Shang looked with shock at the distant cloud.
The Ice Wyvern and the Volcano Wyrm were fighting?
Two Zone Beasts were fighting?!
At this moment, Shang realized how truly far away the cloud was.
The Ice Wyvern was probably as big as the Storm Eagle, and if it appeared that tiny, it was probably very far away.
"How far away do you think they are?" Shang asked.
"150 to 200 kilometers," Chuck said from the side with uncertainty.
200 kilometers.
Shang watched a battle from 200 kilometers away.
If the destruction could be seen from such a distance, how apocalyptic was it close to the fight?
What about the land directly beneath them?
At this moment, Shang realized something.
The Zone Beasts had actually reached the destructive powers of nuclear weapons on Earth.
Nuclear weapons could transform kilometers of land into a crater, and the two Zone Beasts were doing just that.
Probably everything below them had turned into a land of ice and fire, even though they were fighting that high in the sky.
Shang could only see some faint colors moving around. Sadly, he wasn't able to see the individual combatants from such a distance.
Then, Shang remembered the words of the Vice-Dean of the Mage Academy.
This went according to plan.
Did that mean that the Mages had gotten the Frost Wyvern to fight the Magma Wyrm?
How?
Why?
How many lives had they destroyed?
Then, a cold feeling of apathy went over Shang's heart. 'Just as expected. This world is not kind.'
'I have doubted my own assumption of the world in the past due to all the idealistic people around me, but this proves it.'
'This world is cold.'
'Only power reigns supreme.'
At the same moment, Shang also felt a feeling of ease wash over him.
Ease?
Why?
Because he had worked so hard at trying to suppress his empathy.
Shang had worked tirelessly to kill off his empathy over the last year. He had always felt guilty for trying to become cold-hearted.
What if the world actually wasn't that cold?
What if the teachers were actually right?
What if righteousness, respect, and honesty were truly the most important things?
If that were the case, Shang would have wasted an entire year's worth of effort.
But now, Shang realized that he hadn't wasted his time.
'If I want to become powerful, I have to be able to do things my past self would have never allowed.'
'I have to remember that only my power is important.'
'Others will die. People will betray others for their own gain.'
'In the end, only power is reliable.'
Shang watched the two beasts fight for another half a minute until they finally split off.
The Magma Wyrm was flying to the north while the Ice Wyvern remained at the spot they had just fought.
The image was clear.
The Ice Wyvern had won the battle.
Shang knew a lot about the different Zones, and he also knew, based on context clues, where the two beasts had fought.
The two beasts had fought above the gigantic battlefield north of the Ice Wyvern Zone.
The Ice Mana of the Ice Wyvern Zone touched the Fire Mana of the Volcano Wyrm Zone at the north.
The two elements were not compatible at all, which extended to the beasts.
Beasts passively gave off Elemental Mana. So, in a sense, if a large group of beasts traveled somewhere, the Mana would follow.
The battlefield north of the Ice Wyvern Zone and south of the Volcano Wyrm Zone had been half-filled with Ice Mana and half-filled with Fire Mana, and the beasts had constantly warred against each other.
Because of that, nearly no humans lived in the battlefield.
But what about now?
With the Volcano Wyrm retreating and the Ice Wyvern staying, what would become of the battlefield?
The Ice Wyvern's Ice Mana would flood the entire battlefield, eradicating the Fire Mana in the surroundings.
So, didn't that mean that the Ice Wyvern's Zone would expand towards the north?
And then, Shang realized the plan the Vice-Dean was talking about.
Since Duke Whirlwind was the owner of the Ice Wyvern Zone, wouldn't he now also gain ownership of the battlefield?
'So, that's what their plan was,' Shang thought with a deep breath.
'They got the Ice Wyvern to fight with the Volcano Wyrm. They were probably certain that the Ice Wyvern would win the fight.'
'And now, Duke Whirlwind has access to a land full of resources.'
'Since nearly no human has traveled to the battlefield, the entire Zone is probably filled to the brim with ore, rare beasts, and valuable plants.'
'And since we are part of Duke Whirlwind's duchy, we also gain access to this new land. That's what the Vice-Dean meant with that we also get new opportunities to earn money.'
Shang looked around and noticed that many people were still confused.
Seemed like he was one of the first ones to crack the mystery of why the Ice Wyvern and Volcano Wyrm were fighting.
'But why today?' Shang thought. 'I don't think that Duke Whirlwind would choose such a precarious day to go on the offensive. He probably had to get involved in some way, which might even make him unavailable if a True Path Stage beast invades.'
For a while, Shang only remained in thought.
'What if it is only possible on the Day of Chaos?'
'What if the leaving of the Storm Eagle is connected to how they managed to pull this off?'
'I'm lacking information and can't come to a concrete conclusion right now.'
For a while, the hunters only looked to the north as they shared their suspicions.
Shang didn't unveil his suspicions. After all, if this was meant to be a secret, he could get into trouble by making it public.
When dealing with powers far above one's ability, it was better to err on the side of caution.
Many other hunters hadn't noticed the fight between the Zone beasts. After all, they were busy with their own fights, and several beasts fighting in front of them were definitely more conspicuous than a distant, tiny cloud.
Sadly, ten minutes later, work called.
Chuck's team got their next target assigned, and Shang also had to prepare himself.
He wouldn't get any more Trash Birds, but he might get something else.
And, sure enough, his new opponent arrived in the middle of the afternoon.
It was a huge, rocky lizard. Rocks were all over its body, and it wasn't very fast.
When Shang saw that, he became interested.
'A Crag Lizard,' Shang thought. 'This opponent is perfect!'
Crag Lizards were ambush predators just like Vanishing Snakes, which made them clumsy in direct confrontations.
Crag Lizards buried in the ground until only some of their stones poked out of the surface. If a beast they could kill stepped close, spears of stone would explode out of the stones.
In a sense, a Crag Lizard was the closest thing to a Spire Mire that actually existed, and that was probably also where Chuck got his inspiration from.
Crag Lizards were slow, but their earth spears were fast and deadly. Of course, their defense was also top-notch.
Shang was excited about testing out his abilities against the Crag Lizard.
