Chapter 537 Frustration In The Mountain Range
"Where the hell are those flying bastards?!" One of the generals shouted out in frustration before leaning against a nearby tree and forcing it to shake violently.
Three days had passed since Reign and the others had entered the mountain range, and even after being inside for so long, they had not come across any aerial monsters. None of them had expected such an outcome as Reign had already spent a lot of time in one monster range, and although aerial monsters were not common, there were not so rare either.
This mountain range was completely populated by monsters, and it should be even easier for them to find some monsters that could fly, but even after three days, there were no clues of such monsters being present at all.
Reign and the others were slowly losing their patience. They knew that they didn't have a lot of time to attack the capital and needed to find aerial monsters soon, or they would be forced to find other means of attacking the capital.
They had searched everywhere and had even climbed on top of many mountain peaks, but there were simply no monsters that were capable of flight here. The group had combed through each mountain they had gone to, and they were currently quite deep inside the mountain range as the monsters that were coming to attack them were all Tier III.
On average, the monsters were mid-grade Tier III monsters, with some being high-grade Tier III ones, there had been no peak Tier III monsters so far.
One thing that worried Raigon and the others, however, was the fact that they were deeper than they ever were inside the mountain range, and they were still only halfway inside of it.
For high-grade Tier III monsters to appear here means that at the very least, the center of the mountain range where the most powerful monsters could be found was populated with Tier IV monsters.
If they ever decided to come out of the mountain range, then Riplas and the kingdoms on the other side of the mountain range would be decimated by their incredible strength.
This mountain range was not what everyone had expected it to be. Thanks to its size and the relatively weak monsters that resided at the beginning of the mountain range, the surrounding kingdoms had all ranked the mountain range as a low-grade area that could possess at the very maximum a few low-grade Tier III monsters.
The truth was that it was far more dangerous than that and it could at the very least be ranked as a mid-grade area and a dangerous one amongst mid-grade areas.
Dangerous areas that were filled with monsters in the world all had their own rankings. The ranking was decided by the powerful empires that stood next to the cataclysm-grade dangerous areas of the world.
Raigon only knew 3 rankings. Low-grade was for areas that had only some Tier III monsters inside of them.
Mid-grade was for areas that had up to a couple of peak Tier IV monsters inside.
The high grade was for areas with peak Tier V monsters present.
As for the higher-graded areas?
They were the most dangerous areas in the world and the monsters there held immense power. Monsters above Tier V could be found without much trouble and Raigon had no idea how many grades there were below the highest, cataclysm grade.
The mountain range should at the very lowest be a mid-grade area thanks to what they had discovered so far.
No kingdom had reported that since they all wished to have the mountain range for themselves.
The area around the mountain range was not very desirable to the powerful kingdoms of the world, but if they were to find out that a mid-grade danger zone was situated here, that would then change.
Even though the truly powerful kingdoms had beings inside of them which were above Tier IV, a mid-grade danger zone was a trove of treasures for them.
They could not only train their young talents and send soldiers there to level up, but they could also take the natural resources of the area as well.
That was the main reason why nobody had said a single word about the mountain range being graded lower than it truly was. Unfortunately for the kingdoms around it, they were simply far too weak to gain all the benefits from having such a zone near them.
Their troops and top combatants were simply far too weak to go against Tier III monsters, not to mention anything more powerful than a low-grade Tier III monster. Raigon and the others had been confused as to how the other kingdoms hadn't managed to get any more benefits from the mountain range since their power was large enough to allow them to easily farm monsters in the beginning areas of the mountain range like they did.
What they didn't know was that that was exactly what the other kingdoms had done over the last couple of years.
Thanks to their ferocious tactics, they had killed many of the monsters that resided in the beginning areas of the mountain range, which led to more powerful monsters appearing.
It didn't help matters that it wasn't just one or two kingdoms that were killing the monsters, but 4.
The number of monsters killed was astonishing, and as they continued, the monsters became more and more powerful. It also didn't help that the kingdoms despised one another and always plotted against each other.
Many talented people had been killed inside the mountain range, either by the monsters or by the other kingdoms as they didn't want to see the others succeeding in becoming powerful before them.
As the years passed, the kingdoms found themselves with a lack of top combatants compared to before. Killing the talented youths of the other kingdoms had led to all four lacking many that could soar through the ranks and reach the higher realms and they stagnated as a result.
The monsters in the beginning areas of the mountain range on that side were all Tier II, and the whole mountain range had changed thanks to them. The truly powerful monsters didn't reside in the middle of the mountain range, as the kingdom of Riplas had thought.
They had moved to the side and were closer to the four kingdoms on the other side than to Riplas now, which meant that there was a possibility that there were even Tier V monsters present inside of the mountain range, which would elevate the threat level of the mountain range to a high-grade zone.
The reason why so many Tier I and Tier II monsters were not only present inside the mountain range close to the kingdom of Riplas, but also attacked it occasionally in the last couple of months, was because they had all moved from their initial areas and had come here.
Reign and the others didn't know that, which could lead to them encountering some truly terrifying monsters if they continued moving deeper inside the mountain range.
The group slowly moved through the mountain range, making sure to observe everything and not miss any monsters that could be helpful, but unfortunately for them, there were still no signs of aerial monsters present here.
"Are there really no aerial monsters here?" Licht asked as he sat down on a nearby rock and looked at Reign and the others.
"That, that might very well be the case," Raigon said with a sigh as he leaned against a tree and stared into the distance.
"If there truly are none, that means that we have done nothing but waste time here." A general spoke as Eisenhorn nodded his head.
"Unfortunately, it would seem so."
"Lad, should we go back, while we still have time?" Eisenhorn asked Reign who was sitting atop another rock.
"If there are no aerial monsters than we need to find another way in, maybe another monster that has some special ability that can help us out."
"I would love to find something like that, but what, we have already fought against hundreds of monsters, and none had any ability that could help us, none!" Another person said angrily as he stared at the mountain range.
"Yeah, but honestly, spending a couple more hours here wouldn't hurt, we already lost 3 days, so it's not like we're losing much anyway." Reign added from the side as he calmly looked around them.
"Hmm, you know something, don't you?" Licht suddenly asked Reign
"Not necessarily, but I think that there is a monster here that can help us, I have seen some traces of some monsters, and if I am right, then they will provide us with an incredible opportunity, that is if they are what I think they are." Reign smiled at Licht before getting up.
"But we have to move now, if those monsters end up being not what I think they are, then it will be a waste of time, time that we don't have right now." Upon hearing Reign's words, everybody looked at him before nodding their heads and following him.