Chapter 1427: Going or Staying
“Can you give me more detail?” Roland asked.
“There is nothing more to give.” Silent Disaster’s guard was up. “You know little of the Sky-sea Realm. Even if I explained, you would not understand.”
“That may have been true before. It is different now.” Roland didn’t match her tone—he simply laid out the facts, recounting in detail the encounter with the Skeleton Monster in Graycastle’s Western Region. “This was the first time we encountered one away from the sea.”
“Tell him what he wants to know.” Valkries spoke slowly, with quiet finality. “Regardless, it is better than the humans’ legacy shard falling into the Sky-sea Realm’s hands.”
“If you put it that way…” Serakkas released a breath. “Listen, human. What you saw is called a Nest Mother. They are the nucleus of the Sky-sea Realm’s ability to expand—no fighting capability of their own, but capable of commanding many subordinates to fight on their behalf.”
“Like a brain?”
“You could say that. Do not interrupt me again.” She pushed on, impatient. “These creatures are more ancient than you can imagine—they may have existed since before the world as we know it began. But time, no matter how vast, has had almost no effect on them. Their form and abilities have barely changed—until the past few months.”
After she finished, Roland had a rough understanding of what had happened to the Sky-sea Realm.
According to the demons, the Sky-sea Realm was capable of evolution—but unlike the individual advancement of the demon race, the Sky-sea Realm evolved as a whole. The nest was a nest; the blade was a blade. No outstanding individuals as among humans or demons, every creature a fixed unit in a vast machine. It may have been this trait that made their evolution so slow—centuries between meaningful changes.
The most recent change had proven that assumption entirely wrong. No one knew how many evolutions the Sky-sea Realm had undergone in the past few months. What could be confirmed was the exponential growth in power. The blade beasts, once simple hunters for the Nest Mothers—easy enough to pin in place, disposable to even a Mad Demon—had grown several times in size. Their strength, endurance, and reaction speed had multiplied. Their claws, thick with magic power, posed a genuine threat to Senior Demons.
A higher ascendant could still kill a single blade beast in direct combat. But the problem was that the evolution was universal. Every blade beast had changed. Change in sufficient quantity became change in kind.
It was as though one Witch had become a Transcendent, and the transformation had rippled outward until every Witch in existence was a Transcendent. Numbers enough and the quantitative shift became qualitative.
The demon defenders who had barely been holding the line were no longer capable of resisting. Countless enemies crawled from the ocean and inundated the battlefield like a roaring tide. The King had been forced to do the unthinkable: abandon the Blackstone region.
It was grim news for Roland.
If the demons truly could not hold, then humanity faced a new pressure—the attack on the Western Region was not an isolated probe. It was a beginning.
“Human, I would advise moving your legacy shard.” Silent Disaster said it plainly. “With your current strength, you cannot resist the Sky-sea Realm’s full force. Valkries is correct—the shard cannot be allowed to fall into their hands.”
“I have no intention of surrendering it to them.” Roland shrugged. “But beyond that… does the timing not strike you as strange?”
“Oh?” Valkries uncrossed and re-crossed her legs. “Say more.”
“The Blackstone region has been fighting the Sky-sea Realm continuously, so your estimate of their evolution rate should be reasonably accurate. Three to four months ago—that was when the Oracle ambushed Zero.”
“You suspect the Sky-sea Realm’s evolution is connected to God.”
“Only a guess.” He held the word carefully. “But there is something I have been wondering about. Has your race ever communicated with the Sky-sea Realm?”
Valkries’s expression changed, slowly, like weather turning.
“I thought not.” Roland continued at an unhurried pace. “But every other participant in the Battle of Divine Will has had some form of contact. The humans and demons met in Cloud School. The destroyed underground civilization once ‘communicated’ with the Witch Organization, which produced the God’s Punishment Army. I believe the demons likely have similar records from earlier encounters.” He paused. “The Sky-sea Realm appears to be the only exception.”
There were no historical documents, no recorded materials about them. If humanity’s inability to enter deep water explained their ignorance, it was still inexplicable that the demons—who were far less constrained by the sea—had the same blank record.
Interaction and communication were markers of civilization, even in hostile relationships. Enemies still acknowledged one another’s existence across a line.
From everything Roland could see, the Sky-sea Realm had been a silent combatant, apart from the other three races from the beginning.
The implication of that—if you followed the thought far enough—was enough to produce a cold feeling in the chest.
“What do you plan to do?” Valkries asked.
“Reach the Bottomless Land before the situation becomes irrecoverable.” Roland looked at both of them. “I hope you will halt your campaign against humanity and direct your efforts toward defeating the Sky-sea Realm.”
“That is impossible,” Silent Disaster said immediately. “First, leaving aside your claims about the Divine Will and God, the current Western Front Commander is Mask. All the Symbiotic Demons are under his control. And beyond that…”
“Beyond that, what?”
Serakkas did not answer at once. A silence settled. “I want to speak with Valkries alone.”
”…Fine.” Roland sighed. “But don’t forget how little time we have.”
Silent Disaster followed Valkries out through the door and into the apartment corridor.
Standing there, a city of incomprehensible scale appeared before her. Gray rectangular towers rose in every direction, none of them inferior in height to the Birth Towers, but their numbers were orders of magnitude greater. They lined the intersecting roads that extended without an end she could find, stretching in every direction until even the Deity of Gods would have looked small beside them.
The sight struck her like a blow.
She had already seen it from inside, and already been shaken. The view from outside overwhelmed even that.
More inconceivable still: the figures moving through the streets below. Neither magic-power wielders drawn into the Realm of Mind, nor the rigid creations of a domain. They simply lived. That was the largest difference between this Dream World and the King’s Presiding Holy Sea.
No wonder that human calls it a world.
“Here will do.” Valkries stopped.
The words broke Serakkas’s trance. She gathered herself and spoke. “There are other magic-power wielders in that room.”
“Yes. I know. They are Witches,” Valkries said, without concern.
”…” That answer had not been expected. “You—knew?”
“I spoke with them while waiting for you. They are not especially fond of me.” Nightmare Lord nodded. “Their purpose is to protect Roland, but he does not need protecting. The arrangement is to put everyone at ease.”
Even a Transcendent would not lower their guard in the presence of a Senior Lord, much less an ordinary human. Serakkas found this truth harder to absorb than any revelation about the Battle of Divine Will.
“What else could it be? If he were so easily handled, I would have done so long ago.” Valkries paused there, as though she found something faintly regrettable. “Of course—that was my intention, at the start.”
“The Witches did not follow us.” Serakkas took her hands. “Tell me. How do I bring you out of this Realm of Mind?”
Valkries looked at her for a long moment, then shook her head. “Have you not noticed? I cannot leave this place.”
“No—if I could come in, you can get out. Wait—if I brought your body here…”
Nightmare Lord raised a hand and brushed her hair aside.
Silent Disaster’s eyes went wide.
“Lord Valkries… your magic stone…”
“I am different from you now. Different from the Witches as well.” Valkries did not reject the formal address. “For our race, the loss of the magic stone means only one thing. But not for me. It may be because of how I entered the Dream World. I am already part of this world now—I cannot go back with you.”
Chapter 1427 - Going Or Staying
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“Can you give me more details?” Roland inquired.
“There’s nothing else.” Silent Disaster was obviously guarded against the human king. “You have little knowledge towards the Sky-sea Realm, even if I explained, you wouldn’t understand.”
“That might be so in the past, but it is different now. Graycastle’s Western Region has undergone attacks from demonic beasts, and there were traces of Sky-sea Realm within them.” Roland did not care about Silent Disaster’s tone and narrated the encounter with the Skeleton Monster in detail. “This is our first time encountering it away from the sea.”
“Tell him what he wants to know,” Valkries said slowly. “Regardless, it is better than having the human’s legacy shard falling into the hands of Sky-sea Realm.”
“If you put it that way…” Serakkas nodded her head helplessly. “Listen well, human. The thing that you saw is called a Nest Mother, they are the nucleus to the Sky-sea Realm’s ability to expand. They do not wield fighting capabilities, but are able to control many subordinates to fight for them—”
“Like a brain?”
“You can say that, but do not interrupt me again,” Silent Disaster replied impatiently. “These creatures are much more ancient than you think, and might have already existed since the beginning of time—But time, no matter how long, has few effects on it. Their form and abilities barely change, until recently in the past few months…”
After her explanation, Roland roughly understood the reason for the Sky-sea Realm’s sudden change.
According to the demons, they were able to evolve as well, but not unlike the regular evolution of ability, the Sky-sea Realm’s every new transformation involved its entire race. For example, the nest was the nest and the blade was the blade. There were no outstanding individuals like the humans or demons, where everybody was an independent entity. It might be because of this trait that their evolution was extremely slow and required a few centuries to see the change in them.
But the most recent change proved that they were completely wrong. No one was sure on how many evolutions the Sky-sea Realm had undergone in the past few months. The only confirmation was the exponential growth in strength. For example, the blade beasts were previously mere hunters for the Nest Mother. As long as they were locked in place, even Mad Demons were capable of destroying them. But not only had they grown several times in size, their strength, endurance, and reaction speed had greatly increased. Their claws which were abundant with magic power even posed a threat to Senior Demons.
Although a higher ascendant was capable of killing a blade beast with ease in a direct confrontation, the issue laid in the fact that the evolution was universal.
It could be compared to having a single Witch being awakened as a Transcendent, evoking all the other Witches to turn into Transcendents as well. As long as there were a sufficient number of them, the change in quantity would result in a qualitative change.
The demons which were barely maintaining the defense line was no longer capable of resisting the invasion of Sky-sea Realm as countless enemies crawled out from the ocean and inundated the battlefield like a roaring tidal wave. It forced the King to do the unthinkable—give up on the Blackstone region.
It was bad news for Roland.
If the demons were truly unable to hold their ground, it gave the humans a new pressure—the attack on the Western Region was merely the beginning.
“Human, I suggest for you to move your legacy shard.” Silent Disaster advised. “With your current strength, it is difficult to fight against the Sky-sea Realm’s large army. Valkries is right, we cannot allow the Sky-sea Realm to seize the legacy shard.”
“I have no plans to hand it over to them.” Roland shrugged his shoulders. “Aside from that… Don’t you find their moment of evolution quite a coincidence?”
“Oh?” Valkries raised a leg and crossed it over the other. “Tell me more about it.”
“The Blackstone region has always been fighting against Sky-sea Realm, so your estimation of their evolution should not deviate too far from that. And three to four months ago was when the Oracle ambushed Zero.”
“You suspect that the Sky-sea Realm’s substantial evolution is linked to God?”
“Just a guess.” Roland answered solemnly. “But there is one thing I’m worried about… Has your race ever communicated with Sky-sea Realm before?”
Valkries expression gradually turned serious.
“I guess not, right? But all other participants in the Battle of Divine Will have interacted with each other before.” Roland spoke unhurriedly. The humans and demons have interacted before in Cloud School. And the destroyed underground civilization had once ‘communicated’ with the Witch Organization, which resulted in the God’s Punishment Army plan. He believed that the other party likely had similar experiences as well, and this could be seen from the Nightmare Lord’s expression.
The only exception was the Sky-sea Realm.
History had not left any documents or materials pertaining to them. If the reason for it was humanity’s inability to step into the deep ocean, it was
extremely strange for the demons to have the same experience with Sky-sea Realm.
After all, interaction and communication was a trait to civilization, even if it was a hostile relationship.
And from the looks of it, Sky-sea Realm was a silent warrior apart from the three races.
With this train of thought, the reason behind the Sky-sea Realm’s evolution would cause people to tremble with fear.
“What do you plan to do?” Valkries asked.
“To head to the Bottomless Land before everything becomes irrecoverable.” Roland looked at the two. “I hope that you can stop your attack on humans and focus on defeating the Sky-sea Realm.”
“That’s impossible,” Silent Disaster immediately refuted. “Firstly, ignoring the fact that the Divine Will and God are mere claims of yours, the current Commander of the Western Front is Mask, and all the Symbiotic Demons are under his control. Also…”
“Also what?”
Serakkas did not reply immediately but maintained her silence for a moment. “I want to talk to Valkries alone.”
“Phew…” Roland sighed. “Fine, but don’t forget the time.”
…
Silent Disaster followed Valkries out of the door and walked to the side of the apartment corridor.
Standing there, an indescribable and majestic city appeared. All the rectangular and gray skyscrapers were in abundance and no less inferior to the Birth Towers, but their numbers were several orders of magnitude more. The buildings followed along the intersecting roads that seemed to extend
forever without an end, where even the Deity of Gods would never be able to accommodate such lofty buildings.
This impact stifled Silent Disaster.
Previously, a single glance into the city had shaken Serakkas to her core, but the scene she saw upon walking out of the building far surpassed her imagination.
What was even more inconceivable was the number of figures walking in the middle of the city. They were neither magic power wielders who were sucked in, nor were they rigid creatures formed by the domain. That was the largest difference between the Dream World and the Presiding Holy Sea.
No wonder that human calls this a ‘world.’
“Here would be fine.” Valkries stopped.
Her words broke Silent Disaster’s train of thought. She gathered her focus and calmed herself before speaking, “There are other magic power wielders in the room!”
“Yes, I know. They are Witches,” Valkries replied indifferently.
“…” Her reaction came unexpected to Serakkas. “You… knew?”
“I even talked to them while waiting for you; although they don’t really like me.” Nightmare Lord nodded. “Their main goal is to protect Roland, but he don’t really need protecting. It is just to put everyone at ease.”
Even a Transcendent would never relax in front of a Senior Lord, much less a normal human? Silent Disaster discovered that this truth was far more shocking than the farce of the Battle of Divine Will.
“What else could it be? If he was that easily dealt with, I would had done so already.” Valkries stopped at this point, as though feeling somewhat regretful. “Of course… That’s my thought at the beginning.”
“The Witches didn’t follow us.” Serakkas grabbed her hands. “Tell me, how can I bring you out of this Realm of Mind?”
Valkries looked at her for a moment before shaking her head. “Didn’t you realize it? I can no longer leave this place.”
“No, if I can come in, you can definitely get out. Right! If I bring your body along…”
Nightmare Lord extended her hand upwards and brushed her hair away. This action caused Silent Disaster to widen her eyes.
“Lord Valkries… your magic stone…”
“I’m different from you now, and different from the Witches.” Valkries did not refute the formal address. “If our race loses the magic stone, the only outcome is death. But not me—it might be related to the way I entered the Dream World. Now, I am already a part of this world, and no longer able to return with you.”