<h4>Chapter 245. Reunion (2)</h4>


    [-Valhald Rakuntash has died.]


    “The Lord is dead! Shhhhk! Let’s get revenge!”


    “Kill all the humans!”


    “Let’s drink the blood of humans!”


    The orcs raged, infuriated by the death of their esteemed Lord.


    Valhald had fallen, but his orc army numbering in the hundreds of thousands remained. However, Pram paid them no mind. Instead, his attention was turned towards the sky above them.


    [-It’s over, Desir.] [-Good job, Pram.]


    Shortly after the quick exchange viamunication magic, someone appeared from the sky. A young man enrobed in a ck coat and wielding a long staff hovered over the battlefield. Desir Arman.


    He directed his staff towards the ground, and theplicated spell array he had been calcting was revealed to the orcs and humans. The intricate matrices were painted on the world, the sky as their canvas. A super-massive spell array hung above them, and the clouds themselves began to flee for their lives.


    *Whoosh*


    A nauseating amount of mana began to surge through the battlefield. Those who were unfortunate enough to gaze up at the sky were dumbstruck, forced to continue looking upwards, like mindless zombies. It was as though their very souls had been captivated.


    The once noisy battleground, filled with the sound of weaponry shing, the screams of the defeated, and the howls of the victorious, had been reced by silence. The song of the morning birds was the only thing that remained. No one could find the strength to open their mouth, let alone swing their weapon, while witnessing the enormous spell above them.


    The silence, beautiful as it may be, was short lived. Desir had finished arranging his spell, and opened his mouth.


    [Binder of Earth]


    The supposed defensive magic lookedpletely different when Desir invoked it.


    As the spell was invoked, the ground shook and deep cracks began to appear. Within the center of the orc army, a tform several hundred meters in length began to rise. The orcs caught atop it were stuck, unable to do anything but crowd towards the center of the rising tform.


    “W-What is this?!”


    “I, I will kill you! Shhhhhk! I will surely take revenge!”


    Orcs cursed out loud. However, the sound of their voices did not reach Desir.


    The tform began to curl upwards towards the sun,pressing itself into a massive ball. Desir’s face was emotionless, his actions devoid of hesitation.


    *CRACK*


    A horrifying sound echoed across the battlefield. Stone and flesh ground against each other. The entire battlefield was entrenched in the shadow cast by the nearly moon-sized weapon. [Gravity Control]


    Desir invoked another spell. The orcs standing where his staff was directed simultaneously began to kneel. They were all unable to remain standing under the sudden increase in gravity. *CRACK*


    The pull gravity continued to increase. The weaker orc were pulverized into the ground leaving behind nothing but a bloody stain. “Sa-Save me! Shhhhk”


    “Shhhk! Stop it! I’ll die!”


    The orcs shouted in despair at the threat of death.


    But this was just the beginning.


    Desir smoothly lowered his staff towards the ground…


    The giant sphere began to fall from the sky.


    “Uh?”


    *BOOM*


    They were crushed.


    The orcs crushed under such a heavy weight weren’t even ttened; they were instantly killed. It happened so fast that most did not even have the chance to scream. The few that did… Well, they didn’t scream for long.


    From the epicenter of the meteor strike, the ground began to copse. “… … !”


    The aftershock of the crash forcibly grounded the Knights of Kelin, their legs unable to move, despite the collision happening a fair distance away from where they had evacuated.


    After a while, the shaking ceased allowing the witnesses enough leeway to look at what remained of the orc army. Maya, one of the Kelin Knights, muttered as she looked at the mushroom cloud of dust.


    “This is impossible… … ”


    Her eyes were widened in fear, more than any sense of admiration.


    Even though they were allies, she could only feel fear towards the boy floating in the sky. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what the orcs were experiencing.


    The orcs no longer struggled. They all knelt down while looking up at the sky. “Have mercy! Shhhk!”


    “Soul of the great warriors, save us!”


    The surviving orcs cried out to Desir to spare them.


    Unfortunately for them, however, thepletion message for clearing the Shadow World had not yet appeared.


    [Howl of Magma]


    Geysers of hot air burst through the cracks in the partially copsed ground. *Whooosh*


    It was magma. Magma surged forth, soaring out into the air like a geyser.


    As Desir gestured with his staff, half of the hill burned red. The soaring magma began sweeping the ground like a tsunami.


    *Grrrrr*


    The screams of the orcs could no longer be heard over the hiss that filled the battlefield, the rapid cooling of the magma demanding the attention of everyone present, both alive and dead… Between the screams, the magma, the shattered ground, and the begging for mercy, it was as if hell itself had been reborn.


    The orcs had lost. Even the absolute minimum number required to form an offensive against a modest army had been lost in this battle. Valhald Rakuntash had died, and the scattered orcs would never regroup.


    [-You have sessfullypleted the final quest, ‘Extinction’.] [-Rewards have been distributed.]


    * * *


    “With this, you can predict the Shadow Worlds artificially created by Skull Mask.”


    As a man with light silver colored hair spoke while sipping tea, a woman’s voice could be heard from themunication device.


    [-Thanks to you, we can cope with the Shadow Worlds more easily.]


    “I''m happy to help. If you’re able to prepare for the Shadow Worlds before they manifest, the damage dealt and the resources you need tomit will be significantly reduced. Doing so is important for Desir’s n to seed.”


    The man had the appearance of a forty year old, but his eyes emanated an aura of profoundness and wisdom: an aura one could only umte after living for a century. The incongruity between his appearance and aura left a strange feeling within those that interacted with him.


    This man was the Seventh-Circle magician, and the Master of the Magic Tower, Zod Exarion. “How is the war going, Prisci?”


    The person speaking to Zod via remotemunication magic was Prisci Haicilkite, the Saint of Artemis, and leader of the Artemis Church.


    Prisci replied with a firm tone.


    [-Bad. Even an optimist would struggle to say it’s going well. We’re doing all we can just to hold out.]


    “As soon as our operation starts, the war will be over.” [-I hope so. I don’t know how much longer we canst.]


    After ending the call, Zod sighed and turned his eyes to one side.


    In the direction of his gaze was a video showing the frontline of a battle.


    Zod was deep in thought after just seeing the army g the enemy waved. Emzoned on the g was a dragon.


    ‘Divide’s power is terrifying. Our worst predictions have proven to be true.’


    Every country on the continent was locked in an unwavering war. Theirmon enemy: the Kingdom of Divide.


    It was impossible for a nation to wage war against the whole world. It was impossible even for the mighty Hebrion Empire. Yet Divide not only managed, but flourished. Even in response to a massive difference in military power, Divide had seized the upper hand time and time again. ‘No, this isn’t Divide, this is only because of Skull Mask.’


    Skull Mask.


    One of the most heinous leaders of the criminal group known as the Outsiders. He had concealed himself while infiltrating numerous countries through mankind’s history. He moved secretly while hiding his true purpose.


    It was no exaggeration to say that Divide’s ability to stand up against the world was all due to him. In reality, this wasn’t one country dering war on the world. This was one man.


    ‘This situation would have been much easier to handle without the Shadow Worlds.’


    Skull Mask had the power to artificially create Shadow Worlds. Some of the worlds created were even Level One and Two Shadow Worlds… catastrophes the likes of which mankind had not seen for the longest of times.


    This power was more threatening than any strategic weapon. A Level One Shadow World had only appeared three other times in recorded history. Each time, the strongest country of that age was consumed by such a Shadow World.


    As if this situation wasn’t hard enough, Skull Mask then made Divide mobilize its forces and began invading neighboring countries. The power of Divide’s forces, bolstered by chimeras and homunculi, which had been created and subsequently perfected by Skull Mask, was simply overwhelming. The amount of time and resources he must have put into their research over the past century must have been colossal.


    Fortunately, the kingdoms were able to unite swiftly due to the recently formed alliance and previous battles against the Outsiders. Not only was their reaction fast, the chain ofmand was quickly established and well structured. Thanks to this stroke of good fortune, the damage caused by Divide’s army was able to be minimized. It was a tremendous achievement considering a majority of each country’s force had to bemitted to clearing Shadow Worlds.


    While these courses of action seemed natural, there was a single boy behind such an achievement. Without him, no matter how much experience they had gained through fighting the Outsiders, they would not have been able to achieve nearly as much this quickly.


    ‘Even still, the situation is far from good… … ’


    All they could do was reduce the damage incurred. Things would only worsen as time progressed.


    Surprisingly, even when faced with such a situation, Zod did not appear desperate. His eyes glowed, checking for every move possible, despite his opponent being only one step away from checkmate.


    As Zod was arranging his thoughts, the door of his office opened and a boy strode inside. Zod spoke, seemily expecting the unannounced visit.


    “Did you have any trouble clearing the Shadow World?”


    “It was rather easy, I only needed to deal with the enemy troops. Their leader moved as I expected he would, so Pram was able to eliminate him first.”


    Zod chuckled to himself.


    “You’re probably the only human on the continent who can talk about a Level Two Shadow World like that.”


    Zod beamed at the boy, Desir Arman, with a proud expression. ‘If you weren’t here, we wouldn’t be able to make it by today.’


    As he thought about the situation they found themselves in, he once again reached the conclusion that, without Desir, the entire continent might have already fallen into the hands of Skull Mask.


    Desir could make reality what others dismissed as dreams.


    He had made great strides towards neutralizing the endless conflict between the nobles andmoners in the Hebrion Empire.


    He had normalized the rtionship between the Hebrion Empire and Western Kingdom Union, who had been hostile to each other for much of recorded history.


    He had also managed to form a joint-alliance with the Esteban Tribe of barbarians, protectors of the peace that had maintained their policy of istionism until now.


    They wouldn’t have been able to deal with the numerous Shadow Worlds artificially created by Skull Mask if Desir had failed to achieve a single one of these milestones. And even now, the damage they would have taken at the start of the battle would have been significant if not for Desir’s guidance.


    “So, did you get what you aimed for?”


    “Yup.”


    Desir pulled an object out of the dimensional pocket in his Clothes Line, before showing it to Zod.


    It was a g featuring blue hydrangeas. A phrase was written on the handle of the g.


    [The Captain of the Knights of Kelin, Kuros Pawhinke, presents this g to the savior of my country, Desir Arman.]


    Desir helped the Knights of Kelin and received a g with a sentence as a token of friendship. Desir walked towards the wall where many such gs were on disy.


    “This is the 250th.”


    The inscriptions and symbols on the numerous gs were all unique. Each one of them represented a group.


    [The 13-Star Magic Research Group]


    [Knights of the Wave]


    [Nevarta Mercenaries]


    …


    …


    …


    They were all armed forces which had considerable reputation across the continent, regardless of their country of origin.


    Desir helped them clear Shadow Worlds, and was promised their cooperation in turn.


    He didn’t limit his activity to therger nations like the Hebrion Empire or Western Kingdom Union, but made rtionships with powerful groups all around the continent.


    Their strength united would be a devastating military alliance.


    A transnational military coalition had gathered under the name of Desir Arman. ‘Now, we can address problems as they appear, anywhere on the continent.’


    Zod, who knew Desir had been moving with such a purpose, admired the fact that Desir had actually managed to pull it off.


    But there was something that Zod didn’t know.


    ‘I only gathered those who showed skill in the Shadow Labyrinth and were able to make it more than five years. In a situation like this, power alone is useless; their adaptability will be their strength.’


    The people Desir had gathered could be called the elite of humanity, those with the power and ability to survive the worst disaster man-kind would ever face.


    ‘With this, preparation for the Shadow Labyrinth is nearingpletion.’


    Even now, when the current rendition of humanity was facing their biggest crisis, Desir continued to look towards the future, a future that may have been much closer than he originally believed.


    “So the troops are ready. Tower Master, how are the things I requested going?” This was another piece to Desir’s n topletely knock down Skull Mask. “It has beenpleted already. The flying gship is ready to set sail.”


    “In that case, the stage has been set.”


    Thepletion of the secret n to reverse the current situation in the one go was almost upon them.


    “It’s time to gather thest actors, and start the y.”