Boom—!
An explosion shook my surroundings, throwing me off my feet and flying into the curb. I heard dull thuds of impact nearby, signifying each of my companions. Luckily, it didn't seem like I had broken any bones. My physical ability ensured that I was not as frail as an ordinary person any longer.
"The Syndicate is attacking! Run!"
"Everyone run!"
"AAAAAAAAAH!"
A plethora of anxious voices sounded in my ears. Figures were dashing through the fog, eager to escape the violence that suddenly erupted. It seemed like there was a conflict between two parties who were unrelated to us.
Rose and King pulled each other up, while Han made sure the dainty Camellia was okay. I rose to my feet, and said,
"Let's run too." I glanced behind us where our pursuers should have been. "They won't be able to find us in this chaos."
"King, I hope you can make sure of that."
"That will not be a problem," King said.
He then pressed a button on one of his devices. Unseen distortions began to appear along the path that we had taken. Mana fluctuated and danced wildly as if it was an excited gas particle moving around in a container with its other brethren.
But before we could take one step forward, I felt an immense burst of energy emerge from the side of the Syndicate. Different from the usual blue burst of visible mana, it was a green, spherical shockwave.
In the split-second that I caught sight of the expanding sphere, I witnessed every bit of its characteristics. The runic patterns and mechanical distribution of pathways... My Hyperfocus allowed me to glean it all.
It was in that same instant that I realised what the energy was. My eyes dilated in shock, sending a tremble throughout my being. A swear rushed out of my lips with all the rage I had in my heart.
"NO!" I roared in defiance, but I could not defend myself against that burst of energy.
Why was that item here?! I buried that item in the depths of the Northern Kingdoms.
It was only supposed to come out if that one elder cracked the code after 77,777 tries.
Was its presence here telling me that the elder, Imnifictus, had somehow guessed the right one ahead of time? Had he transcended the wall between rank B and rank A already!?
'Which one of my actions caused this?!' I screamed inwardly.
Then, the green sphere enveloped me within its wretched grasp. It expanded to encompass the entire area, devoured this central Underworld Pocket, before then going on to encompass the entire metropolis of Aelthrie.
But when it did, something within the city snapped.
A slicing aura and fierce palpable intent rose into the sky, triggering the grand enchantments that the city of Aelthrie bore as one single entity. A mind-boggling array of mana programs that numbered as many as the stars in the night sky manifested in all their radiant glory.
Instantly, the green sphere shrank, forced only to encompass this Underworld Pocket. But that was the limit of its compression.
A mountain-like force pushed down on my shoulders as if gravity had increased tenfold. Energy so dense that I could barely wade through its gooey essence wrapped around me and held me in place.
I could not even look at how my companions were doing, for I could not see through this mass of green.
One of the Seven Roaming Towers was going to make an appearance, but it was too early for such a thing to occur.
In my book, a Roaming Tower would only appear whenever an arc would end. Once the Seven Roaming Towers were complete and were able to [ Anchor ] themselves here on the continent of Pillion, then that would signify the beginning of Ragnarök.
Moreover, this tower in particular was supposed to be the last of its kind to appear. Having it appear now was going to hasten the entire process.
Ragnarök was going to come early.
I recalled the sight I saw on my first day in Emerallia, when I looked into the Great Plains and spotted a city touching the horizon. The first Roaming Tower that should have appeared was the one that stood at the centre of that city. It was tall beyond imagination, and yet it was currently lying there, unseen by the naked eye.
I couldn't help but curse the butterfly effect. All of my plans would now need to be reworked.
Crack—!
I felt one of my ribs break as the green sphere was further compressed, forced into a smaller and smaller region by the machinations of Eve.
"Damn it, old man!" I screamed. Imnifictus was taking too long, "Activate [ Tower unlock procedure ]! Administrator password, [ There is always a banquet for each planet ]!"
WHOOOM—!
I instantly felt a connection with the core of the sphere. My soul had suddenly found itself bound to something, and it sent a chill running down my spine. Nonetheless, I had to continue, or else I and my companions would get crushed alive by this shrinking green sphere.
"Identification number, 3949."
"Barrier C."
"Pulsating Rythym, 4."
"Degree, 77."
I took a deep, pained breath as my broken rib pierced into my organs,
"Spell Sequences!"
"[ Everbound Orchard ]."
"[ Eternal Growth ]."
"[ Spacial Abstinence ]."
"[ Equivalent Absence ]."
"[ Unquestionable Presence ]."
"[ Starlight Chart ]."
"[ Quest of Subsidary Recall ]."
WHIIIIIIING—!
The hum of energy turned into an ear-rending whistle with each command that left my lips. The green colour around me began to vibrate at a set interval as dictated by my commands.
"Activate [ Anchoring Systems ] on default mode!"
Click—!
Everything suddenly became calm. The green sphere disappeared, allowing me a breath of air as I fell to the ground, gasping. I took one glance at my companions and saw that they were alright despite being a bit jarred. Camellia, however, had multiple broken bones.
But the end had yet to arrive.
"Brace yourselves," I told them.
A stone tower erupted from beneath the earth, swallowing us, and this Underworld Pocket, whole. It rose thousands of metres into the sky in the blink of an eye.
It pierced through the clouds, uncaring for anything in the world.
After all, the Seven Roaming Towers was something that an existence above even the gods had owned.