Ruler's Awakening: Inheritor of the SSS-Rank Dimensional Talent

Arthur's eyes opened. He looked forward and saw many adventurers stepping out of the Dark Pillar gate —having finished the raid.

Sara and the others were looking in the same way as Arthur. Karen was distracted when she saw a line of two-story buildings faintly visible through the gaps in the forest trees.

She stepped forward next to Arthur. Karen pointed to the building, saying it was a small town on the 15th floor.
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Interested by Karen's words, Arthur shifted his eyes from the front to the left side. It was true what Karen said; it was a small town on the 15th floor.

People stepped with the same beat and purpose, aiming for the town through the forest path ahead of them.

There were no lines of fear on their faces as they passed through the forest as if they were not worried about the wild monsters.

"Hey, did you hear? There's gonna be an execution held in the town center."

"Really? It's already the third this week. Are they trying to reduce the number of people in the town?"

"I don't know, the rules have become very strict lately. Many are sentenced to death for minor mistakes they've made."

Arthur listened briefly to what they were talking about. Executions? Minor mistakes? Depopulation of the town? This wasn't very clear to Arthur.

'Looks like I'm gonna get into trouble again in this town. Let's hope my hunch is wrong,' Arthur sighed.

Not wanting to waste any time, Arthur and the others decided to leave the light stone near the Dark Pillar to reach the town soon.

The 13th squad stepped amid adventurers who finished their raid, some injured, some joyful. Not a few turned their heads to the side, watching Arthur and the members of the 13th Squad closely.

"Are they from Sky Sword?" asked another adventurer.

"It seems so. They were brave enough to wear those uniforms to the town."

Arthur and Sara heard the adventurers whispering. He stopped his steps suddenly, making Sara and the others startled.

Karen asked Arthur. Arthur preferred to remain silent while continuing to listen to the adventurers in that place talking about the uniforms the 13th Squad was wearing.

Haunted by high curiosity, Arthur stretched his hand forward, bringing up a purple light magic that stretched out quickly.

The magic transformed into the shape of a monster hand and caught a female adventurer; Arthur heard the woman say something about the three major groups.

"What are you doing?!"

Tension rose, the members of the woman's group prepared to bring out their talents, which they pointed at Arthur. Sara and Karen stood firmly before Arthur, guarding him from any threat.

"Let go of me!" the woman shouted.

"If you attack me, I'll kill her and you!" threatened Arthur, glaring intimidatingly at them.

"We are not the Night Liberators. We're the Shield of Peace. We never seek trouble with the Sky Sword!"

"That's what I wanted to ask you."

"What the hell is going on here? Why are you looking at us, Sky Sword, with a weird look? Then what's happening in the town?"

The people in the crowd looked at each other, confused. The woman who was in the grip of Arthur's monster hand also gasped at the response Arthur showed. She guessed Arthur and his group were adventurers new to the floor.

"Did you just get on this floor?" asked the woman. Arthur replied in silence.

"I knew it. Now, everything is clear."

"Let me go, and I'll explain everything," the woman pleaded.

Arthur agreed to what the woman wanted. He released the grip of the monster's hand and let her speak peacefully.

People started to leave the place, leaving the explanation of the situation in the town to the Shield of Peace group.

Feeling the situation had become favorable, the members of the Peace Shield deactivated their talents and walked over to the woman. Arthur stood directly before Sara and the others.

"The town is a town belonging to the Night Liberators. In the last few months, the Night Liberators have shown hostility towards the Sky Sword," the woman replied.

"You're lucky that no members of that group are patrolling here," the other man from the group added.

Arthur nodded while occasionally clicking his tongue in annoyance while clenching his fists. He was truly annoyed that the Night Liberators had become a troublemaking group.

What Sara said earlier proved to be true; the relations between the three groups on each floor can be different. There are those who build alliances to establish cities together and those who destroy each other.

"Then, those people who were executed. Are they the—"

"That's right. They were people who proved to be related to the Sky Sword. In fact, people are forbidden from using blue and white in the same place," explained the woman, interrupting Sara's words.

'This is insane. What a sick authoritarian system.'

The woman retrieved an item from her storage, a map of the 15th floor. She handed it to Arthur, hoping he could turn around and go to Sky Sword's base, a safer place for them.

Arthur accepted the map scroll and opened it. A navigation panel appeared before Arthur, showing a green arrow pointing in the opposite direction of the 13th Squad's current position.

"We can't stay here for long. We're afraid they'll see us interacting with you," said the woman, Arthur nodding in agreement.

"Thank you for this map."

"Take care of yourself, sir."

The Peace Shield group said goodbye, returning to the front to arrive at the town quickly. Sara and Karen looked at the navigation panel before Arthur.

According to the green arrow's directions, the location of the 15th Sky Sword base was about a thirty-minute walk from the current position of the 13th squad. It was not a small town but more of an ordinary base.

"What should we do?" asked Sara.

"We'll go there and ask if they can help with talent ascension."

"If they can't, what will you do?" asked Karen.

"We'll disguise ourselves and enter the town, whatever it takes."

Sara gasped. Entering the enemy city was like giving her neck to be cut willingly. Still, the second option was only possible if the Ascension Talent was unavailable at the Sky Sword base. The woman wished a lot that they could do it there rather than in the enemy town.

The route to Sky Sword's base was quieter than being on the road to the town; no other adventurers were accompanying the 13th Squad at the moment.

In the distance, white towers with blue paint towered high across the sky. The base building stood firm with a heavy guard of group members on each watchtower.

They instantly recognized the 13th Squad's presence when they saw them coming from the forest. The gatekeeper stepped closer to Arthur as he asked them to stop walking.

"Who are you people? Which squad are you from?" the guard asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm Sara, captain of the 13th Squad of the 10th Sky Sword. I brought a mandate letter from Leader Andrew," Sara replied, taking the letter from her storage.

The guard received the mandate letter and looked at the details carefully. How shocked he was to find that the 13th Squad was an envoy from the 10th Sky Sword to ascend to Lilith City, a very big and risky mission.

Seeing the authenticity of the mandate letter, the gatekeeper decided to let them in. There, Arthur and the others were greeted by dozens of members from various squads practicing hard.

Some of them stopped their training for a moment when they saw a strange squad enter their base. To their knowledge, there was no 15th Sky Sword squad on the raid this time.

From what Arthur could see, there were fewer members of Sky Sword 15th than on the other floors. Still, that did not discourage them from guarding this place from enemy threats.

"I didn't expect the 10th-floor squad to be able to climb up to this place. I thought you were the Night Liberators coming in disguised," a woman spoke sternly from behind Arthur.

Arthur turned around and saw the Captain of Sky Sword 15th, a woman wearing a white tanktop with a blue pattern and black trousers.

What caught Arthur's attention was the perfectly formed abs on her belly, which were completely muscular.

In her right hand, a large longsword was held on the woman's strong shoulder, giving the impression of a strong woman and leader.

"I'm Tris. Welcome to my base."