Chapter 186-1: The Abyssal Gate Opens, Winds Stir in Green City (Part 1)
May 14th.
In Green City, the largest city in the south of the Nolan Empire, dusk was approaching. The orange sun was slowly sinking behind the mountains.
The weather, now stepping into summer, was sweltering, and a restless atmosphere hovered over the entire city.
On both sides of the streets, the sewers were bubbling in the heat, emitting an unbearable stench. Though fewer than during the Months of Deep Winter, beggars still knelt in the shade, begging passersby for alms.
Civilians in short robes made of gray burlap were drenched in sweat as they unloaded sack after sack of wheat from carts in front of the grain store at the crossroads. The skin on their necks was charcoal-gray, like scorched carbon.
Next door to the grain store, a fat fruit vendor sat fanning himself with a bored look, distressed over the lack of customers while trying to swat away the flies hovering over his fruit.
At the corner past the fruit store, a wide wall bore a colorful painted mural of the Goddess of Life. Above the mural, a cross-shaped bell with a pyramidal top and colored glass swung side to side, its clack clack audible across two city blocks. Shopkeepers and laborers found its rhythm amusing.
The city appeared unchanged from any normal day; nobles enjoying their manors, commoners working hard for a living.
Yet the moment the sun slipped behind the mountains, fifty li north of Green City.
CRACK!
A piercing sound, like shattering glass, rang out.
Immediately, the once-golden sky darkened into a gray-black hue. A strange, indescribable aura descended.
Terrifying. Bloody. Brutal.
Every negative adjective imaginable was perfectly fitting for this aura.
It was as if a demon that once devoured the mortal realm had broken its seal and returned.
Within Green City, both civilians and professionals alike were suddenly gripped by immense fear, as if a venomous serpent hidden in the dark was silently watching them.
In the City Lord's Manor, nestled in a simple courtyard...
An old man was sitting beneath a broadleaf maple tree, flipping through a yellowed spellbook. He looked to be just past sixty, dressed in a plain white mage's robe. Small and thin, he had an ordinary air, indistinguishable from the city's common folk.
The moment the abyssal aura appeared, the old man's head snapped up.
In his deep-set eyes, uncontrollable fury burned.
"Abyssal energy!! Damn bastard. Who opened a spatial gate to the Abyss?!"
With a shout, he sprang to his feet, and his once-ordinary aura instantly changed.
Terrifying magical power surged around him, causing a tide of magic to ripple out within a hundred blades.
The white robe he wore now radiated intense mana fluctuations. Around him, even the air seemed to bend with each breath.
There was only one being in all of Green City who could wield such power.
The Transcendent Mage: Locke Hart.
This century-old Transcendent had long served as Green City's guardian, and its sole Transcendent.
In the next instant, Locke vanished from where he stood.
When he reappeared, he was already outside Green City, ten kilometers away from his previous location. An astounding distance covered in a blink.
Before nearby civilians could even catch a glimpse of his figure, Locke disappeared again.
In less than ten seconds, this immeasurably powerful mage had already arrived at the spatial gate linking to the Bottomless Abyss.
The area where the gate had opened was once a dense forest, but now, it had been entirely corrupted by abyssal energy.
Green leaves, when exposed to the cold, gray aura of the Abyss, withered and disintegrated within seconds, often vanishing before they even touched the ground.
Above the thousand-blade-wide spatial gate, thousands of small demons with long tails and flapping wings had already emerged.
Locke's face darkened.
He cast one last glance back at Green City, then stepped directly into the spatial gate.
He had to close the gate.
If not, the entire city would be overrun by demons.
The aura of the Main Plane was far too tempting for the Abyss. These were just lesser demons, once the more powerful ones sensed it, there would be no turning back.
No matter how strong it was, Green City couldn't resist the might of the Abyss.
And Locke wasn't the only one who had noticed the change. Every high-level professional in the city had sensed the abnormality.
Many powerful professionals who usually kept to the shadows were now flooding toward the city outskirts.
The descent of Abyssal demons heralded an existential war between races.
No one could stay uninvolved in this war.
---
At that moment, Li De was roughly three hundred blades away from the Crimson Mage Tower.
This was the location he had chosen after Viscount Berna scheduled today's plundering of the Crimson Mage Tower.
Berna's plan wasn't complicated, one could even call it simple.
Once the Abyssal Gate was opened and all of Green City's forces were drawn away, he would issue the attack order, and the Dark Pact would descend upon the Crimson Mage Tower.
They would loot everything in sight; be it artifacts, people, or anything else.
Li De had been attempting to get close to this powerful and mysterious president these past few days.
But unfortunately, since that last meeting, Viscount Berna had not summoned the members of the Dark Pact again. All orders were transmitted via covert channels.
Li De was quite frustrated. Though he now possessed the strength to counter the enemy, he could no longer locate them.
He had even considered using the same tactic again, luring out one of the Dark Pact's top combatants and ambushing them like he had done with Grote.
But sadly, the remaining few were increasingly cunning, not one had shown their face in days.
"It's begun."
Sensing the surge of abyssal energy from the north of Green City, Li De's gaze sharpened.
He did not want the main battlefield to be at the Crimson Mage Tower. Whether victory or defeat, the losses would be immense.
Even with all the preparations he had made these past two days, such damage could not be avoided.
But this matter was beyond his control. Viscount Berna was extremely cautious, and Li De had no other opportunities. He could only confront them at the Crimson Mage Tower.
Fortunately, the enemy had no idea that the tower they saw as prey was already laying a trap to hunt them.
And Li De had prepared accordingly.
"The teleportation scroll is ready. Kosso will enter the moment he's needed."
Emi's face was solemn. After being crushed by Grote days ago, the Shadow High Priest hadn't been defeated in spirit. Instead, he had become even more determined to redeem himself.
Only battle merit could cleanse his shame and restore his honor.
That made him one of the most eager for war against the Dark Pact.
Inside the two-story house, Grote silently stared out the window, while Betty lay nonchalantly in a wooden chair.
"Wait. I will strike when the enemy shows themselves."