Elia's eyes shone with delight when she saw those lords lowering their heads in respect before she glanced at Jacob and saw he wasn't reacting in any way.
Jacob was neither pleased nor disappointed since he was expecting this outcome. After all, those lords weren't muddleheaded like the Myriad Galaxy King, and they all wanted to survive rather than this city.
"Y-your majesty, is the o-old...king really d-dead?" One of the lords, a wizened-faced man with long hair, hesitantly asked. He was known as the Runic Lord, a Lord Rank Alchemist specializing in Rune Crafting. he was the oldest among all the lords of Violent Witch Clan and was also the Myriad Galaxy King's younger brother!
Although Runic Lord might've accepted Jacob as their new king, he was still the Myriad Galaxy King's brother and their entire clan was imprisoned in Eamon. Apparently, only the Myriad Galaxy King knew where the Cosmic Gateway Eamon was and how to open it.
Jacob also guessed what Runic Lord wanted to ask but didn't dare to, so he casually replied, "He's gone."
A chill ran down Runic Lord and his two companions' spins when Jacob acknowledged it, and with his casual tone, he made it as if it wasn't a big deal at all. But they knew that killing a legendary king wasn't an easy feat; it was so tricky that it rarely happened, yet Jacob had pulled it off in such a short time they still couldn't quite believe it.
"Can you open Eamon's Cosmic Gateway?" The second legendary lord, known as the Potion Sky Lord, another Lord Rank Alchemist questioned; his eyes were slightly bloodshot as he looked at Jacob with hope.
It was quite clear whatever the Myriad Galaxy King had on Potion Sky Lord was quite important to him and now that the mad king was gone, he probably wanted it back.
Truthfully, Jacob had no idea how to open this cosmic gateway, he didn't even know where it was for he only recently learns about them from Autarch. But he wasn't too worried about it since he knew he would learn his every secret once Autarch devoured the Myriad Galaxy King.
"I don't know where it is since that guy wasn't really cooperative, and I don't really have time to ask him about it since I was busy killing him before he blew the entire city in his madness." Jacob impassively stated, making the three lords' expressions sink with despair.
But Jacob wasn't done as he continued, "However, don't worry, it would take some time, but I will find it since I also want something from that elemental galaxy. Now, I want to ask you guys some questions before you can start with the plan of defensive strategy."
The three lords were startled when they heard his next words and finally sighed in relief since this meant they could still have their families and wealth back. After all, a legendary king didn't have to trick them with something like this, and they all knew every legendary king was capable of analyzing space.
Although there was still a huge difference between the king with the space law soul totem and the one without it, legendary kings can detect change in space because of laws, and some can even compress it to some extent, creating an ability of minor teleportation unique to legendary kings.
After getting Jacob's assurance, the three lords finally decided to cooperate. They had no choice but to be surrounded by a vast sea of Zodiac Beasts, so there was no escape in this situation.
"How long is that barrier sustainable?" Jacob asked since they were now on the same page, he needed to know how long this city can last.
The third lord, Pill Lord, replied to this question since he was the military general of resources of the city.
"With all the Star Crystals in reserve for the Myriad Guardian Formation, it would probably last for other decades before we'll run out of Star Crystals and have to use legendary nobles to fuel it.
"After all, the Myriad Guardian Formation is a Basic Legendary Rank formation, and to fuel it, we need 100 King-Tier Star Crystals daily or the support of at least 100 legendary nobles or 10 legendary lords to maintain it unless we have a legendary king to maintain it…" At this point, Pill Lord quickly glanced at Jacob before quickly looking down.
Jacob's eyes flickered as he knew the Star Crystals were actually a higher version of magic gems, but unlike the magic gems, Star Crystals were naturally formed in the depth of elemental planets. They had four tiers: Fable, Noble, Lord, and King, like the legendary rank states.
Not only were these star crystals used in various aspects of alchemy, like the magic crystal, but they also contained soul force and stellar energy.
This means Star Crystals can not only help to quickly recover the soul force and magic of legendary state experts, they were also used to make quick progress through the ranks and the King Tier Star Crystals even contained a wisp of elemental laws in them which were extremely beneficial for any legendary lord!
Although the King Tier Star Crystals have a minimal effect on a Legendary King, they were still quite useful as an excellent recovery medicine. However, king-tier star crystals can only be found in an elemental galaxy, and that was another big reason for keeping an elemental galaxy instead of destroying it by taking away its legendary vestige.
Lastly, the Star Crystals were also used as currency. Their value was higher than ZC, such as 1 Fable Tier Star Crystal, equal to 10,000 ZC, 1 Noble Tier Star Crystal, equal to 100,000 ZC, and 1 Lord Tier Star Crystal, equal to 10,000,000 ZC. As a King Tier Star Crystal, there were demands but no seller since all of them were in the hands of legendary kings, and if by chance some did appear, there would be huge bidding wars among lords to get them.
That's why Jacob was quite surprised when he heard this protection formation was using 100 king-tier star crystals daily, and they still have enough to keep this up for another decade.
He already knew how precious these crystals were, but it seemed he had underestimated the wealth of an alchemy king associated with the alchemy guild.
Still, he had no intention of touching those reserves since it meant he wouldn't have to worry about the city being breached any time soon.
At this moment, he suddenly thought of something and asked, "I saw that this barrier is currently surrounding a vast area outside the city. Why not just focus it on the city? It'll save us a massive amount of star crystals."
It was the Runic Lord who replied with a bitter look, "It's not like we haven't thought about it. But it's impossible because the Old King had created this formation using all the lands of the Myriad Galaxy Guardian Mountains as formation nodes, which gives this formation the defensive power of an almost tier-3 legendary king despite being a basic legendary rank. However, this also makes it impossible to control its area of effect and consumption. We can't do anything about it."
'That guy really deserves to die!' Jacob thought as he really started to wonder how the Myriad Galaxy King was able to make it all the way to this point without getting killed by his idiocy.
Since he can't cut off the barrier consumption, he has another long discussion with the three lords before they all leave with exhausted yet excited looks in their eyes. They also felt a deep respect for the new king since he was really different from the old king, and they finally saw the hope of coming out of there alive.
Back in the throne room, Jacob looked at Elia, silently observing everything from start to finish, and seemed to be pondering about something.
He uttered, "Go and start the breakthrough to the legendary rank. After that, I want you to be at the front line and experience what it's like to be at war and fight with your life on the line!"
Elia was startled and paled slightly, but her eyes shone with resolution, and she solemnly said while bowing her head, "Order acknowledged, teacher!"