to arrive now had produced some unforeseen side effects. Not that it mattered to him at all.

Whoever this new city lord was, he was sure someone Tyler needed to be mindful of as the Demon Lord of the Darknar family. However, as Lix, he was someone he needed to get acquainted with.

After confirming that their guild badges were authentic, the pair was finally allowed into the castle's walls as they were led to the front door after their carriage was attended to by the castle's staff.

The staff then handed them over to the head maid who led them to one of the castle's meeting rooms where this city's lord as well as the other high-ranking members of the Magic institute were already awaiting his arrival.

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*Knock knock knock!

"Enter."

The magically reinforced door to the meeting room swung open as a single female figure walked into the room with her head lowered before properly bowing to the one seated at the head of the long table at the center of the room.

"Pardon the intrusion Lord Nullen, please allow me to introduce the Rank 2 Magicians of the Magic Guild, Mr. Lix, and Ms. Lilith."

The head maid announced to the ones in the room while Tyler and Nadine waited patiently outside the door.

"Oh... they finally made it, please, bring them in."

"As you wish, Lord Nullen."

With a gracious and splendid bow, the maid excused herself from the room and after only a few seconds outside, she walked back in with the two guests in tow.

"Come, come on in. Please, pull up a chair anywhere you'd like."

The pair walked in under such a gracious welcome and located their seats as they proceeded to scan the room in an instant.

There were ten people in the room. Three of them were stout-looking demons that seemed to be girt for war despite their position as high-ranking magicians for the Magic institute.

They were all clad in full plate metal armor with melee weapons resting on the wall behind their seat.

The other male demons looked like proper mages, clad in long colored robes and wielding staves-like weapons. Whereas the females seemed to be rogue-type mages except for the one seated next to the seat of honor in the room.

And seated on the long black chair at the end of the engraved wooden table at the center of the meeting room was a child-like figure with a presence so imposing, it caused Nadine to hesitate for a moment.

He was the one who had risen to beckon Lix over. Four of the people seated closest to him seemed to be dressed similarly despite the vast disparity in their choice of equipment and style.

Seated to the right of the seat of honor was a pretty young lady with short brown hair and golden-colored eyes. She was clad in a purplish black and luxurious Magic robe and wielded a curved wooden staff with two contrasting gems embedded on its end.

Right next to her was a burly man clad in a light suit of raven-black metal armor with purple lining. The armor seemed to have been made of immensely valuable and flexible material as it gave off an impressive aura.

And to the right of the seat of honor was one of the only three familiar faces in this room. It was the face of a young man clad in a purplish black mages robe and an assortment of colorful rings on his fingers.

The man had long raven black hair with purple streaks running down its edges and a familiar carefree expression on his face. This was the same person that had entered the meeting room with the assistant Guild leader of the merchant Guild the last time they were there, which was only a day ago.

Apparently, his presence there may have been orchestrated by this city lord. Hence why they had been able to place pressure on an organization like the merchant guild.

Naturally, this wasn't new information for Tyler as there weren't that many powers capable of influencing an independent organization like the Merchant guild despite them being the weakest of the three organizations due to their flawed fundamental structure.

Next to the young man was a young female demon clad in black leather armor of a similar design and the lower part of her face was covered with a purple mask. With short black hair that was tied into a bun, her sharp gaze naturally scrutinized the pair that had just walked in.

After the maid introduced them once more and left, Lix and Lilith took a seat, under the eyes of everyone else, and then the standing man that look more like a young girl spoke once more.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am the newly appointed lord of this city, Nullen Marx Zorak."

She was a young child in the presence of a monster. She had long blonde hair that fell all the way down to her feet and an adorable-looking face that was complemented by her baby-blue eyes.

However, this young girl had just introduced herself as male and anyone with eyes would find that to be completely absurd.

"These four here are my personal guards, Ral, Willow, Glinda, and Kung."

The childlike lord pointed at each person as he called their names to Lix. It seems the name of the one he was familiar with was Ral, the female mage was called Willow and the masked rogue was named Glinda.

"While I'm sure you're already aquatinted with these two, allow me to introduce them to you non the less. This is the Guild Leader of the Hunter Guild, Ivan Geryl."

Lix nodded, and Ivan smiled slightly in response.

"Ah Mr. Lix, we meet again."

"Indeed."

"And this is the leader of Winged City's Merchant Guild, Riokar Villard."

The middle-aged man who Lix had met in the Merchant guild the first time they had entered this city, nodded to him in response to Nullen's introduction.

"Now allow me to introduce you to the ones that will be accompanying you on this quest. The highest ranking members of Wingcity's Magic institute. They are all Rank 7 Magicians who are experts in their respective fields of Magic.