The preparations began early in the morning the next day.
Tigon’s subordinates who knew dimensional magic lined up at the teleportation magic circle located in the center of the main upper deck of Sylphid.
But there was a problem.
The forward group that had been sent ahead of time not only had failed to reach Ixion, they hadn’t yet even reached the borders of the Eastern regions.
The prerequisite for a proper long distance teleportation depended on the forward group sending them coordinates, so them having reached their destination was an issue of vital importance.
Sungchul felt troubled.
‘I suppose being too quick with the dungeon was also a problem.’
But even considering that, it was too slow for the messenger not to have reached the entrance to the east in a week’s worth of time.
On this, the priest leading the dimensional magic users cautiously spoke, watching Sungchul’s reaction.
“The Empire’s borders have been closed.”
“The Empire’s borders have been closed?”
“Yes. After the Empire was defeated in a war with its tributaries, all roads leading to the capital have been closed.”
The Empire has long been a hub of transportation connecting the north, south, east, and west from the center of the continent.
Its intricate web of roads and safe law and order have been the driving force behind the vitality of the entire continent.
The closure of such an important border was a problem beyond imagination.
Something absolutely unimaginable when Sungchul was a part of the Empire had occured.
‘Was the rumor that the Empire lost half of its fleet true?’
While having dinner yesterday evening, he overheard a few of Tigon’s subordinates’ murmuring conversations.
Among them were hard-to-believe news that the Empire had suffered a crushing defeat while attacking a tributary state.
Knowing well the strength of the Imperial Fleet and the weakness of the tributaries, it was difficult for Sungchul to accept this story.
But the unprecedented measure of the Empire closing its borders was undeniable proof that the Empire was experiencing a tremendous crisis.
Sungchul felt a sudden desire to get out of this ruin as quickly as possible and go somewhere he could gather information.
Sungchul spoke to Tigon.
“For now, please conduct long-distance teleportation from their current location.”
Time was plentiful and Sylphid is fast.
Even if the forward group hadn’t managed to reach Ixion, they had crossed more than half of the continent. They could begin from there.
At Sungchul’s request, the priests casted long-distance teleportation to the current location of the forward group.
The casting of long-distance teleportation was like watching a choir sing.
A total of 10 priests stood around the magic circle, and the one in the center wielded a small magic staff, conducting the other priests.
As the small wand moved, the priests each made a different sound sequentially, causing their individual magic circles to bloom.
The sound was covered by another note, reaching a harmony, and the harmony changed between the blooming magic circles, creating a single melody.
“Wow…”
This was Bertelgia’s first time seeing the ceremony of long-distance teleportation.
Sungchul watched with a faint smile as the magic circle created by the priests’ melody began to cover the ship.
Soon, when the entire Sylphid was immersed in the magic circle, the scenery changed.
Instead of looking down at the beach where Aegehios was visible, an empty space surrounded them. And as if paint was peeling away from a canvass, the empty space coalesced and fell away by the chunks and revealed the scenary of the destination beyond them.
Once the dark green void fell away, the magic formation surrounding Sylphid lost its power and faded away.
Instead of the beaches they were nearby only moments before, barren mountains and fields more typical of the central regions of the continent surrounded Sylphid.
After a glance at the surroundings, Sungchul recognized that it was near the southeast border of the Empire. His estimate was confirmed by the coordinates from the Admiralty gem in the bridge of Sylphid.
‘At this distance, we should be able to reach Ixion within 3 days with Sylphid’s speed.’
Although the vanguard hadn’t crossed the eastern border, they had successfully gotten close to it.
After waiting for two members of the vanguard to board the Sylphid, Sungchul ordered Carbungbung to advance eastward at full speed.
To make things go even faster, Sungchul had all but one Soul Gem mounted on miniature golems and assigned them tasks.
The clever carbuncles who enjoyed physical activity were excited to follow Sungchul’s order, and carried them out in high spirits as they playfully bumped into each other as they went about their assignments.
Inadvertently, a few Carbuncles was discovered to have a rather terrible personality. They were engaging in territorial dispute with Tigon.
Although they couldn’t speak, they flashed their eyes and used their bodies to look intimidating and threatening to the Inquisitor.
The other priests, accustomed to the Carbuncles’ territorial nature, warned Tigon not to stare back into the miniature golem’s eyes.
“What a rowdy bunch.”
Sungchul tried to speak to them, but the golems didn’t listen to his words. More accurately, they pretended not to hear. Bertelgia, who saw this, stepped in instead.
“Kibuung! Cabungca! That’s no good! He’s our precious guest on our ship.”
When she flapped her book cover and scolded the golems while flying among them, the Soul Gems immediately obeyed Bertelgia’s words.
“Gyu-ing.”
It was a moment that made it clear who the true owner of the Soul Gems was.
Anyway, though there were minor happenings on the ship, Sylphid traveled east at high speed.
When they had gone about half a day, Sylphid reached the beginning of the eastern regions of the continent.
There, Sungchul witnessed an unexpected scene.
It was a wreckage site of Imperial ships that were smashed to pieces.
Sungchul briefly moored the Sylphid and went down to survey the surrounding area on the back of Baron.
‘This is the territory of one of the Imperial vassal states of Principality of Witroa. Even the Principality of Witroa staged an uprising?’
Sungchul altered the course and made Sylphid head south. At a suitable location, he again rode atop Baron to surveyed the capital of the Principality of Witroa.
Sungchul was soon met with an unbelievable sight.
‘That’s…”
The small but beautiful citadel and monastery, picturesque and scenic village and vineyards that wouldn’t be amiss in a fairy tale, all of the things he remembered of Witroa were nowhere to be seen.
Instead, above the former capital of the Principality of Witroa were unsightly floating isles, scattered randomly without pattern or rhyme. And below that, a gigantic structure of some kind rose out of the ground.
“A God’s dungeon?!”
Not much later, Sungchul learned that it was not quite a God’s dungeon, but one of the 81 sub-dungeons called the Spire, also known as the Obelisk. However, this did nothing to reduce the shock Sungchul experienced.
Sungchul could see a large crowd gathered at the foot of the Obelisk.
They were not a part of the Order of Extinction.
Adventurers, nobles, surviving soldiers and other persons of unclear affiliations and diverse backgrounds were gathered at an encampment atop the ruins, forming a small village of sorts.
Sungchul rode Baron down to the ground and looked around the simple makeshift village.
One gathering of adventurers were sitting around the fire and drinking tea and coffee as they conversed among themselves.
“I’ve heard that Ortega Pe successfully completed up to the 13th floor already.”
“They say an old eagle is better than a young crow, former nobles of the Ruteginea sure are built different.”
“We need to hurry up and get to 10th floor as soon as we can.”
Everyone was obsessing over the Obelisk, it was the only thing they were talking about.
All around the ruins of the town in the vicinity were half rotten corpses giving off putrid stench, and broken limbs of the slain could be commonly found sticking out of debris, but no one paid any attention to these.
It seemed like obtaining rewards and increasing status points from the dungeon were deemed a far more pressing and important issue than the demise or funeral for the deceased people of the former republic of Witroa.
After watching a few priests unenthusiastically spray holy water at random in general direction of the ruins, Sungchul left the ruins of the former republic.
“The world has gone mad.”
When he returned to Sylphid, Sungchul saw that Tigon’s party was watching the projection of the current state of the Principality of Witroa through magic and letting out dejected sighs.
“Never thought there would be so many heretics in hiding. How many years has the Order of Extinction been scheming to pull off such a terrible act?”
Sungchul typically didn’t find much of what Tigon had to say to be worth listening to, but the statement he just made was something Sungchul agreed with.
‘The Order of Extinction. It’s definitely not a faction that was hastily put together in just a few years. There is a possibility that this is an organization that was built over decades… no, perhaps even hundreds or thousands of years.’
There was no other way to explain the formidable power and influence they mustered and demonstrated in such a short span of time.
The birth of the Order of Extinction could potentially predate the establishment of the Human Empire, perhaps even the founding of the Holy Kingdom of Ruteginea.
‘The Order of Extinction. What exactly is their objective?’
There’s no way to know for now.
But the truth will come to light, now that Sungchul was made aware of them. He will not be careless and carelessly overlook and pass by clues on them like he had until now.
As if to make a promise to himself, Sungchul murmured inwardly while gazing at the eastern sky.
Beyond the distant clouds, the faint yellow boundary line flickered.
After two days of non-stop flight, Sylphid finally arrived at the borders of Ixion.
“Hmm hmm. There’s our cute Colossi.”
Bertelgia drew attention to the faint silhouettes of two Colossi standing in the darkness far in the distance.
“Um, can we visit the Colossi tomorrow? It’s been a while, let’s complete the Creator’s quest! Who knows, maybe it will fill the hole in my body once we complete the quest!”
Bertelgia was extremely excited to see the Colossi after so long.
Sungchul responded with a faint smile and nodded towards Bertelgia.
“If we have the time.”
However, the object of Sungchul’s attention was elsewhere.
Beyond the Colossi, he was looking at the approaching miasma of death hidden in the thick dark of night at the edges of the eastern sky like some long stretch of castle wall.
As Sungchul watched the yellow-colored disease that already covered entire sections of the world, he was reminded the tenacity of Desfort, one of the Seven Heroes.
‘Desfort.’
He was a selfish, immature man. But his actions had long reaching, unimaginably destructive consequences.
It made sense why Eckhart hastily dispatched a book resembling Bertelgia to Sungchul to make an urgent personal request.
‘That Miasma might really be the end of this world.’
Sungchul thought as he gazed down at the ground below.
There was no light to be found in the ruins of Ixion.
Has everyone left?
“Fairy Light.”
Sungchul summoned Fairy Light, causing it to spin around him at a moderate speed, sending a light signal that could be understood by whoever might be below.
The message was as follows:
[I am Sungchul. I wish to meet McRaed.]
For a while, there was no response from below.
Just as Sungchul was about to descend personally on the back of Baron, a faint light finally appeared from below. A light so dim that it was hard to see without focusing.
Sungchul squinted and read the signal sent from Ixion’s side.
[If you are the Imperial Commander in Chief, come down alone. Carry the symbol of your identity.]
That was simple enough to do.
Sungchul climbed onto Baron’s back and descended to the place where the light lingered.
As Baron fluttered his wings and landed on the ground, something crawled out from the shadows in the darkness.
They were people dressed like assassins, clad in all white from top to bottom.
Looking at the people who were wary of him, Sungchul spoke to them calmly.
“I am Sungchul Kim.”
No amount of convincing would be more persuasive than to see it for themselves. Sungchul took out the holy item that would prove his identity.
Even in the darkest of night, the hammer forged from the fragments of the sky gave off subtle light.
After seeing Sungchul’s demeanor and Fal Garaz, the people of Ixion finally relaxed their guard and gathered around Sungchul one by one.
Soon, Sungchul was able to be reunited with the leader of Ixion and the refugees of the Eastern regions, McRaed.
Befitting that of a powerful mage, she flew across the sky and landed in front of Sungchul gently.
“I am Sungchul.”
Seeing is believing. Sungchul took out his symbol from the soul warehouse and raised it high.
The hammer made of fragments of the sky, even in the darkest night, gives off a faint light.
Upon seeing Sungchul’s majestic figure and eight scars, the people of Ixion finally loosened their guard and gathered around him one by one.
Soon, Sungchul was able to reunite with Marquerade, the leader of Ixion and the refugees of the East.
Like a powerful sorceress, she flew across the sky and lightly landed in front of Sungchul.
“It’s been a while, former Imperial Commander in Chief.”
Although she seemed a bit haggard as if she had been through a lot since they last met, she greeted Sungchul with a lively smile.
“Or should I now say Chairman of the World Parliament?”
“Security seems tight.”
Sungchul replied with a calm tone, meeting the audacious princess’s gaze.
“A few days ago, the Empire came to attack us.”
“The Empire?”
“I don’t know why, but a few days ago, the Imperial Army led the entirety of their remaining fleet to our airspace. Fortunately, they retreated, but who knows if they might change their mind and come back. So, we’ve heightened our security to the maximum level. Plus, the airship you arrived in.”
McRaed glanced at Sylphid, Sungchul’s flagship, which was hovering in the sky above them.
“It has a similar silhouette to the former Chairman’s airship. My subordinates seemed to have mistaken it. As you know, the old Chairman, Aquiroa, is currently missing and as a traditional pro-Empire figure, we had no choice but to be on high alert.”
“I see.”
They weren’t wrong, considering Sylphid was originally the ship of the second Aquiroa before he killed her and took her ship. They did, in fact, correctly identify the ship.
“Anyway, I’ve thoroughly read through the message the envoy of the Merchant Coalition delivered. And there’s already a guest waiting for you.”
“Is that true?”
This was beyond expectation.
According to Horneko, there were only two nations that expressly declared non-participation to his invitation. The Human Empire and the Dwarf Kingdom.
The rest of the nations took a reserved stance of making the decision later, or considering.
This meant their presence was not guaranteed.
In the worst-case scenario, Sungchul was even considering carrying on with the session of the World Parliament even if there were not one participant.
So, a voluntary participant was a completely unexpected.
“Yup. They have been waiting for you, desperately.”
Greatly delighted at McRaed’s words, Sungchul threw a question to her.
“Which country is it?”
At Sungchul’s question, McRaed dodged the question with a playful smile.
“It’s not a small-fry.”
Soon, Sungchul was able to meet the envoy from that un-small-fry country.
A race with a beautiful appearance and sharp ears.
It was an elf.
‘Who could it be?’
He wasn’t the king of the elves.
However, his clothing and face exuded a dignified aura, just like one would expect from the royal families of a long-standing kingdom.
As Sungchul entered the hall, the young elf got up from his seat to greet him.
“Are you the Imperial Commander in Chief?”
Upon seeing Sungchul nodding, the young elf showed his respects before introducing himself in a polite tone.
“I am Hesserdein, the Crown Prince of the Elf Kingdom and the proxy of the King.”
“Nice to meet you. I am…”
Just as Sungchul was about to introduce himself according to the tradition, the Elf Prince suddenly kneeled before Sungchul.
And then, he began to speak in an urgent tone.
“I implore you! There is an issue that is imperative to be included in the conference agenda!”
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There’s a big repeat:
“I am Sungchul.”
Seeing is believing. Sungchul took out his symbol from the soul warehouse and raised it high.
The hammer made of fragments of the sky, even in the darkest night, gives off a faint light.
Upon seeing Sungchul’s majestic figure and eight scars, the people of Ixion finally loosened their guard and gathered around him one by one.
Soon, Sungchul was able to reunite with Marquerade, the leader of Ixion and the refugees of the East.
Like a powerful sorceress, she flew across the sky and lightly landed in front of Sungchul.