Muscular Uncle, according to the words of the former advisor, to get to the New Continent, I need to head to a floating island called Aether.
They say it’s a place you must pass through for the use of the ‘Holy Seal’ and smooth travel…
The problem is, I have no idea where that floating island is located.
I’ve checked every inch of the sky over the continent, but it didn’t show up, and looking beyond the continent is just way too vast.
The ‘map’ only marks the location of Ertarn after the floating island, but it doesn’t indicate where to go to find that floating island itself.
So basically, it means I have to run around and find it myself…
“Hmm…”
[Not here?]
[Been flying for an hour;;;]
[Let’s stop flying]
[Seriously can’t see it]
[What if I just break everything? Maybe it’ll come out?]
Nothing.
I’ve been scouring the sea for an hour and nothing’s come up.
At best, maybe some islands that were originally revealed during the 3rd anniversary or a small subcontinent?
Even there, there were some high-level creatures living, but none compared to the existence of Ertarn.
“I can’t see anything. No hits on the search magic either.”
Aside from flying, I’ve been deploying as much magic as I can with Lasty, but nothing is showing up.
I also asked the Alliance users, who might know Yena or the location, but nobody had a clue.
At this point, it seems impossible to find it without any special conditions.
‘Is there some special route? But I’ve already leveled up and got the Holy Seal.’
What more could possibly be left?
While I was chatting with the viewers and flying around…
Kyieeeek!!
The sky split apart.
[?]
[???]
[Huh?]
[What is that???]
“?”
Crash!
The sky shatters like glass.
The opposite side of the darkened sky trembles, and demon beasts infused with magic pour down from it.
Animal-shaped demon beasts resembling bears, wolves, and lions.
Each one is over level 100, monsters that ordinary users wouldn’t even dream of facing.
“The rift in the sky has become larger.”
This is one of the three disasters, a phenomenon caused by the dimensional rift of the demon race that the Empire was dealing with.
They used to ignore the happenings beyond the Empire, but lately, it seems like they’ve finally woken up and decided to deal with things even outside their territory.
Even if they choose to ignore this, they’d probably handle it themselves anyway.
‘Of course.’
Kieeeek!!
Before they even arrive, the demon beasts have already spotted me.
“Well, this is convenient.”
I briefly hesitate between picking up the spear or hammer, then go for the spear.
Even though I’ve chosen the path of the hammer, I still want to test out the performance of the 4th tier, but this is the sea.
I want to test the performance too, but this place is the sea.
WHOOSH!!
It’s just the right situation to check the performance of the Kraken’s Spear.
Just holding the spear, the sea begins to thrash, and something gigantic swaying beneath the waves shows its murderous intent.
The opponent consists of about one hundred demon beasts.
There are about twenty level 120 demon beasts, and the level 130 demon beast, presumed to be their boss, has a magical shield deployed that can’t even be scratched by ordinary attacks.
With nothing related to sealing like the Kraken, it’ll be even harder to face them.
But.
“Spear’s Roar.”
The Holy Storm grinds the demon beasts to dust.
The demon beasts within the attack range vanish without a trace, while those outside the range are swept away by the Kraken’s leg, which follows behind.
The massive wolf boss has absorbed some of the attacks, but the moment it falls into the sea, it’s already a dead life.
CRUNCH!!
It couldn’t resist and was swallowed whole by the sea.
‘One strike.’
In a single blow, a hundred demon beasts were annihilated.
[Whoa]
[???]
[What was that one-shot cut?]
[…Did I see that wrong?]
[What the hell? LOL]
[Great Lily]
[Isn’t 130 about the level of a mid-tier wild boss? LOL?]
[That’s insane]
[Even on a Hammer path, the spear got super strong?]
[Kraken + 4th class is a god…]
[Why ain’t the spear path getting recognition??]
I retrieve the spear and look over the dead demon beasts.
Other than a bit of magical stone, there’s nothing useful.
“Experience points… have gone up a tiny bit. It seems like I’ll level up after hunting about ten thousand more.”
With experience points in the hundreds of billions and already maxed out levels, I can’t even receive a threefold event anymore.
It’ll be hard to do anything further on the continent.
After collecting the magical stones casually, I get ready to leave when I detect a life response approaching rapidly.
Two individuals with strong power are heading this way.
I know both of them.
“This way! A level 9 threat wave is… huh?”
“You’re late.”
“You are…”
I look at the man and woman who hurriedly approach with the spear slung over my shoulder.
The Empire’s swords, each wearing gauntlets and swords.
“Blood Fight Lord Kazar Lornbte, Cloud Envoy Birang Brennis.”
“Lily… Lady Elbrite?”
“Lily?!”
“I entrusted you with this, and you come so late. What would have happened if it had gone to the neighboring continent?”
“…I rushed over as soon as I confirmed it, you know?”
“You should’ve come faster.”
You should have arrived before I caught them.
I can’t help but be greatly disappointed by their slow speed.
[LOL]
[Yeah, it’s true LOL]
[Sigh, the Empire’s level]
[Wait, didn’t they just show up in 5 minutes?]
[Birang, you’re looking pretty cute.]
[The Eight Swords looked so strong, but now they seem like nothing.]
[For real, haha.]
[Just for info: Those two couldn’t even win against the Sword Saint or Leo once.]
[Skill level.]
[Looks like they’re gonna get cut from the Heavenly Horse.]
[The Eight Swords are still powerful, but…]
[Like a bunch of has-beens.]
[This is why those getting into swordplay are a problem, haha.]
[Hahaha.]
[Whoa.]
The Blood Fight Lord’s face wrinkles in displeasure.
His expression shows dissatisfaction, but he’s sweating quite a bit, clearly surprised.
“It’s a Level 9 wave… how did it end so quickly?”
“Wasn’t anything special?”
“No way. A Level 9 wave has to be handled even by the Three Lords. Especially the wolf form has been reported to require extreme caution from the command.”
“Is it a puppy?”
If we’re talking about that puppy, it went into the sea playing with the Kraken.
Splash…!
At that moment, a Kraken’s leg rises up from below the water, coiling around the wolf’s head.
The demon beast in wolf form, tongue out, is lifeless.
It could destroy a kingdom, but unfortunately met the wrong opponent and became an octopus’s meal.
Using the Kraken’s Spear under the sea definitely multiplied the efficiency of ‘summon’ several times.
“Ah, so that’s why there’s no ‘focus.’”
If ‘focus’ were added, a level beyond transcendence would have been needed.
The eyes of the two swords tremble.
“……”
“…You’ve gotten this strong?”
“How’s the situation with the Demon Race? I was planning to visit soon but got too busy.”
“…It’s progressing steadily. The purification work is almost at completion, so you don’t need to worry.”
“It’s in progress.”
“That’s right.”
“What about Duke Huangyeol?”
“Why do you…”
“I’m just curious what he’s been up to lately.”
Although he does lend power to researchers like Reina and her subordinates, I’ve never heard of him capturing any demon beasts.
I can’t shake the suspicion that he’s up to something sketchy again.
Of course, since we’ve done the 4th cycle, if any weird signs appear, we can deal with it right away.
“He’s also acting for the future of the Empire. That incident was a mistake, so please understand.”
“Didn’t you dislike Duke Huangyeol?”
“There’s no way!”
“Isn’t it just that people can’t be trusted? You made me go through all this trouble for nothing, they say when the two of you are together.”
“I-I never said that!”
[?]
[Hahaha.]
[Oh my!]
ZTZjZg
[Seriously?]
[Yeah, apparently there’s a coup going on.]
[Evil Lily, lol]
[Birang is so cute, right?]
The Blood Fight Lord looks at the flustered Birang.
“Did that really happen?”
“That’s nonsense, Kazar. Lady Lily, let’s just ignore this weird talk and get moving.”
“That’s not it. When I woke up, I definitely mumbled something like that.”
“…Let’s hurry.”
“Then I’ll just ask one thing before we go.”
“?”
This was something that popped into my head, seeing these guys. Other people couldn’t find it, but maybe they would know.
‘Those who have seen the dimensional rift connected to another space the most.’
“Have you ever seen an island floating in the sky?”
“A floating island… are you talking about Sky Island?”
“Yes. Sky Island. It doesn’t matter what form it takes; it just has to be Sky Island. Have you seen it?”
“Well, I haven’t─”
“I have seen it.”
[Oh?]
[Seriously?]
“Kazar, you have seen it?”
“I found it back when I was in charge of handling the rifts. It closed right after I dealt with the demon beasts.”
“Where is that?”
“At this point, it’s been closed for a long time… does it even matter?”
“Yes.”
Once a rift closes, it never opens again.
But if it’s a place that can only be found under very special conditions, the path leading to Sky Island is likely there.
“But you should be careful.”
“?”
“There are monsters living there. I almost got killed for underestimating them, but they showed mercy and spared my life.”
“How strong are these monsters?”
Gulp.
The Blood Fight Lord’s throat swallows hard.
He looks even more tense than before.
“It rivals the Three Lords.”
Or maybe even stronger…
■
Somewhere on a floating island, the Main Temple.
An old man, feeding a snow-white crane, gazes at the sky through a wooden spear.
The sky, which had been quiet for hundreds of years.
The sky, which had briefly opened in the last month, is about to open again.
‘This time, completely.’
“Jeokhye.”
“Yes, Elder.”
“It seems another visitor is coming.”
“Could it be that young kid?”
“I don’t know. But they probably won’t be any worse than that child.”
That child was below standard.
“Go and teach that outsider a lesson.”
“Yes.”
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