Only a week remained before the Guild Wars commenced in Whitebridge City.

Lux had already created a perfect plan, which would make use of this event as an advantage, in order to make the Dark Guild, Twilight Rain, stop targeting him completely.

However, his plan was wasted when the long-awaited event was canceled due to an unforeseen calamity that threatened not only the Whitebridge City, but several towns and cities in the Southern Regions of the Kingdom of Gweliven.

Because of this emergency, all of the Guild Masters, as well as the people responsible for the safety of the city, were hastily gathered by the City's Mayor, Garth Feron, for a discussion about the countermeasures towards one of the natural calamities of the world.

"A Beast Tide was sighted hundreds of miles away from the Southwest of the city," Garth stated. "Because of this, the Guild Wars will be canceled, and all guilds will be drafted to protect the city from getting destroyed."

"Don't worry. After a long meeting with the officials, we decided to make this Beast Tide the deciding factor for who will become the Protector Guild of this city. In short, all of you will compete and the guild who gains the most merit points will gain the title of Protector of Whitebridge City."

Aina and the other guild leaders nodded their heads in understanding. They all read the documents distributed to each of them. It stated the detailed terms and conditions of the competition.

It was a simple point system, which allowed the guilds to kill as many monsters as they could in a manner that was suitable for them.

The special artifact that would be used in the Guild Wars could also compute the number of kills of each guild, allowing automatic tallying.

During this battle, members of each guild were not allowed to kill each other, or deliberately sabotage the defense operation to protect the city. Any offenders would immediately be sent to prison. However, the punishment wouldn't end there.

The offender's guild would get demerit points, which would drastically lower their overall points due to the action of their members. In order to prevent deliberate sabotage, the Guild Leader would get to choose who would participate in the city's defense, along the outer perimeter.

The rest of their guild members, who were not chosen to be part of the vanguards, would be stationed inside the city to protect the citizens in case the outer defenses were breached.

After much discussion, the officials of each city agreed that at least a thousand members from each guild would be stationed along the city's outer perimeter, alongside the army of the Kingdom of Gweliven for the city's first line of defense.

The Guild Leaders found this arrangement acceptable, especially the Bronze-Ranked Guilds, whose members were not as many as the Silver-Ranked Guilds like Eternal.

After reading the conditions, the attention of the guild leaders zoned in on the point system that would determine the rankings.

-----

Beast Tide Merit Points Computation

Killing Rank 1 Monsters = 10 Merit Point

Killing Rank 2 Monsters = 100 Merit Points.

Killing Rank 3 Monsters = 500 Merit Points

Killing Rank 4 Monsters = 5,000 Merit Points

Killing Rank 5 Monsters = 20,000 Merit Points

Killing Deimos Ranked Monsters = 500,000 Merit Points

Killing Rank 1 Alpha Monsters = 1,000 Merit Points

Killing Rank 2 Alpha Monsters = 10,000 Merit Points

Killing Rank 3 Alpha Monsters = 20,000 Merit Points

Killing Rank 4 Alpha Monasters = 50,000 Merit Points

Killing Rank 5 Alpha Monsters Monsters = 200,000 Merit Points

Killing Deimos Alpha Monsters = 5,000,000 Merit Points

Important Notice: In the case that an Argonaut Ranked Monster appears on the battlefield, the Rankers that were assigned to guard the city would personally deal with them. Do not get in their way or join them in battle unless you are confident in your strength.

The Kingdom will not be held responsible for the deaths of anyone in this endeavor. To those who don't want to die, feel free to evacuate and seek shelter inside the city.

-----

'This is a bit tricky,' Aina looked at the document with the same indifferent expression on her face. 'Focusing on the small fries will not yield many points, but biting off more than we can chew will cost many lives.'

Unlike other Guild Masters, Aina cared for each member of her guild, so she naturally would not allow them to throw their lives away just for the sake of short-lived glory.

Only a few guild leaders shared the doll-like beauty's line of thought. The other Guild Masters didn't mind sacrificing their members as long as they won the competition. For them, weaklings deserved to die and had no place in their guilds.

This was especially true for the two guilds, Twisted Destiny and Arcadian Lords.

While all the Guild Masters were digesting the information they received from the officials of the city, Lux sat not far from them and was reading the same document in his hands.

Nevreal had passed along a few words to the Mayor, telling him of the Half-Elf's importance. Because of this, Garth decided to give Lux the VIP treatment and allowed him to join the meeting for the defense of Whitebridge City.

'Hmm I can use this,' Lux mused as he looked at the information in front of him. 'Although I will have to make revisions for my plan, the end game is still the same. In fact it is even better!'

The Half-Elf was secretly pleased about this new arrangement and hatched a new plan in his mind.

'I'll ask Aina later if I can temporarily join Eternal,' Lux thought as she glanced at Colette's sister, who had the same expression as she always had. 'This is like hitting two birds with one stone.'

Eiko, who was perched on top of Lux's head, yawned out of boredom because she didn't understand what was being discussed around her. If not for the fact that Lux had promised to buy her some candies after the meeting, she would have stayed at the inn and slept.

An hour later, the meeting was adjourned and the Guild Masters returned to their respective guilds to discuss the details of their new mission to their members.

On the way back, Lux joined Aina's carriage and told her his proposal.

"You want to temporarily join my guild?" Aina asked as she gazed at Lux.

Lux nodded. "I am strong, you know? You won't be missing out. I can accumulate a lot of points for you."

Aina closed her eyes for a few minutes before gazing back at the Half-Elf who was lightly patting the head of the baby slime that was sleeping on his lap.

"I have a feeling that you have another agenda aside from helping my guild accumulate points," Aina stated.

"Don't worry, I don't have any malicious intentions nor agenda," Lux replied.

"I believe you."

"Then you'll allow me to join?"

"On one condition." Aina stared at Lux's as if she was trying to see through his very soul. "You have to tell me the real reason behind why you want to join my guild. Even if you don't plan to harm my guild, there might be some outside factors that may. I want to know these unknown variables."

"Lux, you have to understand that I am a Guild Master, and my Guild comes first. I need to know if allowing you to join will have a negative impact on us in the long run."

The Half-Elf sighed before reluctantly nodding his head.

"Let's talk somewhere private," Lux replied. "I promise to tell you everything, but you have to promise me that you won't tell a soul about it."

Aina nodded her head in understanding. Lux was her sister's benefactor, so she trusted him to a certain extent. She knew that the Half-Elf must have a good reason for requesting her help to let him temporarily join her guild.

In regards to Lux's strength, Aina was convinced that the latter was indeed strong. She was a person who had a good head on her shoulders and was able to determine if someone had good intentions or not.

Overall, she didn't have qualms with Lux joining her guild. However, she still needed to know his reasons in order to create countermeasures if something unforeseen happened in the future.

--

An hour later

"And that's why I want to join your guild," Lux said with a serious expression on his face. "Will this create trouble for you in the long run?"

Aina's expression remained the same, but deep inside she was shocked by Lux's revelation.

She couldn't believe that the Half-Elf in front of her had been targeted by not just one, but two Reapers of Twilight Rain, yet managed to survive their assasination attempt.

What was more surprising was that the red-headed teenager was able to make them join his side and become his subordinates. Aina didn't ask for the specifics on how Lux managed to convince two Initiate Ranked Assassins to become his collaborators and betray their guild.

Because of his revelation, her impression of the Half-Elf was raised to a higher level, making her finally understand why Colette boasted about her dependable "Big Brother" every opportunity she got.

"Very well, on behalf of Eternal, I welcome you as a temporary member of our guild," Aina stood up from her chair and extended her hand towards the Half-Elf. "Please, lend us your strength and help us win the competition."

"Of course." Lux smiled as he stared at the perfect beauty in front of him that resembled the lady he idolized back on Earth. 'She really looks like a younger version of Luna. It's quite unfortunate that she will not grow to be as tall as her because she is a Dwarf.'

"I have a feeling that you are thinking of something rude right now," Aina said.

"Nonsense!" Lux replied. "I'm just thinking about how you have made the right choice today. Relax, I'll make sure that Eternal becomes the Protector Guild of Whitebridge City."

"Thank you. I look forward to your results."

"You can count on it."

After Lux left the Guild Master's office, Aina pulled out a document from her drawer and skimmed through its contents.

On the document was Lux's information, which had been gathered by one of the Information Guilds in the city.

It listed the achievements that the Half-Elf had accomplished in Leaf Village. Aina had received this document just before the meeting regarding the Beast Tide was held, so she didn't have time to look over it.

However, a rare trace of appreciation could be seen in her eyes as she finished reading the last entry of the document.

"So, this is the person you are trying to matchmake me to, Colette," Aina said as she thought about how her little sister had been dropping subtle hints here and there like, "Big Brother is still single," or "You know, even though he's not a Dwarf, Big Brother and Big Sister look good when the two of you stand by side. It's like a match made in heaven!"

Aina sighed as she returned the document inside the drawer. She had already told her little sister that she didn't plan to have any relationship at the moment because her priority was to raise Eternal to be a Gold-Ranked Guild.

Love was not something that she needed at the moment, even though she had already received countless marriage proposals in both Elysium and Solais.

'Love is unnecessary,' Aina thought. 'I don't want to be bound by such a feeling.'

The doll-like beauty stood up and stared at the emblem of her guild that she had built from scratch. Through great hardships, she had managed to raise Eternal from a Bronze-Ranked Guild to a Silver-Ranked Guild in record time, which had earned her the nickname, Warrior Princess.

'Lux Von Kaizer,' Aina thought of the Half-Elf that just left her office a few minutes ago. 'I hope that there will not come a time when the two of us become enemies. For your sake, and mine as well.'