The Quelling Ripple from Izroth's ninth sword form temporarily severed the connection between the Heart of Magics and the golden puppets. Regardless of their newfound power and mechanical applications, the golden puppets still depended on magic to function. By cutting this magic link, Izroth effectively rendered them useless!
Niflheim inwardly sighed after he witnessed this sight. He knew from the beginning that the wager he made with Izroth would be one hard-fought. But, what he did not know was that the gap between their base power was so substantial!
Perhaps things would have been different if they were not bound by the stat, inventory, and equipment restrictions within the room, but Niflheim understood that using that type of thinking was an excuse. Ultimately, he lost this wager fair and square.
Clank! Clank!
The four gates closed as a portal opened up at the room's center, and a familiar voice filled the room.
"I guess I'll leave behind one more entry. Though it may be a waste of time. After all, there's a good chance no one will ever hear this message since it will only play upon 100% completion. Disclosing this to anyone else would only be putting their lives needlessly in danger. However, on the off-chance that someone does hear this, there's something you should know about us brothers. You see, we don't belong here in the Mortal Realm. We've come from a place far away known as the Celestial Realm." Resseki's voice sounded.
'Celestial Realm?'
Mortal Realm, Shadahi Realm, Nether Realm, and Divine Realm—these were the major realms Izroth was aware existed. There were also minor realms like the Chaotic Dogma Realm and the Imperial Peninsula Realm, where the L.u.s.trum Imperial Bout was held once every five years.
However, according to the information Izroth obtained, the passageways between realms had been severed for ages. By what? Izroth did not know. But, whoever or whatever was behind it had to be on a scale well beyond his present reach.
What Izroth did know was that if one wanted to move between realms, it required a specialized S-ranked or higher magic item to do so. Of course, this did not take into account any other factors that may obstruct one's travel through the realms.
"Mortal Realm? Celestial Realm?" Niflheim said to himself as he furrowed his brows. He first learned about the Shadahi Realm from the war event information like many other players. After gathering some additional data, Niflheim surmised that multiple realms similar to the Shadahi Realm but with different creatures might exist. However, judging from Resseki's words, he did not seem like a vicious creature filled with nothing but hatred and bloodthirst. Then, did that mean whole kingdoms and unknown races existed out there that players had no idea about? The Mortal Realm alone was already massive, and yet there was still more?!
Resseki's voice continued, "In the Celestial Realm, my brother and I were fighting a creature of great darkness and wickedness along with our comrades. However, things were not looking good—for the creature, that is. The bizarre thing is that the creature kept growing stronger as we battled it, becoming immune to attacks it was previously harmed by. But, our Celestial Energy seemed to be the one thing never to lose its effectiveness. If not for this, who knew the destruction that creature would bring upon the Celestial Realm?"
'This creature, why does it sound familiar?'
"We were winning and had successfully driven the creature into a corner, but that's when it appeared—a Void Tunnel. The creature tried to use the Void Tunnel to escape, but it was destroyed before it got the chance… At least, it was supposed to be. A small piece of it managed to escape through the Void Tunnel, and we brothers decided to follow after it. When we arrived on the other side, we realized that we were no longer in the Celestial Realm. However, a Void Tunnel is a one-way trip. There was no going back."
"I don't know how many years have passed since this recording, but the path between realms in my time are heavily damaged. There is no way for my brother and me to return home without the aid of a powerful gateway spell. However, I'm afraid the energy required to send one yet alone two legendary powerhouses through severed space is impossible to acc.u.mulate in one lifetime."
"We have accepted our fate. The Mortal Realm will be our new home. In the meantime, we will do everything in our power to find the last piece of the creature that escaped to this realm. However, I fear they may have had a helping hand. That Void Tunnel… They are supposed to appear at random, but the more I thought back to it, the more I could not help but feel that it was placed there intentionally. But why? Two possibilities come to mind, but only one of them is feasible—the Divine Ones. Only someone from the Divine Realm could have placed that Void Tunnel, and the price to do so could not have been cheap."
"We discovered some clues regarding the whereabouts of the creature and are headed to the Danger Lands to investigate. However, if it has regained its full strength, it may be too late for this realm with no Celestial Energy users. Nevertheless, we still have to try. In the end, it is our responsibility."
Resseki's voice then went on to recall his experiences with the creature, and after going on for nearly thirty minutes straight, the recording was coming to an end.
"This creature was birthed from the Timeless Chaos Pool that dwells at the heart of our Celestial Realm's homeworld. That's why we have given it the name, Shadahi. 'Sha' meaning Eternal and 'Dahi' meaning Chaos in our native tongue. Should we fail to destroy the creature, it will become your responsibility to eliminate it before it's too late. Our inheritance will assist you, but it is only through your own efforts that you can succeed. Hopefully, there is still time." Resseki's voice faded as the recording concluded.
〈System Alert: You have received x1 Resseki's Basic Inheritance Keystone!〉
〈System Alert: You have received x1 Resseki's True Inheritance Keystone!〉
…
〈System Alert: Warning! This room will detonate in 10 seconds!〉
Izroth, along with Niflheim, wasted no time as the two entered the portal and were immediately transported out of the room.
…
Izroth and Niflheim stood outside the small hill not too far away from the cave. But, when they looked back, the cave's entrance was no longer anywhere to be found.
After ten seconds passed, although there was no explosion, the entire hill suddenly disappeared! Now, there was just a large piece of flat land in the place where it previously sat.
However, Izroth and Niflheim were too deep in their thoughts to care about its disappearance.
Niflheim was still attempting to digest the abundance of information Resseki provided them with.
Izroth, on the other hand, had his thoughts in another place altogether. The information given by Resseki was huge! No one in the Mortal Realm knew the true origins of the Shadahi. Even legendary figures like Gear who fought against the eternal darkness had no clue where it actually came from, just that it appeared one day.
Who would have thought that the Mortal Realm's greatest threat derived from the heart of another realm entirely?!
However, before Izroth had an opportunity to fully piece everything together, he sensed a group of people rapidly closing in on their position.
"It looks like we have some company," Izroth stated.
Woosh! Woosh! Woosh!
Suddenly, ten individuals emerged from behind the nearby trees.
"This area is off-limits! State your purpose!" The woman at the front of the group said impatiently. She had long aqua colored hair, sapphire eyes, with a cute appearance. She had a certain haughty aura about her. From the wand at her side and mage combat robes, one could surmise that she was a magic-based class.
"Off-limits? We were unaware that such an order had been put into place." Niflheim said with a frown. When he patrolled this area, there were no such territory limits imposed on it. Nothing here was important enough for there to be, except the hidden area in the cave. But, he was the only one who knew of its existence.
"Unaware? Hmph, don't try to fool me! Do you think I'll believe your ignorance with the way things currently are? You must think I'm stupid! You're trying to sneak into our camp and spy on us! Your precious Tempest kingdom is full of nothing but cowards! Attack! Don't let them escape!" The woman ordered as her companions charged onward!
"Tempest? You misunderstand. We're on the same side." Niflheim removed the War Brigade Insignia from his inventory and held it up for everyone to see. The insignia was of a wingless dragon in the form of a crescent with a sword running through it pointing towards the sky. It symbolized one's affiliation with the War Brigade and was the main way one could differentiate between ally and foe.
"You should learn to lie better. That insignia's magic signature is false—it has already been changed since yesterday!" The woman scoffed as she began to channel a spell.
"Impossible!" Niflheim said. How could the magic signature for an entire war branch change overnight? Not unless…
'Something major must have happened in the Demilitarization Belt during our absence. I have to find out what that is, and it looks like she knows the answers.'
Izroth set his gaze on the woman with sapphire eyes, who was clearly the leader of the group.
