In front of the border, the soldiers and fighters were working hard to clean up the area after the long battle with the monsters.
They were searching the monsters' bodies for skill cores and dragging the high-rank ones with stronger structures to craft weapons from their bones.
Kyle looked at the soldiers and raised his head to see Susan surrounded by Alec, Jian, Lara, and Carcel in mid-air. The group seems to be bombarding the old man with a lot of questions, probably about the image they formed in their minds after using the brown crystal.
Kyle took a deep breath and shouted at the old man, who got startled and almost lost his balance in mid-air.
Susan turned around and gave Kyle a fierce glare, his eyes burning with anger. But he quickly regained his composure and landed in front of the young man.
"What is it now?"
Kyle got straight to the point because he could see that now the old man was getting annoyed at him.
"Do you have something like a crystal that can help others see their stats before the pseudo-divine rank?"
Susan furrowed his brow, taking a few moments to think before nodding.
"I do have something... not a crystal, but a slate that can connect others to the planet's core, allowing them to see their stats. I collected a lot of things in my younger days. So, why do you need it?"
Kyle gestured towards Ray and Neon, who were standing behind him.
"Let them use it. Also, is there a way to increase someone's talent without the divine essence?"
Susan let out a sigh and massaged his temples. He just came out of the tower and this rascal is making him do so much.
"No, I don't think so. I've never heard about any other method to increase talent. If someone reached the end of their talent, they can break the wall by consuming the divine essence."
Kyle nodded.
"Do you have divine essence or can you tell me how to extract divine essence?"
Susan closed his eyes for a second and shouted at Kyle.
"You just reached the pseudo divine rank and you want to extract divine essence from your body, are you crazy? Don't even think about it! I do have a few drops, but they are inside the tower. So, if you need it urgently, you can take it from me."
However, his face turned blank when Kyle casually told him to share some of the divine essence with Butler Eon. He took a deep breath to control his emotions and gestured for Neon and Ray to follow him so they could see their stats by forming a connection with the planet's core. Especially to avoid any further talk with Kyle.
In the next second, Alec, Jian, Lara, and Carcel landed in front of Kyle, who looked at Alec with a serious expression.
"Alec, do you know about the third shadow general?"
Alec's expression hardened, and he nodded.
"I know... better than anyone else. And I don't think there's only one shadow general."
Kyle furrowed his brow.
"No way, don't tell me the shadow generals also..."
However, before he could complete his sentence, Alec shook his head with a wry smile and secretly rubbed the back of his hand.
"No, they are not on this planet. Neither the third shadow general nor the others. If they were, this planet would not still be standing."
Kyle gazed up at the sky. The planet was now open to anyone who wanted to enter. Fortunately, James' consciousness had ordered someone to take care of the planet's core. If everything went right, they would be able to once again construct the presence-concealing shield around the planet that had hidden the planet for so long.
"Alec, I think we need to hurry. I am not sure when the shadow generals will arrive, and I don't want to know how strong they are—at least not right now. That's why we must strike first to completely wipe out the enemies on the planet."
"Currently, the tower's guardians are assisting us. Nine will also arrive shortly with people from the Sea Continent. Two of the strongest guardians of the tower are working to restore the shield around the planet, and I believe they will succeed. Let's gather everyone to fight and clean the enemies once and for all…"
He paused for a second.
"I am not overconfident that we will be victorious without any casualties, but I know we don't have any other choice. We can only fight or wait... until they wipe us out completely."
Alec gripped his shoulder.
"Don't worry... No one is going to back down now. They started this war, but we are going to finish it!"
Jian and Carcel joined them, their gazes fixed on the duo.
"It's difficult, but not impossible."
Kyle smiled and shook his head as he looked at all of them. Alec is just as he remembers... always trying to help as many people as possible. Carcel still wears an aloof expression, as if he does not care about what happens. But he is just like Alec.
Lara, she has changed a lot. He still remembers how she used to ignore him when he first started interacting with Alec. As for Jian... well, he is still the unluckiest among them all.
Lara surprised Kyle by patting his shoulder. And not just Kyle, but everyone around her too. A beautiful smile spread across her lips when she saw Kyle's stunned expression.
"Hey, I just wanted to say... Well, I've been meaning to say it for a long, long time. I never meant to ignore you. It's just that I couldn't express myself properly... and then you disappeared, and all this happened. That's why I never had the chance to apologize properly."
She paused as if it took her all just to say those words.
"I'm sorry, Kyle, and please take care of yourself. I noticed that whenever something dangerous happened, you were always the one who disappeared or ended up in a difficult position. I just realized that. So... that's it... Bye."
Lara turned around and left without saying anything more, but there was a smile on her face. Finally, she said it, and it wasn't as hard as she expected.
Jian smirked at her figure and started floating away too.
"Okay, bro, I'm the strongest and youngest guardian of this Continent. So, I'm leaving too. Just like Lara said, take care of yourself and don't suddenly disappear on us. After all, you have to fight on the frontline. Haha."
Kyle's smile stiffened, but he let it go and waved at the red-
haired man.
Alec and Carcel also nodded at Kyle and quickly left with the duo. As the young guardians of the new Continent, they had a lot of work to do.
First, they needed to send all the talented youngsters they had gathered to train inside the tower of opportunity, now that it's open to the public. Second, they have to inform the Kings and gather the entire army of the Continent.
