All transmission arrays near the portals lit up soon after every portal in the Higher Realm closed. The ns managed to send their representatives before the portals closed, but they barely gathered enough supplies to take with them.


    The de Dancer n, cio n, and Adamas n representatives stood in front of the portal in a cave covered in ice. This portal was one of the portals under The Council and was shared by the three ns that supported The Emperor.


    Each n had six members, and they all looked young. Nheless, the aura they emitted was more potent than a Sovereign. They had yet to step to the level of a High Sovereign, but it was not wrong to say that their strength could easily defeat an average High Sovereign.


    It should have been easy to differentiate each n from their physical appearance. However, since most ns chose not to send members from the main branch, some could be mistaken for another n. Thus, to differentiate them, each n would wear color-coded attire.


    The de Dancer representatives wore dark red robes or leather armor with gold ornaments. The cio n wore dark blue robes or leather armor with silver rune writings embedded on the sleeves. Lastly, the robes and leather armor the Adamas representatives wore were light gray with different ck patterns at the back and front.


    A young man in light gray armor with a long spear strapped behind his back frowned while looking at another young man in dark red robes. Both young men had short, auburn hair. However, the former had shorter hair than thetter and amber eyes, while thetter''s eyes were dark green.


    "The report sent by Senior Alta, is it true?" the young man from the Adamas n, asked the leader representative of the de Dancer n.


    "Yes," replied the young man with dark green eyes. "Unfortunately, she did not get a good look at the intruder''s face, so she could not give us his photo."


    As soon as he said this, everyone''s expressions turned grim. How would they search for someone if they did not know what he looked like?


    "She did say the intruder had ck hair and was wearing ck clothes," the young man hastily added with a bitter smile.


    "ck hair?"


    Almost all of them repeated with a scowl.


    "Yes," the young man replied. "Few ns belonging to an independent faction had members with ck hair, even in the ns belonging to The Council. Obviously, we can already rule out ns belonging to The Council because we''ll recognize them."


    "That leaves us with independent factions and neutral ns, right?" the young man who first addressed thetter supplied.


    "That''s right."


    A young woman with short, wavy red hair in a light gray armor frowned, "Neutral n... The portal is near Ogen, right?"


    The young man looked at her, "You''re thinking about the Ogen n, right?"


    "Yes," the young woman replied. She added, "Even if Ogen is neutral, our spies have seen suspicious movements on Overlord Oceanus''s side that suggest he is up to something."


    The young man shook his head, "I know about that. But our side checked and confirmed he only seeks talents to secure their n''s future. Besides, we haveplete intel on their members. They don''t have one with ck hair."


    "Even new recruits?"


    "Yes. In the meantime, we can rule out Ogen, but we can''tpletely rule out the other neutral ns."


    "In my opinion, it is better to round up all those independent factions and wipe them out."


    A raspy-voiced young man with dark blue hair and red eyes wearing dark blue armor suddenly said, resulting in almost everyone turning their attention to him.


    The first young man who spoke looked at him with a frown and said, "You know very well why we can''t do that. Besides, some neutral ns that are part of an independent faction and also on good terms with the Dragon n."


    The young man with red hair red at them and growled in annoyance, "Why the f*ck do we have to give the Dragon n face just because they are on good terms with those f*ckers?"


    "Why ask a question you already know the answer to?" A woman with blue hair and light blue eyes in dark blue robes shook her head at thetter in annoyance. "Are you stupid?"


    "What was that—?"


    "Stop it, you two," the first young man told them off before their exchange could escte. "We only have a little time before the transmission array opens. We need to n our act when we see that intruder."


    "But how sure are we that he imed the portal?" asked another young woman wearing a light gray robe with long, braided blonde hair and sea-green eyes.


    The young man leading the de Dancer n replied, "In Senior Alta''s report, she said that the magic signatureing out from the portal did not respond to any of the ns in our database. Herst update also mentioned four people with ck hair slipping past their defenses and sessfully entering the portal."


    "So we''re looking for five people with ck hair?"


    "Well... Senior Alta said she cared little about thest four and only wanted the first intruder."


    "Why is that?"


    "He has a rare concealment ability."


    "You..."


    After hearing this information, they all red at the leader representative of the de Dancer n.


    "How the f*ck are we going to look for him if he possesses a rare concealment ability?"


    "It''s not like he can hide himself all the time. Besides, his ck hair will stand out like a sore thumb once we gather at the tform."


    "Then do we make a move as soon as we see him there?"


    "Are you stupid? If we do that, what do you think the Dragon n will do?"


    "Why the f*ck do we have to be mindful of our actions in front of those f*ckers?"


    "Did you forget how the cio n suffered at their hands two months ago?"


    "Don''t you dare go there," the red-haired young man growled at the leader representative of the Amadas n.


    "Humph," the young woman with short, wavy red hair snorted at thetter before saying, "And you''d dare talk like that to Leader? Do you have a death wish?"


    "That is enough," the leader representative of the Adamas n said, looking at his fellow n member before looking at the red-haired young man. "There is no point in us arguing. Instead, let us agree on what we have to do."


    "Uhmm..."


    A short and weak-looking young man with effeminate features, short auburn hair, red eyes, and a dark red robe raised his hand and said, "Did it not ur to you guys that he may have already changed his appearance?"


    "Only weaklings cannot see through a mage''s disguise."


    "All of us here possessed strengths simr to a High Sovereign. I doubt we won''t be able to see through his disguise," the leader representative of the Adamas n replied with a wry smile.


    "True... but that only applies if he''s a Sovereign or a weak High Sovereign. Did you forget? He managed to get past Senior Alta, and she is among the elites. Which means that the intruder may not be weaker than her."


    "Impossible," the leader representative of de Dancer n disagreed at once. "He indeed got through Senior Alta''s pursuit, but that only happened because of the marsnd beasts that went after her. Those beasts possessed Earth magic, so... I''m sure you understand what I''m trying to say here, right?"


    "Senior Alta''s Sound magic is weak against Earth magic..."


    "That''s right."


    "If that''s the case, we''ll just have to put in more effort to check who is in disguise when we gather at the tform."


    "I suppose... that is the only thing we can do right now."


    Almost everyone agreed to the Adamas leader representative.


    "If you find anyone suspicious, keep an eye on them. We can also keep an eye on all new faces."


    "Right... chances that the intruder is among them is high after all."


    "Unless he disguised himself as someone The Council already knew."


    "Don''t jinx it."


    "Be careful out there. If you find anyone who may be the intruder, send a message immediately."


    "Right."


    *


    Contrary to what everyone expected, the transmission array did not appear after the glow on all portals dimmed. They waited for a couple more days before it activated.


    None of the n representatives mind it, though. Those couple of days gave them time to explore their surroundings and gather as much material as they could to help them go through the tower.


    Finally, when the transmission array was activated, all representatives stepped into the array and were transported to the tform just outside the tower''s entrance.


    The moment they appeared, the other ns immediately noticed a group of five people— the Dragon n''s representatives.


    These five had striking appearances with their silver hair and silver-gray eyes. All of them wore light silver armor, which, when they moved and glistened, one would notice they were dragon scales.


    But what truly caught the other ns'' eyes was one particr member of this group— a young woman of mesmerizing beauty with long silver hair, wearing a flowing white robe with silver ents. She appeared aloof, ignoring all the stares directed at her as she stared into the distance.


    Besides her beauty, almost everyone was in awe of her beautiful eyes— eyes that seemed to mirror all the colors in hersurroundings.