BXBX NOVEL Chapter 265: Heroes' Ranking and The Empire's Intervention
Chapter 265: Heroes' Ranking and The Empire's Intervention
"I can't believe I didn't make the list!" Su Yan didn't receive a notification about being ranked. Among the 5,000 ranked Heroes, there wasn't a spot for her. She felt extremely frustrated, wondering if she was still considered a weakling.
It's worth noting that Su Yan had already advanced to a Level 5 Hero and had mastered several A-rank skills. By leveraging intelligence and the capabilities of her Dragon's Shadow Hero Group, she had even taken down several Demon Kings within the empire's territory. At least within the Thunder Empire, her strength was second only to top-tierHeroes like those from the Thunderous Society, and she had even reached the level of strength where she could defeat a guardian knight who served as pillars for the empire. Yet, despite such achievements, she didn't even qualify for the rankings, highlighting just how formidable the true top-tierHeroes were.
Additionally, unlike the Demon King rankings, the Hero rankings disclosed a lot of information. Less than half of the Heroes chose to hide their information. This is because, unlike Demon Kings, Heroes can move freely. Even if others know their level and information, they are not easily targeted or exploited. Moreover, disclosing information can actually enhance their reputation, attracting nearby Heroes to join them, thus increasing their prestige.
When Su Yan glanced over the rankings, she was profoundly shocked.
1st place: Isaac Harold
Level (Hidden), Race (Hidden), Identity (Hidden)
2nd place: Su Yuwen
Level (Hidden), Race (Hidden), Identity (Hidden)
3rd place: Sophia Gregg
Level (Hidden), Race (Hidden), Identity (Hidden)
4th place: Emilia Ray
Level 7 Legend, Seraphim, Chief Battle Archangel of the Celestial Flame Kingdom in Outer Space
5th place: Guo Xingchen
Level (Hidden), Race (Hidden), Identity (Hidden)
6th place: Wang Badao
Level 7 Legend, Sacred Dragon, Ancient Dragon Emperor of the Holy Dragon Kingdom
7th place: Hoshino Ryoko
Level (Hidden), Race (Hidden), Identity (Hidden)
8th place: Lucas Klaist
Level 7 Legend, Human, Former Pope of the Radiant Church
...
499th place: Satoru Sato
Level 6 Myth, Human, The Chief of the Seven Sword Saints of the Sunset Empire
500th place: Kim Jihyun
Level 6 Myth, Abyssal Blood Witch, Grand Marshal of the Dark Blood Empire in the Abyssal World
......
5001st place: Ford Gilbert
Level 6 Monarch, Orc, Southern Great Chieftain of the Bloodblade Empire
Before seeing this ranking list, Su Yan could never have believed that the strength of the Heroes could be so formidable. It turns out that her perspective had been too narrow. The world is indeed vast, with possibly hundreds to thousands of empire-level forces spread across lands, oceans, underworld, outer space, and other regions. Up until now, Su Yan's view had been limited to only three forces within the Chaos Forest. To be more precise, the Dragon's Shadow Heroes' current understanding of the Sunset Empire and the Azure Alliance was not deep, with their most comprehensive knowledge being of only the Thunder Empire.
It's important to note that the number of Heroes far exceeds that of Demon Kings. If the total number of players in the world is ten billion, then at most, there would only be two to three hundred million in the Demon King faction, with the rest being allocated to the Hero faction. Suppose there are a total of five hundred empire-level forces across the world, including the land, oceans, underworld, outer space, the abyss, and other unknown regions. If each empire-level force produced one or two Heroes like Luo Zheng, then there would be at least 500 to 1000 Heroes who started with the strength of a Level 6 monarch.
What did this imply? The world was not just made up of empire-level forces. In fact, the vast majority of lands and spaces were unclaimed. Given such a vast area and population, it was understandable that there would be many hidden talents. Furthermore, aside from those naturally gifted individuals, there are always others who, through effort and opportunities, climb their way up from the bottom. While the growth potential of Heroes may not be as great as that of Demon Kings, it is still not to be underestimated!
In such a scenario, it was perfectly normal and to be expected that Su Yan did not make it onto the list. Currently, Su Yan was a 'beggar-version' of a Level 5 monarch, with her overall combat power being roughly equivalent to a Level 5 overlord, which meant there was a significant gap for her to breach to enter the top 5000. Fortunately, most of the Heroes in the top hundred were of various unique races and were located in peculiar places, making it difficult for them to come into contact with each other at the moment, so there was no need to worry about safety issues.
"Looks like I need to keep striving!" Su Yan carefully reviewed the Hero ranking list once again. She found the appearance of this list to be very valuable. The Dragon's Shadow Heroes Guild had a new mission: to use her identity as a Hero to start collecting information about these Heroes from all over.
Just then, a commotion erupted from outside.
"Bad news!"
"A disaster has struck the Elro region!"
"Duke Bachor has been defeated again... and is suspected to have died in battle!"
"It's true, the entire ducal knight order has been annihilated, and the great Bachor family is finished!"
This news spread rapidly, plunging the entire Bachor main city into unprecedented turmoil and panic. Everyone was stunned by this announcement. Duke Bachor had truly died in battle this time! The entire Bachor Duchy fell into unprecedented panic. Countless merchants, wealthy individuals, and nobles, sensing the dire situation, hurriedly packed their valuables and prepared to flee. The lines of those evacuating quickly stretched for miles.
"Big boss is too powerful! He actually took out Duke Bachor!" Su Yan was also shocked by the scene she witnessed. The Bachor Duchy had fallen into an unprecedented level of panic, and at this rate, it seemed likely to collapse without even needing to be attacked.
However, this chaos did not last long. At this critical moment, a lavishly equipped team arrived directly from a distant place through the teleportation array of Bachor's main city, setting foot in this southern region of the empire. The team was not large in number, totaling just over a hundred people, but each member exuded an extremely powerful aura. The leading trio, in terms of strength and status, were awe-inspiring enough to stem the tide of collapse in the southern empire.
These three were none other than:
The Western Guardian Grand Duke, Gehrman Kofiepol
The Eastern Guardian Grand Duke, Bismarck Blakely
And the Thunder Empire's Chief Knight, the current leader of the Guardian Knight Order, Kroft, sent by the Emperor himself.
Any one of these figures could dominate a region on their own, and their personal strength was no less than that of Bachor. Moreover, aside from these three distinguished individuals, the other hundred or so members were no ordinary individuals. They had not planned to arrive in the south so soon, but the situation deteriorated so severely that they had to advance their arrival to stabilize the situation and morale. The rest of the reinforcements, including other powerhouses, mercenaries, and armies, were set to arrive in Bachor's Duchy within the next ten days, ready to keep the Demon King at bay within the southern border of the Empire.
"Did Bachor really die? I didn't expect him to be so useless." The Western Grand Duke Kofiepol was a slightly overweight middle-aged man with a prosperous look, wearing a brocade robe and a lavish gemstone ring on his thumb. He usually appeared very genial and seemed very amiable.
However, anyone familiar with the Western Duke would know that this imperial duke, who seemed as affable as a wealthy merchant, was in fact a very cunning, insidious, and terrifyingly powerful figure. "Cunning Fox Kofiepol" was his nickname in his younger years. Duke Kofiepol commanded a host of powerful individuals, established the empire's strongest mage group, and controlled several of the empire's top forces. His resources and strength were unfathomably deep.
He gloated at the current situation in the south. Duke Bachor not only met his demise but also led his ducal knights to near total annihilation, depleting much of the duchy's resources and losing tens of millions of people in the southern territories. Given the current trend, it seemed likely that the marquisate regions like Elro would also fall.
In other words, not only was Bachor gone, but he also caused the empire to lose at least dozens of provinces and at least tens of millions of people. The damage inflicted was immeasurable. The Bachor family's honor was in tatters, and they would undoubtedly be held accountable after this affair was settled. The ducal title was definitely lost. Even if the Bachor family managed to escape complete ruin, they would likely be demoted to marquisate. This presented Duke Kofiepol with an opportunity.
"You fat old fox, don't be foolishly careless. Bachor was far from incompetent!" Grand Duke Blakely of the East warned, "This enemy is extraordinary. Let's not follow Bachor's path to ruin."
This Eastern Grand Duke, standing at two and a half meters tall with a very sturdy build and a face covered with a bushy beard, looked like a strong brute. However, he was far from a simple musclehead. The Blakely family was recognized by the empire as the strongest warrior family. Every member of this family was exceptionally talented, with the least among them being one in a hundred or one in a thousand martial prodigies. Bismarck Blakely, the current head of the family, was regarded as having the most potential and the strongest combat Qi among the empire's four duchies.
Despite their words of wariness, both dukes harbored more anticipation than apprehension in their hearts. The more dangerous the enemy, the greater the opportunity. The future of the empire's southern territories was a huge pie. With the Azure Water Federation in chaos, if everything went smoothly, the empire's expansion southward could potentially connect directly with the Sea of Chaos. If they could connect to the Sea of Chaos and annex the Pale Moon Peninsula in the chaotic waters, the southern territories of the empire would become the wealthiest region of the Thunder Empire.
By seizing this opportunity and laying the groundwork in advance, they could quickly cultivate their forces in the region while the local powerhouse, the Bachor family, was severely weakened. The benefits that could be reaped in the future were immeasurable.
At this moment, the chief commander of the Guardian Knights, Kroft, said, "The priority is not to investigate the cause of Bachor's death or to rush into a counterattack, but to first stabilize the duchy."
"Exactly," the others agreed. "After all, it will take some time for all our troops to arrive."
"The Bachor Duchy has a population of over a hundred million and still has several million official troops. As long as we can stabilize this place, and with our support along with the emperor's Guardian Knight Order, it's not too late to launch a full-scale counterattack and offense."
After the arrival of the Eastern Grand Duke, Western Grand Duke, and the Empire's Chief Knight, these three significant figures immediately revealed their identities and quickly stabilized the morale of the southern territories. This news was swiftly relayed back to the Darkness City in the Chaos Forest through the Dragon's Shadow Heroes Guild. Zhang Nu was studying the Heroes Ranking List when he received this news. He was slightly taken aback, not expecting two of the empire's dukes to personally join the battle. It seemed the empire was finally taking this seriously.
But this level of intervention was still not enough. After all, the Darkness City now was not the same as it was two or three months ago."