Chapter 49: An Unsettling Omen!

No, one must not show weakness at this moment!
As if realizing something, Allen’s aura suddenly grew much stronger.
Amidst the astonished gazes of everyone, the light in the room instantly brightened, revealing a simple golden goat’s horn floating in midair. Soon after, a faint, distant horn sound could be heard.
[Domain: The Horn of War]!
Before anyone could react, Allen appeared behind Thors at a speed comparable to teleportation, raising his Great Knight’s Sword and swinging down fiercely.
“Crack, crack!” The wind generated by the sword instantly froze the area, creating huge icicles and ice pillars.
“Thors?!”
“He dodged…”
Everyone saw clearly that at the exact moment Allen swung his sword, Thors vanished using teleportation magic.
“That kid Allen…” The Grand Elder smiled slightly, nodding in approval at Allen’s aggressive assault. He could tell that Allen was feeling the pressure from Thors—perhaps his innate intuition told him that allowing the opponent to gain the upper hand at this point would put him in a very difficult situation.
In the following minute, Allen hardly gave Thors any time to react. With his resilient physique and rapid movement skills, he followed Thors like a shadow. Whenever Thors appeared, Allen’s Great Knight’s Sword would follow immediately.
“Allen is serious now!” Ulrich wore a strange expression. Though he thought he had already overestimated the young human great knight, the power Allen displayed still surprised him.
“So, what will Thors do?” Connel, with one eye closed, said solemnly.
Under everyone’s breathless attention, Thors seemed to realize the situation as well. Although Allen’s attacks couldn’t cause him any harm at the moment, due to the special abilities of the Great Knight’s Sword, if Thors kept dodging, he wouldn’t be able to counterattack.
After some thought, Thors gave up dodging. Facing Allen’s fierce assault, he raised his right hand, and a sword with a golden interior and red exterior appeared instantly in his hand. He met Allen’s knight sword head-on, and with a loud bang, both of them stepped back several steps.
“Whoa…” Allen, pushed back by the powerful force, showed a shocked expression. Lisa, who was watching from the side, voiced what he was thinking at that moment.

“Good heavens, didn’t Thors lose his power over Slos? How does he still have the strength to resist Allen’s force?” As she spoke, Ravia beside Lisa’s eyes changed, and she whispered, “Thors is counterattacking!” Just as Ravia said, Thors, who had also been pushed back by the impact, used teleportation magic to counteract the recoil. Pointing at Allen, a red vortex mysteriously appeared in the space in front of him. Before anyone could react, a barrage of fireballs shot at Allen like a rainstorm. Thors’s actions were so fast that Allen, still struggling to overcome the recoil, couldn’t effectively block them. Gritting his teeth, he raised his left hand to shield his head and somehow endured the onslaught of fireballs. “Allen!” Lisa instinctively covered her mouth, staring in horror at Allen engulfed in explosions. But the next moment, surprise appeared on her face again. “You underestimated me, buddy!” With a loud shout, Allen emerged from the smoke. Though his golden armor was covered in dust from the explosion, it was clear that this high-magic-resistant great knight hadn’t suffered much even after taking Thors’s fireballs head-on. Yet just as he raised his great knight’s sword to strike Thors, three fireballs suddenly flew in from somewhere, hitting the tip of his sword precisely. The force of the explosions instantly canceled out Allen’s downward swing. “How… how is that possible?” Disbelieving, Allen approached Thors again, but once more, Thors, without even looking, fired three fireballs at the tip of his sword, once again nullifying Allen’s attack. No matter how Allen controlled his sword, Thors’s fireballs hit his most vulnerable spots. The chaotic force from the explosions made it feel as though Allen couldn’t use his strength at all. “Impressive…” Ulric murmured, eyes wide as he watched Thors on the field. “Thors actually used this method to contain Allen’s monstrous strength…” “And each shot hits a vital spot,” Connel said gravely with a slight sigh. “Allen must have realized it, but no matter how careful he is, Thors’s fireballs still hit perfectly… It seems Allen’s moves were completely predicted by Thors…” “Mr. Allen is likely to lose…” Father Bond said eagerly, drawing groans from everyone. Nonsense!

Who doesn’t know that Allen will lose? Even Allen himself is probably aware of this. He knows full well that his attacks can’t inflict any harm on Thors; they’re merely meant to suppress him, using his terrifying stamina to force Thors to rely on teleportation spells to dodge and buy time. This is also why the Grand Elder chose Allen as a “whetstone” — among everyone here, only Connel can surpass Allen in terms of stamina, but when it comes to magic resistance, no one is more suitable than Allen, especially since he excels in every aspect except offensive magic.

“Allen…” Lisa couldn’t help but worry about her husband. After all, their opponent this time was Thors, who used to be an apostle. Her only hope now was Allen’s thick armor. As long as that armor remained intact, her husband wouldn’t suffer any harm.

Yet, as she worried, the armor on Allen’s body developed strange cracks after withstanding several of Thors’ fireballs. Good heavens, how is this possible? After all, Allen’s armor was made with precious metals like sterling silver, giving it far superior magic resistance than ordinary armor. Even Thors shouldn’t be able to destroy it with just fireballs!

Even Ravia noticed something was wrong and looked at the Grand Elder in confusion, saying, “Grand Elder, I don’t sense any particularly powerful energy in Thors’ fireballs. They’re just ordinary fireballs. But why…”

“Why can it produce such astonishing effects, right?” Glancing at Thors in the battlefield, the Grand Elder said with a smile, “This is the effect of mastering the Source Power. The so-called Source Power refers to the fundamental force of the world. But what exactly is this force? It’s not merely a form of power; it’s the ability to see through the world and understand the essence of matter. Allen’s armor is very tough, indeed. But in Thors’ eyes, who has mastered the Source Power, it’s just an object formed by the concentrated aggregation of various elements. Although you can’t see it, he can identify its weaknesses, the gaps between the elements… The world we live in is a world of matter, and everything exists composed of various elements. So, once one masters the Source Power, they undoubtedly possess the power to destroy this world. Even the toughest materials, once their weaknesses are identified, become extremely vulnerable. Even the simplest fireballs can destroy them… Now you should understand how foolish it is to recklessly fight that kid, Belial! — With just his will, he can even shatter your souls!”
“Then Thors is very dangerous, isn’t he?” Nina asked in surprise, frowning at the two fighting, “With such terrifying abilities, even if Thors masters the Source Power, it will still be hard for him to defeat Belial, right? Besides, Belial has mastered the Source Power for much longer and knows better about its power. If attacked by him, Thors…”
“That won’t happen,” the Grand Elder shook his head and explained softly, stroking his beard, “I said that without mastering the Source Power, one doesn’t deserve to fight that kid, Belial. On the contrary, once one masters this power, they gain the right to fight him… The Source Power isn’t entirely about strength. As long as one can master this ability, their damage output, defense, inspiration, intuition—everything improves significantly… If Belial can kill you easily, then for Thors, who also has mastered the Source Power, Belial won’t be that easy to deal with. At least Thors now has the right to fight him!”
“So, the Source Power can also be used for defense?”
“Ah,” the Grand Elder nodded, pointing at Thors fighting in the battlefield, “Look, Allen’s attack was blocked by Thors just now, right? That red magic shield that blocked Allen’s attack was actually an energy shield made of fire elements. But usually, such an intangible shield can’t block Allen’s attacks…”
“What do you mean? Did the Source Power strengthen that shield?”

“It can be understood this way… Those who master the Source Force see improvements in all aspects of their abilities, including control over elements. Whether in attack or defense, they must seize the most critical moment in an instant to counteract their opponent… But due to the tight timeline, that boy, Thos, didn’t achieve perfection in this area and couldn’t reach BeLeia’s level. Otherwise, Allen would likely have lost already!” As he spoke, the Grand Elder sighed slightly, glanced at Thos in the distance, and said with satisfaction, “That boy, Thos, has great talent. What I took twenty years to achieve, he accomplished in just a month—what an awe-inspiring talent!”
“Are you referring to BeLeia?” Abel asked tentatively, seemingly guessing the Grand Elder’s thoughts.
“Ah,” the Grand Elder nodded and said worriedly, “If he could achieve such things in just a month, one can only imagine how powerful BeLeia is now… A ‘semi-god,’ a human who exists like a deity—truly deserving of that title!”
“A month?” BeLeia exclaimed in surprise, as if noticing something, “Grand Elder, did Thos really master the Source Force in just a month?”
“Ah, though it’s only a preliminary level, that boy has already done it,” the Grand Elder said. It seemed he understood Abel’s thoughts as he shook his head and laughed. “Stop thinking about it. Aside from that boy, Thos, no one here has yet reached the level to comprehend the Source Force. Even Ulric and Mr. Connel, though powerful, still lack proficiency in this area…”
“Then Thos can do it? After all, it took you twenty years to figure it out…”
“Yes, twenty years of exploration, and he surpassed it in just a month…” The Grand Elder sighed regretfully, looking somewhat gloomy. Then he smiled again and said with satisfaction, looking at Thos in the distance, “But that boy, Thos, truly has extraordinary talent… Well, rather than talent, it’s more like his ‘sense of self-existence’ is very strong. This might be related to his past role as a messenger of Sloth… Due to the lack of time, the methods I used were a bit extreme, but that boy succeeded. If it were you…”

As he spoke, the Grand Elder shook his head slightly. Noticing the dissatisfied looks on Ravia and the others’ faces, he said with a smile, “Don’t doubt it. Mastering Source Energy is extremely demanding. On one hand, one must block out the five senses except for mental perception, and on the other hand, one must fully maintain one’s own existence. Otherwise, the soul will be drawn to the Great Will and never be able to return to the human body…”

“Block out the five senses?” Ravia’s face showed horror.

“Yes!” The Grand Elder paused, holding his walking stick, and said solemnly, “It’s very effective, but it’s an extreme method. Over the past half month, I first used spatial magic to isolate this room from the outside world, keeping it in complete darkness. Meditating in such conditions is far more difficult than in a lit environment. Over time, one develops a sense of confusion about one’s own existence. Then, gradually, the child’s five senses are blocked… Just think about it—losing contact with the body and remaining only with mental power, like a soul, must be incredibly painful… In such conditions, one second feels like eternity! You simply can’t perceive the passage of time!”

“…”

“But only in such a harsh environment is it possible to unleash human potential and communicate with the Will of the World… However, it requires immense resilience and a strong sense of self-existence. Once the soul becomes numb in this endless flow of time, then…” At this point, the Grand Elder shook his head again. His expression made Ravia and the others gasp in shock—truly an extreme method!

Glancing at Thos in the room with pity, Abel whispered, “Why… why use such a method?”

Seemingly guessing Abel’s thoughts, the Grand Elder shook his head and said, “You know what you want to say. You want to say Thos is our greatest hope? Heh, I asked that child his opinion first… Besides, I have an uneasy feeling that this world may be facing its darkest period…”

“What do you mean…”

Just then, hurried footsteps were heard outside the corridor. When everyone instinctively turned their heads, they saw Professor Welman rushing in. He went up to the Grand Elder and said in a low voice, “Grand Elder, something has happened…”

As if his inner intuition had been confirmed, the Grand Elder’s expression became much more serious. After a long silence, he frowned and said, “Really… it really happened?”

Professor Wellman nodded. Seeing that the people present were not outsiders, he spoke in a low voice, “We’ve detected that the energy barrier of this world is gradually weakening. Before long, it will drop to an extremely low level. In that case…”
“In that case, it will no longer be able to stop those who want to enter this world…” The Grand Elder frowned and continued, then muttered with some frustration, “How could this happen? The laws of the world are supreme—how can such chaos arise?”
“Under normal circumstances, this wouldn’t happen, unless…” Professor Wellman glanced at the Grand Elder and said softly, “Unless someone is disrupting the original balance of this world!”
“Belial?!” The Grand Elder’s beard trembled as a look of shock and anger appeared on his face.
—Meanwhile, in the streets of Sasan’s imperial city—
After the meeting to distribute benefits following the second war, Scott and his fiancée Lailira did not return to Galkic. Instead, they joined Sasan’s leadership team and collaborated with the Flores family to assist the new king, King Sasan XIII.
Scott was well aware that this meant he was now on opposing political sides from many of his friends, including Allen and Ravia. But for the sake of Galkic’s interests, he had no choice but to do so.
Out of guilt toward his former friends, ever since Thos began training with the Grand Elder, he rarely went to Vando or Vandel. Every time he set foot there, he felt extremely awkward, as if he were an outsider, unable to be like before—especially the way Allen looked at him…
“What’s wrong?” Lailira, holding Scott’s arm, seemed to notice the worry on her fiancé’s face and asked softly.
Since Sasan’s work had not been very busy lately, with most of the efforts focused on rebuilding the city, Scott had some free time. But because of Allen and the others, he didn’t want to go to Vando, so he spent his time shopping with Lailira. This was actually a good thing for her.
“Nothing…” Hearing his fiancée’s question, Scott shook his head slightly.
“Is it because of Allen?” Lailira also knew that since collaborating with the Flores family, both Galkic and her fiancé Scott had reaped great benefits. But on the other hand, their relationships with Allen, Ravia, and even Vando had become relatively distant.

At this point, even the cunning Lelirra couldn’t think of any way to remedy the situation. Her childhood playmates had now almost all become influential figures in the world, and sometimes emotions alone were not enough to turn things around. She had originally intended to win over Thos, as he was now the core figure among the dark mages of Vando and even the entire empire. Unfortunately, his almost joking engagement to Lavia had become the biggest obstacle to this plan. Just as Dia was secretly worried about, nearly half of the empire’s inhabitants knew that Heliriox’s new head, Volmon Klaest, was the husband of Lady Altaq, Lavia Vayer Wilti Vomisley. Under such circumstances, if the Sasan nobles wanted to win over Thos, they first had to win over Lavia. Regrettably, Lavia was not a kind-hearted lady; she even had more determination than most men. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have stormed out during the first post-war profit distribution meeting without giving any respect to the other nobles. Thos’s presence had already prevented the Sasan nobles from isolating Altaq, especially after Altaq chose to cooperate with the Theralanders under Operios. In Scott’s view, although the empire was currently facing opposition between two major factions—east and west—the chaos could always be suppressed. Even if this political opposition persisted for a long time, compromises might sometimes be made with the western forces. As long as the empire remained stable, nothing bad would happen. Even impulsive people like Allen and Lavia would surely come to understand each other’s difficulties over time. Scott sighed slightly. Fortunately, he thought his relationship with Thos was still as good as before. Just as he was secretly relieved, one of the two bodyguards accompanying the couple, the demon god Lelajin, suddenly stepped forward and blocked them. With Scott’s puzzled gaze, Lelajin pointed to a hidden alley at the street corner and whispered, “Dark creatures!” Dark creatures? Scott was stunned. When it came to dark creatures, his first thought was the Apostles, but Lelajin’s expression didn’t seem to suggest that. Moreover, after Lelajin’s warning, Scott also sensed that presence, but to his surprise, it was very weak. Which bored dark mage would summon dark creatures in the streets?

Scott found it somewhat amusing, but soon he realized that this was Thassan, not the carefree magic city of Vando. Which dark magician would dare do such a thing right under the noses of the royal mages? After thinking for a moment, Scott glanced at his other guard, the pawn puppet Knight, and asked him to go check out the situation. Although it was Lelajin who had discovered it, Scott felt too embarrassed to bother him over such a trivial matter. In less than half a minute, Lelajin returned, but the “object” in his hands made Scott’s expression change. With its purple appearance, round shape, and two tentacles, this fish-like creature was clearly a weak dark creature from the [Abysmal Depth]—a [Zeh]! Scott was sure no dark magician would bother summoning such a weak creature from the abyss. Which meant… Could it be that this guy had sneaked into this world using a dimensional gap? How is that possible? Although, according to the laws, the stronger the creature, the less likely it is to pass through spatial barriers to enter this world, but that doesn’t mean weaker creatures can’t do it either—there must be some strength required, right? Pinching the corpse of the dark creature Zeh in his hand, Scott showed a puzzled look. Just then, several Thassan royal guards rushed up to Scott amidst the curious gazes of the onlookers. The leader was someone Scott recognized—a guard by King Thassan XIII’s side. What happened? Scott was puzzled. “Count O’Gilbert,” said the royal guard, bowing to Scott and Lelajira, then to Lelajin and the knight puppet Knight. He then lowered his head and said, “I’m sorry to disturb you, but His Majesty has ordered us to ask you to come to the council hall immediately! This is also Lord Flores’ wish!” Lord Flores referred to Thassan’s new power broker, the future leader of the Flores family—Vincent Flores. To be honest, if it weren’t for Galleck, Scott wouldn’t have wanted to work with that guy. “Go to the council hall right away? What happened?” Faced with Scott’s question, the royal guard didn’t hesitate and replied immediately, “I’m not sure about the details. I only know that a medium-sized village in the east has been attacked…” “Attacked?” At the mention of the east, Scott instinctively thought of the Theralanders. He guessed secretly that maybe Allen, dissatisfied with the distribution of benefits, had incited the Theralanders to rebel.

But then he chuckled self-mockingly; after all, he didn’t think Allen would do such despicable things—that guy would never engage in such underhanded acts. After some thought, Scott frowned and asked, “Were it the bandits who attacked that village?” Under Scott’s astonished and even horrified gaze, the royal guard whispered, “No, it was demons!” Demons? With many suspicions in mind, Scott took Lelira, Lelajin, and the others to the palace. After all, as Scott’s fiancée, Lelira had been to the palace many times and was by no means an outsider. But once they arrived in the council hall, Scott sensed something was off—because in addition to various nobles from Sassen, even Jerry Belford, the president of the Royal Magic Association who hadn’t shown up since Argus’s death, was there. What was he doing here? Scott held little regard for this man who had initially chosen to submit to Argus and then switched sides to the Flores family once Argus weakened. “Lord O’Gill!” It seemed Vincent Flores had spotted Scott; he walked over with a smile and greeted him. This future leader of the Flores family had always gone to great lengths to win Scott over, as doing so could weaken Allen and the western faction led by Lavia. “Lord Flores!” Scott returned the greeting politely, then glanced at the beautiful girl in a black lace dress beside him and said with a smile, “And… Senior Lilith!” “Hehe!” Lilith giggled. As Lelira forced a smile out of resentment, Lilith threw Scott a flirtatious glance, sized him up along with Lelira, and said cheerfully, “What a great mood you have, Junior Scott! — Ah, why isn’t there anyone to go shopping with me?” “Ahem,” Vincent Flores cleared his throat and forced a dry laugh. “How could there be no one?” “Who? You?” Lilith sneered, showing no respect for her husband at all, and turned to leave. It could be seen that a surge of anger flashed in Vincent’s eyes, yet beneath that anger lay a strange sense of fear. “…” Scott wisely remained silent about matters within others’ families.

“Ah, my apologies for the embarrassment.” Vincent forced a smile at Scott, suppressing his anger. Though Scott had once disliked this guy, it had to be admitted that Vincent was truly an outstanding noble nowadays—possessing the manners of a Saxon noble and skilled at controlling his emotions, avoiding any actions that would violate noble etiquette. In this regard, he far surpassed Allen and even Ravia.
“Ahem!” At that moment, a cough came from inside the council hall. Immediately, the nobles present stopped discussing and turned to look at the new king, Saxon King Thirteen, Theo Bartz Yawood. Dressed in a magnificent red robe with gold-trimmed sashes, he entered, nodded at everyone, and said in a deep voice, “I’m sorry to disturb you all, but for certain reasons, I must ask you to gather here for a discussion!” Then he glanced at Jerry Berford, the president of the Royal Magic Association, who stood quietly aside with his eyes closed, raised his hand, and said, “Sir Berford, please explain this to them!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Jerry Berford, covered in a gray cloak, bowed slightly and stepped to the center of the group. He said in a solemn voice, “A few days ago, a medium-sized village in the east of our country was attacked…”
Before he could continue, a noble sneered, “A village was attacked—how many civilians died? Since when do we need to discuss such trivial matters in the national council hall? It must be bandits or those lowly Theralanders. What’s there to discuss?”
“Ah!” Along with Jerry Berford’s light laugh, the noble suddenly showed a frightened and unnatural expression, glancing at him in fear and stepping back a few steps.
This guy…
Scott frowned, staring at Jerry Berford’s face beneath the cloak. Because for a brief moment when the other man raised his head, Scott had glimpsed dark tattoos resembling those of an apostle on his face.
“That nobleman is right. If it were just an ordinary matter, we certainly wouldn’t choose to discuss it here,” Jerry Berford said, seemingly noticing Scott’s gaze. He deliberately turned his head away, as if not wanting others to see his face, then continued in a serious tone, “But that nobleman has misunderstood. It wasn’t humans who attacked that village—it was demons, demons from the abyss, an Ambershade-class demon!”
“A fourth-tier demon?” Scott’s expression changed slightly, and he no longer paid attention to the tattoos on Jerry Berford’s face.

“As expected of His Royal Highness Duke Scott O’Gill!” Jerry Belford said with a slight smile and approval. “Indeed, it was this fourth-tier demon from the abyss that attacked a village in our country, killing over two hundred civilians. What’s more, according to verification from our Gory Mage Tower, this demon bears no summoning runes—in other words, it wasn’t summoned by any dark mage. Instead, it used a spatial barrier to sneak into our world. Such a thing has never happened in the history of the empire… no, in the entire known history of magic! Through our research at the Gory Mage Tower, we’ve confirmed that the spatial barriers of this world are weakening rapidly…”
“What do you mean?” asked a noble in horror.
“Someone…” Jerry Belford glanced at the crowd before speaking solemnly, “has disrupted the balance of this world. Its original order is collapsing. If I’m not mistaken, such incidents will continue to occur. Eventually, not only will demons be able to enter our world easily, but even…”
“Even the Ancient Will can enter, right?” Lilith giggled as she looked at Jerry Belford.
“Ah! Exactly!”
—Meanwhile, somewhere in the world—
It was a vast expanse of white… No, that wasn’t an ocean—it was a sea of skeletons, composed of countless dense skeletons. Thousands wasn’t enough to describe their number; there must be millions, tens of millions, or even more…
Amidst these countless skeletons stood thirteen especially massive ones, each over a hundred yards tall. They were the rulers of the Land of Death, the thirteen Immortal Kings who governed this realm of death.
Legend has it that these thirteen Immortal Kings have been at war over their territories, but it seems now that they are united against some powerful opponent.
What kind of opponent could force these thirteen Immortal Kings to unite against it?
“I warn you once again, human, leave this place!” Edmund Pankhes, the Bone Emperor, an Immortal King who was once summoned to the material world by a necromancer and whose body was later shattered by Argus, spoke in a grave tone laced with fear. “Leave this place, human! Otherwise, you will face the wrath of the Immortal Kings…”
Though he said this, none of the thirteen Immortal Kings dared to take action first.

The enemy… just an individual…
No, just one!
“Leave this place, you human named Belial!”
“…” Under the solemn and vigilant gazes of the Immortal Kings, Belial let out a soft sigh, raised his hand, and said calmly, “Give me what I want, and I’ll leave…” His tone was peaceful, without any arrogance, but the fact that he still dared to say such things in the face of this sea of skeletons was enough to prove that he utterly dismissed those thirteen Immortal Kings.
“Do you know what you’re doing, human?” The Immortal King [Utrede Baines, the Emperor of Corpse] pointed at the tiny human before him and pleaded in a strangely submissive tone, “Since ancient times, we have been responsible for maintaining this land of death…”
“In other words,” Belial sighed slightly, raised his head, and looked down on them with contempt, saying calmly, “you’ve ultimately chosen to be my enemies, right?”
The Immortal King’s tone faltered, and fear—unbecoming of his status—appeared in his eyes. After glancing at the other Immortal Kings, he shook his head and said, “We have the responsibility to maintain the balance of the world. We must not let you act recklessly here…” Taking a deep breath, he added, “Leave this place, human! Do you realize that your actions could bring about the collapse of the entire world?! Countless lives will be lost, and the world will return to its original chaos!”
“Hah!” Belial’s indifferent gaze met the Immortal King’s, and he smiled faintly.
“So… what then?”