Dawn.
The sun's radiance fell from the sky.
Sunlight shattered against the roof of a luxurious palace, scattering into mottled fragments across the ground.
This palace bore distinct gnoll characteristics, rugged yet touched with a hint of elegance.
Outside the palace stood two squads of gnoll guards clad in heavy golden armor.
These guards were huge, nearly every one of them three or four meters tall.
Even without releasing the pressure of battle aura, one could sense that these gnoll warriors were at least Gold-tier, or even Sanctuary-tier.
The fur along their backs was black, a mark of low status among gnolls.
Black-backed gnolls clearly should not have possessed such strength.
Generally, gnolls capable of reaching above the Gold tier were mostly silver-backed, or even gold-backed gnolls.
This theory of bloodline evidently did not apply to the guards of this palace.
Passing through the palace gates and entering its interior, one could see luxurious gnoll furnishings and decorations everywhere.
At last, the view settled upon a room within the palace.
From beneath a quilt of Gold-tier velvet on an enormous bed, a pair of furry wolf claws slowly emerged.
The quilt was thrown aside, revealing several delicate and lovely gnoll maidens beneath it, with a powerfully built male gnoll in their midst.
Wilmot!
He was the most loyal servant of Huo Ling—the great Lord of Destruction, sovereign of Purgatory Avernus, Hellflame Dragon Emperor, ruler of the Eastern Extremity Empire, Godslayer, Blasphemer, Death Consul, Sunstar Archmage—Wilmot!
As the first loyal servant of that great being, Wilmot's status had steadily risen alongside Huo Ling's.
After all, the two had known one another since their humble days in the Silver realm, when Wilmot had pledged his allegiance to Huo Ling.
Now, Wilmot's strength had reached the seventh rank of Legend, a rather impressive