Year 2, Day 27
Today, the delegation from the Bai family arrived at our Xuan clan.
I haven't yet met the young Lady Bai Xilin because apparently, they were busy discussing with the elders, but I did meet a strange girl.
She was really beautiful, but she seemed a bit crazy.
I was training my sword techniques when this madwoman barged onto the training field and challenged me.
Of course, I accepted. I had already reached the advanced stage of Foundation Establishment, and with all the supplements I gained from the tournament, I could probably reach the pinnacle within a month, so I didn't think I was going to lose.
Well, in fact, she slaughtered me. Whether in terms of cultivation or swordsmanship, she totally outclassed me.
Even so, she is quite nice and gave me some tips. It's a pity that I'll probably never see her again because I will leave tomorrow with the young Lady.
I would have liked to fight with her a bit more; I learned a lot today.
…
In a deep valley bordered by two enormous volcanoes, the air distorted, and twenty-four spatial portals formed.
The largest of them, towering nearly a hundred meters high, took some time to stabilize before trembling as a large dark figure passed through the portal.
Successively, ten magical ships emerged from the portal one after the other and established a security perimeter around the portals.
Shortly after, all the portals trembled and dozens of different races exited the portal in various groups.
One of them was a motley group of about a hundred small, squat gray dwarves dressed in rags and carrying stone clubs.
Another was a relatively large group of goblins dressed in leather clothes brandishing short swords. One could even see a few hobgoblins.
Although some groups, especially the smaller ones, looked like a disorganized crowd, three groups formed tight ranks and wore uniforms representing their nation.
The first one was made up of tall treants clad in steel armors; another was composed of tall orcs.
However, the most imposing army was the one that kept coming out of the large portal.
There were tens of thousands of red-moon Nagas, novarians and Valyrs.
All were dressed in splendid silver uniforms. The mages wore long robes engraved with runes and defensive formations, each brandishing a large alloy staff topped with a glowing orb.
The melee warriors wore beautiful armor tailored to each race. The nagas mainly wore armguards and a shoulder pad, as well as a chest plate protecting their ribcage.
The Valyr and novarian cultivators were clad in full armor adapted to their size and racial peculiarities.
However, all bore a crest depicting the god of the four elements brandishing a spear on their left chest.
Just below, they had stripes representing their military rank.
The only exceptions to this were the nearly fifity spirit beasts, who wore casual clothes made of energy.
Feeling they had arrived in an unknown place, several young wyverns became excited and took their true forms, flying in the air and letting out terrifying roars.
The pressure from this army was such that the twenty-three other groups felt their mind shaking and stopped what they were doing.
Under the unleashed aura of the three beginner rank 4 young wyverns, many mortals and rank 1s even lost consciousness.
At that moment, the portal fluctuated one last time, and four figures emerged from the channel.
Even though they emitted no aura, their mere presence was enough to send shivers down the spines of all who had never seen them.
One was a 2 meter tall naga carrying a long pearly white lance whose metallic gleam sent cold sweats even to the bravest warriors.
The second was also a naga but carried no weapon. He was simply dressed in a plain suit top.
Another was a middle-aged Valyr dressed in the standard mage robe, but whose details were much more beautiful and refined than those of the rank 4 generals.
The only female in the group was a young woman in casual attire. Two horns emerged from her forehead and curved upward, highlighting her long red hair and red eyes.
Two large wings emerged from her shoulder blades, and a thick tail extended from the base of her back.
Her pretty face was marked with a few red scales that also covered her arms and legs. Her limbs ended in long claws, reminding everyone of the danger this woman posed.
"That's enough, children, stop making all this noise, or I'll send you back to the nest," she said, looking at the three wyverns in the sky.
The three beasts suddenly panicked and flapped their wings at full speed, returning to the ground where they resumed their humanoid forms.
While the Great Army watched the scene with amusement and the other groups stood speechless, a few rank 4 nagas looked at the sky anxiously, recalling the tragic events of more than 500 years ago.
…
The mages quickly got to work and set up makeshift camps by modifying the ground.
At the center of the camp, there was a gigantic building made of volcanic rocks.
About forty people were gathered in this enormous room, discussing the next steps.
Sylvera, Ilbert, and the high priestess Isabella, who had undone the seals on their power, stood at the head of the table.
Next to them, various ranks 4 stood, representing the believers of Karl Vandome, followed by those of the other students.
The ranks 2 were at the far end of the table, and the seven incarnations stood back, observing the decisions of their believers.
The only rule of this expedition is that student could not interfere with their decisions and let them decide the course of actions.
At one point, Sylvera stood up, drawing the attention of the other representatives and causing the room to fall silent.
"I don't really want to waste time, so I'll get straight to the point. You've all probably noticed the cracks in the sky."
He swept his gaze over the crowd and saw them nodding, although not all of them really knew where he was going with this.
"I know you might think it's a characteristic of this world, like the volcanoes or the high temperature, but that's not the case. It's a sign that this world is collapsing," he said in a somber voice.
Karl's incarnation looked at Liam's with incredulity and sent him a mental transmission.
"I thought we weren't supposed to tell them anything!" he said.
Liam smiled slightly.
"Don't worry, I didn't tell him anything," he replied.
This time, he addressed the six other incarnations, one of which, to his great surprise, was that of Lucie Wenhamar.
"When I incubated my first red-moon Nagas, I had to find a good reason for them to be in my divine realm, so they witnessed the destruction of their original world by VR engines. Some of them are still alive today, so they naturally know about the fall of a plane."
Back in the assembly of leaders, Sylvera looked at their incredulous expressions and smiled slightly.
"Don't worry. Given the current progression of the cracks in the spatial barrier, we still have at least two years before this whole world is reduced to rubble."
At that moment, Ilbert stood up beside him and spoke.
"In fact, this might even be good news for us. When a world collapses, the spatial barrier becomes unstable and filled with turbulence and cracks. In other words, nothing can enter or leave this world, at least at our level of power. Another important point is that at this stage, the plane's magnetic field is so disrupted that no normal waves can pass through the spatial barrier, so we don't have to worry about their reinforcements either."
Liam nodded at Ilbert's analysis.
It would be different if the invaders could use spiritual energy to enhance their signals, but that wasn't the case.
For the past century, several scholars and researchers had continued their studies on all kind of subjects. With their long lifespan acquired through cultivation or magic, they could become very proficient in their respective fields, allowing Alandal's technology to develop very quickly.
(Alandal is the name of Liam's divine realm)
Liam's only regret was that they had not yet discovered the use of fluxorium or any good fuel.
This was the main reason they had somewhat stagnated for decades. The magical ships were the crystallization of their wisdom, but despite their incredible power, they were extremely costly to use, requiring a low-quality spiritual stone per day.
Since the plane was relatively young, there was no oil or kerosene to fuel the magical ships, and Liam had not yet found any radioactive materials because they were too expensive.
While the six other incarnations were still surprised by Ilbert's knowledge, Sylvera wasted no time and continued.
"We can say that our enemy is completely isolated and long-range communications are cut off. However, this is not the case for short-distance communications. Some of my men have already conducted tests, and we can communicate over more or less 25 kilometers. So we will thoroughly search the plane and slowly eliminate all enemy bases."
At that moment, he took on a serious demeanor and looked at each of the leaders present at the table.
"I know we come from different worlds and that our beliefs may differ, but our gods have asked us to liberate this world from its invader. Now, we do not know the scale of the enemy forces or their position. Until our mission is complete, we cannot afford internal strife, so I hope we can all cooperate and set aside our differences for the duration of the war."
…
In the main tent of the camp, the leaders were still in a meeting when Nevra, bearing the rank of general, interrupted the meeting and handed a large rolled-up sheet to Sylvera.
Although the other rank 4s seemed displeased by the interruption, they said nothing, sensing his strength.
Fortunately, the pinnacle magus didn't stay long and left after handing over the scroll.
As soon as she left, Sylvera unrolled it on the table and invited the leaders to come closer.
This large scroll was actually a large-scale map of the plane.
Apparently, their current position was very close to the edge of the world, and they could reach it by traveling about ten kilometers.
In the other directions, the surroundings were marked with some precision over a distance of about fifty kilometers, including the terrain, beast nests to beware of, about thirty monster colonies, and two relatively important villages.
There was even a spirit beast in the area furthest from the camp, although it was only at the beginner stage.
However, there was no trace of the invaders.
Ilbert looked at the map and sighed.
"There are only two possibilities. Either our enemies are very few, or they have blended into the landscape, which could complicate our task."
Isabella looked at the map, then at one of the individuals in the background, and smiled.
"Hey you there!" she said to a small gray, squat being, who jumped in surprise.
"Y-yes m-madam," he replied in a trembling voice.
Lucie looked at Liam in panic, seeing her only saint taken to task by an existence even more powerful than her true body.
"Don't worry," Liam told her with a smile. "This could be good news for you."
Lucie seemed uncertain but said nothing more, watching the main scene.
"Small, gray, squat beings who live in a cave on one of the sides of a volcano, that sounds like your race, doesn't it?"
The mountain dwarf, who was only a simple rank 2, panicked and sweated profusely, thinking the drake had taken a dislike to him.
"I-I'm n-not s-sure m-madam, b-but it's v-very p-probable."
The high priestess smiled even more, showing her beautiful white and pointed teeth.
"Perfect then! You will go and take care of this directly," she said, looking at the trembling dwarf. "According to our sources, there is a great Warrior there, so I will assign a section as reinforcement."
She then pointed to the other monster camps on the map, ignoring the little dwarf warrior who didn't know where to put himself.
"We will do the same with the other camps. If your race appears, you will take care of it directly, and if you lack troops, don't hesitate to ask for reinforcements. For the remaining camps, the Great Army of Alandal, the troops of Yvengoth, and the Wylrach killers will share them. Any objections?" she asked, scanning the crowd.
(Yvengoth: Karl Vandome's world. Wylrach: world of the elite class n°2 student with a rank 4.)
Of course, even if they disagreed, no one would dare showing it in the face of this terrifying pinnacle magic beast.
Sylvera smiled and leaned over the table.
"Good, in that case, I'll give you a week. By then, I want all these monster groups to have disappeared and for you to bring back some survivors here. If they know anything, we will get the worms out of them. If no one has any questions, then this meeting is over."