Chapter 292. Transcendence (3)

Rumble.

“My god… Did he aim for all this?”

“Unbelievable…”

Karhal and Ekidu mumbled to themselves as they watched the giant snowstorm that had been released from the Spirit Land and headed towards the Kingdoms and the Empire.

But because it was spread out in an area much larger than the spirit land, the power behind it had been lowered.

Though the ones that were the closest might’ve been killed off by the storm, the power will lessen the further it spreads out and it would become easier to withstand.

Well of course, only in comparison to the Spirit Land.

‘… They’re all going to die.’

Karhal estimated this result as he looked at the might of the storm.

The players should be able to hold on for two to three hours without the Protection Elixir.

And the powerhouses of the Empire and the Kingdoms would be able to hold on a bit longer.

Even longer if they used their defensive spell formations.

But there was a limit to how long they could last.

And the players were disappearing into golden lights from time to time randomly.

Even those who didn’t receive enough damage to die.

‘What the hell happened over there…’

Karhal looked away from the mountain range and towards the vast lands of the Kingdom.

Though the citizens of the Kingdom wouldn’t freeze to death right away, it was just a matter of time.

They would die from exhaustion.

Or starve to death.

Since there would be no way of acquiring anything to eat if this entire world got covered with those ash clouds and ice.

A minority would be able to survive through it using large amounts of mana but they wouldn’t be able to threaten the adventurers anymore.

And the adventurers coming up would be fine as well.

The ones who are already here and have the Ain’s Blessing could just set up a base here and the Ains could just give out more blessings while they bought time with the base.

And with that, they could just hunt the beasts on the inner parts of the Spirit Land to level up before going up.

‘This is the best plan…’

But there was a variable.

The Ains.

Karhal and Ekidu were worried about the Ains.

‘… Would they maintain the Alliance?’

This situation was extremely favorable for them.

Even if they didn’t go against the adventurers or betray them, if the Ains decided to just hide then it would be fatal for them.

Since there would be no way for them to save the people coming up from that moment onwards.

It was impossible to stay within this harsh environment and level up 50 times without the Ain’s Blessing.

Not in this world filled with snow and ice.

While Karhal and Ekidu were making worried expressions.

Somebody walked towards them from the snowstorm.

“… What’s going on?”

Karhal stared at Mudusella walking through the snow with a worried expression.

‘I don’t know what your thoughts are…’

Mudusella smiled towards Karhal.

“I understand why you are worried. But don’t worry, we don’t have any thoughts of fighting against you.”

There weren’t many of them left anyway.

They had no thoughts of losing more by fighting with the adventurers.

Though they were stronger now and would slowly lose out in strength as more came up and received the Ain’s Blessing, there was a reason why they could not attack the adventurers.

“It’s not time for us to fight.”

“What are you…”

Then.

Boooom!

Boom!

Booooooom!

Fireworks and flames rose up from somewhere from the War Fortress in the distance.

A location where the soldiers of the Kingdom resided.

Karhal cursed.

He knew what those flames meant.

“Fuck…”

“You didn’t think they were going to just die like this right?”

The Spirit Land blew out to spread out to the entire world.

There was only one choice the Kingdoms and the Empire had.

“They will come to hunt us down. I trust you’ll do your best as our allies. Since if you want to survive in the future, you’ll need us.”

The Great General Cykrus and his elite soldiers were no pushovers.

And it was the same for the elite soldiers of the Empire.

As Mudusella mumbled in worry.

Ekidu asked Mudusella just in case.

“Couldn’t we just make an alliance with them?”

Ekidu didn’t like this battle.

There was not much difference in terms of battle strength between them.

If they fought then both sides would receive huge amounts of damage.

And since the opponents also knew this, they might be able to escape this war if they shared the Ain’s Blessing.

Since what they wanted was survival.

But Mudusella chuckled at Ekidu’s words.

“Hmm. Probably not. If they know about you guys… That would never happen.”

***

“What are your orders?”

Whooooosh.

In the midst of the snowstorm.

The vice captain asked Cykrus in worry.

They were able to withstand it for a short moment by squeezing out all the remaining Protection Elixirs and their mana but there was a limit.

Cykrus mumbled as he stared towards the Spirit Land in the distance.

“We need to kill the Ains.”

Not all the citizens were as strong as them and there was a limit to the amount of mana they had at their disposal.

Without any protection, they would slowly die out.

The vice captain asked Cykrus carefully.

“What about an alliance with them…?”

The Ain’s battle strength was not low.

It was the same for the adventurers who had joined them.

Those adventurers wouldn’t want to fight against them either.

Since the soldiers of the Kingdoms and the Empire would fight with their lives on the line.

But Cykrus chuckled.

“Alliance… That’s a very good thing. If this situation could remain like this that is.”

The vice captain fell into silence from the words of his captain, Cykrus.

“Those guys are weak now but would they continue to be in the future as well?”

“…”

“They will continue to flood this place and become stronger as they continue to receive the Ain’s Blessing. Sooner or later they will become the strongest force in this world.”

They had caught a few of these people in the fight before.

And their words were very strange.

That they were just the scouting party.

Sooner or later, tens of millions would start flooding into this place.

And these were not the people who lived in peace like the residents of the Kingdom but rather people who had been sharpened and polished through countless life and death battles.

“Would they like an alliance between us and the Ains?”

“…”

“In my opinion… They wouldn’t. Remember this, this isn’t a battle regarding who survives but rather who becomes the next owner of this world.”

These words stabbed into the vice captain’s heart.

“Just think of one thing. To capture the Ains after killing them all. They are beasts. People who have climbed up to here by killing. If we don’t get rid of them now then the ones who will fight them next are your sons and daughters and even your wife.”

“… Understood.”

The vice captain nodded in resolution.

The talk about his own family had given him a clear reason for this fight.

‘Fucking hell… Who caused this?’

The vice captain sighed.

He didn’t know how things got to this point.

The times of when the Kingdoms and the Empire ruled over the world while the immortals enjoyed this place was very stable and peaceful.

But everything changed in a moment.

The trapped Ains became free as the rat-like adventurers who were always on the run became the biggest threat to their whole existence.

He couldn’t believe that all of this happened in less than a month.

‘He has tensed up too much.’

Cykrus spoke to his vice captain.

“Don’t think that we’re at a disadvantage. This is more like our final chance.”

If this strange explosion didn’t occur and the mysterious snowstorm in the Spirit Land stayed within place place, they would only be able to sit back and watch them become stronger by the moment.

But since the fence protecting the Spirit Land had disappeared, this was the perfect chance to wipe them out.

But something worried Cykrus deep inside.

And as if the vice captain had the same thought as him, he said it out loud.

“… The Ains would know all this as well. Why are they helping that side instead?”

There was no reason to maintain the alliance.

Since the situation had been flipped upside down.

The possibility of the adventurers killing them all off after they got strong wasn’t just for them.

No, the Ains might end up in a worse situation than them.

‘Mudusella. What are you thinking? You need to wipe those guys out when they’re weak…’

Cykrus thought of Mudusella as he mumbled.

***

Rumble.

In the midst of the collapsing land.

The lava sea rose up and down on the other side of the half-destroyed mountain range.

Boom!

The powerful force smashing down on the land continuously created earthquakes as the metal waves smashed onto Hansoo’s body as it burned up his skin and mana.

Chiiiiiik.

As he was defending himself with the Demonic Dragon Reinforcement.

‘Phew, at least I’ll be able to survive once I get there.’

Hansoo looked at the huge mountain range that he had arrived to.

Chiiiii.

Though the snowstorm had disintegrated from the explosion, there was still snow here and there on the top of the mountain range as the base of the range absorbed most of the impact.

Though the snowstorm was the embodiment of a catastrophe for the citizens, it gave him a break and he could rest up.

Tatatata.

Hansoo mumbled as he grabbed his head while running past the half-destroyed mountain range.

‘… I’ll need to rest for a bit after I escape.’

He couldn’t climb up with this unknown variable within his body.

There was a need for him to recover and check up on his body even if it took some time.

‘There should still be some time until the Abyss opens…’

Of course since he had interfered, the invasion of the Abyss might’ve hastened in comparison to his previous life.

Maybe one or two existences of the Abyss would pop out.

But this was all within his expectations.

The strengthened humankind would be able to withstand this.

Hansoo moved his body even faster in order to forget about his headache.

Oooooong.

And after a while.

The heat disappeared as he entered the area of the snowstorm.

Something came into the eyes of Hansoo while he slowly regenerated his body as he absorbed the energy from the snowstorm.

He saw the vast icy plains past the mountain range.

These icy plains had melted down to a degree from the energy that exploded out from behind the range.

And in the cracks that had appeared.

Rummmble.

He could see dozens of spaceships.

Spaceships that had been frozen by Tiamet even before any of them could escape.

And Hansoo frowned as he looked at this.

Since one of them was strange.

Rummmblee!

‘It’s active?’

One of the ASTRO series let out some light as it started up.

[ASTRO-1]

He could clearly see these letters on the surface of the spaceship that was starting up.

‘… I guess I’ll need to check this out.’

Though his body condition wasn’t top notch, he could not just ignore this.

Since this meant that somebody was inside the ship and was controlling it.

Hansoo quickly started to head towards ASTRO-1.