On the other side of things, after Lord Euphemia returned to her residence in Yufei City, she immediately summoned the senior figures of Yufei City to the conference room to hold a meeting.

  Lord Euphemia sat at the head of the conference table, with Lady Jessica and the Suzaku Guard Captain standing behind her on either side. Lord Euphemia addressed everyone in the room in a grave tone:

  "You should all be aware by now that not long ago, a Hydra appeared within the boundaries of my domain. Both I and those with me came under attack from this creature. It was only thanks to the Suzaku Guard Captain's assistance that we were able to escape safely. The beast should still be somewhere within my domain. As for how we should deal with it, what are your thoughts?"

  No sooner had Lord Euphemia finished speaking than a powerfully built middle-aged man in the conference room smmed his hand on the table and said furiously, "How dare this beast intrude upon Lord Euphemia's domain and attack Lord Euphemia herself — this is utterly unforgivable. I propose we dispatch troops immediately to engage it and wipe it out entirely."

  A white-haired elderly man said, "I agree with General Zuodun's proposal. This beast poses a tremendous threat to everyone within our domain. We must eliminate it before the damage spreads any further. I suggest we deploy Yufei City's humanoid armored soldiers to deal with it. Powerful as this creature may be, it should be no match for our armored soldiers."

  This proposal met with unanimous approval. Everyone agreed that the humanoid armored soldiers should be deployed against the Hydra. Hearing this, Lord Euphemia said, "Very well. General Zuodun, you will lead the humanoid armored soldiers in the attack against that creature. See to it that the beast is eliminated as swiftly as possible."

  General Zuodun said, "Yes, my Lord. I will see to it at once."

  With those words, General Zuodun rose from his seat and left the conference room. The others remained to continue discussing other matters. However, before long, the conference room doors swung open again, and General Zuodun came rushing back in with a panicked expression on his face. "Something — something's gone wrong," he said.

  "What is it? Why are you in such a state?!" Lady Jessica shot General Zuodun a displeased look. She noticed that his face was bckened as if it had been scorched by smoke, and his clothing and hair were smoldering as though singed.

  General Zuodun wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and said with a look of arm, "Just moments ago, I led some soldiers to the armory to retrieve the combat armor suits. For reasons unknown, a violent explosion occurred in the armory — the entire pce went up in fmes. I immediately led my men to fight the fire and tried to salvage the armor suits from inside, but the fire spread with frightening speed. We fought with everything we had and only managed to retrieve seven armor suits. The entire armory has now colpsed, and the remaining thirty-some suits are buried inside."

  Upon hearing this, the color drained from the faces of everyone in the conference room. Lady Jessica was so furious she trembled. She turned on General Zuodun and snapped, "How could this happen? How did the armory suddenly catch fire? What have you been doing?!"

  General Zuodun looked utterly terrified and said, "Our preliminary assessment is that there were powerful explosive materials inside the armory that were detonated for some unknown reason. The armory's management personnel have already been taken into custody. The precise cause of the explosion will have to wait for further investigation."

  The white-haired elder stroked his long beard, his face creased with worry. "This is a serious problem. Without the combat armor suits, we cannot send armored soldiers against that Hydra. What are we to do? Oh dear."

  Lord Euphemia said, "But didn't General Zuodun just say we still have seven armor suits? Would seven armored soldiers not be enough to defeat the beast?"

  The white-haired elder looked toward the Suzaku Guard Captain and said, "Suzaku Guard Captain, you've fought the creature yourself and know it best. Do you think seven armored soldiers, along with our other troops, would be enough to deal with it?"

  The Suzaku Guard Captain considered the question and said, "Based on my engagement with the creature earlier, the Hydra appears to possess a Psionic power level equivalent to the fourth rank of Refining body. It can rapidly regenerate from injuries. It can also absorb the surrounding air elements to breathe fire and spit a highly corrosive venom. On top of that, its sheer size is enormous, and it has nine heads simultaneously. My estimate is that it would take at least twenty armored soldiers to have any real chance of defeating it."

  The white-haired elder said, "So, in other words, our current forces are insufficient to destroy this creature — is that right?"

  "Yes."

  Upon hearing the Suzaku Guard Captain's words, everyone's faces fell at once. Lord Euphemia said, "What if we contact my sister and borrow a number of combat armor suits from her? That way we would have enough armored soldiers to handle the beast."

  Lady Jessica shook her head. "That won't work. Lord Cornelia has been away handling affairs outside for some time and is not currently in the Sanctuary. Apart from Lord Cornelia, no one else has the authority to lend us armor suits."

  "If my sister is away, then perhaps..." Lord Euphemia said hesitantly, "we could borrow armor suits from the other Lords. That might work."

  Lady Jessica was momentarily taken aback by this suggestion, then said, "Impossible. They would never lend them to us."

  Lord Euphemia said, "But why? Even though we do not share the same mother, the other Lords are still my brothers and sisters. Why would they refuse to help me?"

  "Lord Euphemia..." Lady Jessica bent down and lowered her head, speaking softly into Lord Euphemia's ear. "You became a Lord of the Sanctuary with the help of your sister, Lord Cornelia. Your domain and all the resources you hold were willingly given to you by Lord Cornelia herself. In the Sanctuary, not every prince and princess is able to hold a domain, become a Lord, and enjoy a Lord's privileges. Your brothers and sisters are just waiting for something to go wrong for you so they can seize your domain and cim your position as Lord. So other than your own sister, Cornelia, no one will help you."

  "Is that really so?" Lord Euphemia looked genuinely bewildered.

  Lady Jessica straightened up and fixed those in the conference room with a grave expression. "In any case, we must find a solution to this matter as quickly as possible. If we do not, it will have a very unfavorable impact on Lord Euphemia and may even threaten her standing in the Sanctuary — and at that point, all of us will be implicated as well."

  The white-haired elder said, "But without enough combat armor suits, we have no way to deal with a creature like that. If we unch a reckless attack against it, the situation may only become worse."

  Lady Jessica said, "That is precisely why we must not act rashly. Our best hope is that the beast will move on to another area and leave Lord Euphemia's domain of its own accord. If that happens, our crisis will resolve itself."