The air suddenly grew cold, and a translucent dome materialized out of thin air, enveloping everything around Kyle in a chilly embrace. Countless icicles formed in the air, and thick clouds gathered.
Jian's eyes widened as he stepped into the towering dome, but to his surprise, the path in front of him cleared. He took a deep breath, only to cough from the intense cold.
His gaze locked onto the figure of Kyle with an aggrieved expression, and he dashed towards him. After him, Alec and Carcel also entered the dome and hurriedly ran towards Kyle.
The ground beneath them trembled violently, and all eyes turned to Kyle, before staring at the unconscious body of Guil lying behind him.
Alec's eyebrow twitched. They had been locked in a battle with Guil for two days, unable to kill him due to the divine energy present within his body. Yet, Kyle had effortlessly rendered him unconscious.
He so badly wanted to ask how, but controlled the urge, knowing the situation was too dangerous.
Jian held his breath.
"Now what? Do we have to fight? If we give it our all, I think we can take them down."
Kyle raised his head, his eyes narrowing at the approaching monsters.
"No, there are too many of them, and the exit to the realm is about to open. We're running out of time."
He kicked off the ground and started hovering in mid-air. Alec, Carcel, and Jian exchanged glances and quickly followed behind. Under their gaze, the countless icicles floating inside the dome shot out toward the monsters with a speed invisible to the naked eye.
Kyle sucked in a deep breath.
"Hope this works."
He raised his finger and started scribing symbols in the air, shocking the trio beside him. The symbols glowed and instantly trembled. Kyle's finger shook, and he cursed when the symbols dispersed in the air.
He raised his finger again and scribbled the symbols once more, but they vanished again.
"Guys, use your strongest skills to distract the monsters. Just half a minute is enough."
The trio immediately nodded and hurriedly used the remaining mana in their bodies to divert the attention of the monsters. However, they were overwhelmed. Obviously, they were tired after fighting Guil, and now their mana was running low.
After the fourth try, Kyle's eyes lit up. He smiled at the faint glowing circle opposite him, which grew bigger and bigger before transforming into a large round portal.
He let out a shout towards Alec and jumped into the portal.
"Hurry!"
Alec stared back, his eyes widening with disbelief. He sucked in a deep breath and shouted at Jian and Carcel before following behind Kyle.
Jian dodged an earth spike thrown at him by a large turtle and immediately entered the portal. Carcel followed suit.
Alec's head buzzed, and the moment he emerged from the portal, he retched and emptied the contents of his stomach.
Jian and Carcel were in the same condition. The trio glared at the silver-haired man standing opposite them. But they were distracted when a loud rumble sounded behind them.
They immediately whipped their heads around and saw that the place they had left was just opposite the tall mountain where they had appeared.
Three pairs of speechless eyes turned towards Kyle, but he shrugged his shoulders.
"I need a lot of time if I want to create a portal for a very long-distance travel."
Jian slumped down on the ground and let out a tired sigh. Alec chuckled and sat down beside him.
However, they were not able to rest because countless tears formed in the sky, staining the clear sky with cracks.
Carcel hummed softly.
"It seems it's time to leave."
Alec's eyes crinkled into a smile.
"Yes, it's time to go back."
Jian also let out a smile.
Contrary to the serene atmosphere, Kyle's expression was deep as he stared at the cracks. He rubbed his chest with a bitter smile.
'Indeed, it's time to leave, but I am still not strong enough. I hope the artifact stays dormant for a few more years.'
"Guys, I am going to fetch Bia."
Kyle left, but Alec noticed his behavior and knitted his brows. He narrowed his eyes and immediately used the system appraisal skill. His mouth opened wide when the shocking system panel flashed in front of his eyes.
______________________
'Name: Kyle Ohan'
'Race: Human'
'Rank: (SSS-)'
'Special: ??'
'???'
-Error!
Trying to find the cause! Loading...
-Error!
No more information provided. To know further information, the host needs to be a whole rank higher than the target.
_________________________
Alec gazed at his status and let out a faint chuckle. Just recently, he broke through to (SS+)-Rank. It was all possible because, for the past two years, he worked hard day and night, but it seemed someone was working even harder than him.
'Tsk, just when am I going to be a whole rank higher than him?'
He glanced at Jian and Carcel. The duo had also reached (SS)-
Rank recently.
'If we all stay together, maybe we will be able to face all the hardships in the future. But first, I need to find the person damaging the planet's core to buy more time for everyone to grow stronger.'
He let out a sigh. It's good that he received the information from Haylee a year ago. Or else he would have stayed in the dark for a long time.
...
Outside the realm, Elder Han's face grew paler with each passing second. He fiddled with the symbols, but the realm gate remained silent.
'No way!'
He screamed in his head. Unwilling to believe that no one had survived. The Array masters around him were also in a state of panic.
However, just as despair filled the faces of those around him, the realm gate trembled once again, and wisps of smoke emerged.
Elder Han let out a cry of relief and squeezed his eyes shut.
"I'm done for if I receive another panic attack. I can't take it!"
He messaged his temples and slumped to the ground. The Array masters around him hurriedly dragged him away from the realm gate to prevent any further issues.
The sky above the realm gate darkened, and a faint bright light flashed. However, instead of the familiar circular opening, the entire realm gate came crashing down with a loud rumble.
The crowd's mouths dropped open in shock as the earth trembled, causing multiple cracks to form everywhere. In an instant, sparks of dark electric current buzzed out from the realm gate with lightning-fast speed, and a person with brown hair flew out.
The crowd held their breath as they gazed at the first survivor emerging from the realm.
Indeed, he looked incredibly powerful.
Nine's expression turned smug upon hearing the faint shocked exclamations around him, but he quickly composed himself with a solemn expression and flew into the middle of the crowd.
"This deity shall-!"
His sentence was cut short when Sinon's figure crashed into him, causing him to lose his balance. The two of them crashed to the ground with painful groans.
Nine pushed the winged demi-human away from his body and squeezed his eyes shut.
'There! My perfect image just shattered into a million pieces.'
The crowd stared at the two individuals, but in the next second, they gasped as countless bright lights flashed out from the realm gate. Their shock increased because the number of survivors grew with each passing second.
Elder Han was almost brought to tears with relief when he saw many familiar faces following Nine.
Lara and Mia floated mid-air, gazing around at the few old men floating or standing on the ground.
The girls instantly spotted Elder Han and hurriedly made their way towards him.
While the countless people waiting for the survivors rejoiced with happiness, the guards from Kingdom Soltecia stationed around the realm gate panicked at the increasing numbers.
Immediately, a few of them vanished into thin air to inform King Istalian.
