A few minutes earlier...
On a vast barren plain within the 3rd Orbital Belt, two individuals and a monster were locked in battle against a pack of Tier-7 Aberrants.
More precisely, a man with a halo above his head and a dark-skinned monster fought side by side on the frontlines, while the third individual remained hidden in the rear, his body remained in a ethereal, ghost-like form.
The hidden figure was none other than Zeix in his Phantom Form. The monster was the Shadow Leopard Corin assigned to protect him.
As for the one with the Halo whose strength surpassed even that of the Corin, he was a Sentinel named Elaris.
He was the same person who had been the fifth one to unlock the BLOODLINE EMPORIUM's 4th Layer and posted a listing in the Trade Hall.
That fact alone was enough to show that Elaris was likely even stronger than Anya and ranked among the most powerful Sentinels who had entered the Bloodline Realm.
Ten hours earlier, he had happened to come across Zeix and helped him out of a difficult situation.
Although Zeix already had the Corin protecting him and didn't truly much assistance, the two ended up traveling together.
From Zeix's perspective, having someone even stronger than the Corin nearby was undoubtedly another layer of protection. Considering the life-threatening danger that awaited him in the future Jay had seen, he was more than happy to stay close to a Sentinel.
As for Elaris, Zeix was the first Chosen he had encountered since entering the Bloodline Realm.
More importantly, he was among the five strongest Sentinels, alongside Shurianne, and had been assigned the mission of recruiting Olivia. He was also the first Sentinel to extend an invitation to Olivia through a Seller Note.
Coming across a Chosen was the perfect opportunity to gather information.
He had been pleasantly surprised when he learnt Zeix knew Olivia and even belonged to the same faction as her.
Unfortunately, his excitement didn't last long.
Zeix neither revealed Olivia's location nor mentioned that she was currently within the same Orbital Belt as them. He also kept quiet about being able to contact her through the Orion Relay.
When Elaris became curious about the Shadow Leopard, Zeix lied through his teeth, claiming that he possessed a taming-related talent and that the monster was tamed by him.
Elaris found the explanation difficult to believe. After all, it was almost unheard of for someone to tame a monster two entire tiers stronger than themselves.
Even so, he didn't pry into Zeix's secrets or pressure him for answers.
That alone significantly improved Zeix's impression of him. Combined with Elaris's easygoing and friendly nature, it became increasingly easy for the two to get along.
As the hours passed, an unspoken understanding gradually formed between them.
Whenever they encountered packs of Aberrants, Elaris and the Shadow Leopard handled most of the fighting while Zeix remained in the background.
His strength simply wasn't sufficient to contend with most of the Aberrants roaming the 3rd Orbital Belt.
The pack they were currently facing consisted of six Aberrants. Every one of them was at the peak of Tier 7. Among them were two Single-Helix Aberrants, while the remaining four were Dual-Helix Aberrants.
It was by far the strongest pack they had encountered so far. Their lineup was so terrifying that even someone as powerful as Elaris had initially suggested retreating rather than fighting.
...
...
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IMPORTANT AUTHOR NOTICE:
Hey Folks, sorry for the inconvenience. I wanted to give a small update regarding Volume 4 and future chapter releases.
To be honest, because of piracy concerns, I considered not releasing the remaining chapters of Volume 4 publicly anymore. But at the same time, I don't want the current readers who have been supporting and following the story consistently to miss out either.
So from Chapter 401 onwards, I'll continue doing weekly releases here, but only around the first one-fourth of each chapter will be posted publicly.
To read the full chapter, you can simply join my Patreon's free tier. The complete chapters will be available there, and it doesn't cost anything to access them.
You can give it a try if you'd like. And honestly, more people joining the Patreon, even through the free tier, would really encourage and support me to keep going consistently.
Thank you for all the support so far. I truly appreciate everyone who's been reading the journey until now.
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patreon.com/MN_1223
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Due to ongoing piracy concerns, the final 22 chapters of Volume 3 (Ch.351 to 372) are not posted publicly.
They are exclusively available through:
Amazon Kindle – Volume 3 eBook: https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0DRQNP1ZS
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/MN_1223
By upgrading to any paid Patreon tier, including the Gamma Patron tier for just $2/month, you'll get immediate access to Chapters 351 - 372.
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Chapter 401: Significant Upgrades (2/2) [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 402: Limelight [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 403: The Perfect Counter [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 404: Unconventional Approach [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 405:║CONSONANCE║[AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 406: Counter-offer [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 407: Godfather [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 408: Lil Snout [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 409: Project Fusion - Success (1/2) [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 410: Project Fusion - Success (2/2) [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 411: Wrestling Arms (1/2) [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 412: Wrestling Arms (2/2) [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 413: Project Relay (1/2) [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 414: Project Relay (2/2) [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 415: New Guild [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 416: Dire Future [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 417: Departure [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 418: Bloodline Aberrants [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 419: BLOODLINE EMPORIUM [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 420: Return Stone [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 421: Bizarre World [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 422: Tier-4 Evolution [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 423: Anya Vulkran (1/2) [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 424: Anya Vulkran (2/2) [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 425: Guardian Contract [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 426: 4th Layer Unlocked [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 427: Trade Hall [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 428: ║COLLATERAL COVENANT║ [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 429: Exotic Treasure Surplus [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 430: Sustainable Origin Extraction [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
Chapter 431: TEMPEST FRAME [AVAILABLE FOR FREE!]
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List of available Advanced Chapters:
ADVANCED CHAPTERS
...
🟢 Gamma Patron Tier (4 Chapters)
Chapter 432: Clash with Fiends
Chapter 433: Type-3 Phantom Replica
Chapter 434: Blood Avatar
Chapter 435: Artifact Attunement
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🔵 Beta Patron Tier (8 Chapters)
Includes everything in the Gamma Patron Tier, plus:
Chapter 436: Death's Door
Chapter 437: Split Soul Persona
Chapter 438: VOID WARDEN
Chapter 439: The Lesser Evil
...
🟣 Alpha Patron Tier (12 Chapters)
Includes everything in the Beta Patron Tier, plus:
Chapter 440: Bloodline Realm Intruder
Chapter 441: Aberrant Hordes
Chapter 442: 5th Layer Unlocked
Chapter 443: Appraisal Stone
...
🟡 Omega Patron Tier (20 Chapters)
Includes everything in the Alpha Patron Tier, plus:
Chapter 444: Bloodline Leaderboard
Chapter 445: Celestial Otters
Chapter 446: Sentinel Baltor (1/2)
Chapter 447: Sentinel Baltor (2/2)
Chapter 448: Climbing the Leaderboard
Chapter 449: History of the BLOODLINE REALM
Chapter 450: Trade Enclave
Chapter 451: Crimson Curse
...
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Discord Link for 'Earth's Alpha Prime' :
https://discord.gg/EmqX6fh9cV
╰── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╯