Boom!!
Souta watched as the Mirror Lake and the surrounding mountains collapsed. The folded space was gone so it was natural that everything here would collapse. The dense mana seeped out as the tremors continued for a few minutes.
Everyone could feel an intense energy reaction underground. It was too powerful as the shockwaves swept out several kilometers away.
The war between the Red Matter Association and the Third Set of Pallas Division was concluded. There were unexpected factors but no one knew their significance until they came across with them in the future.
One of the organizations that terrorized several kingdoms and empires was gone today.
The warriors had claimed the victory but some of them felt empty. The casualties that they suffered weren't low. A lot of people died and sacrificed their lives in this war.
"Avron..." Vandal tightly clenched his fists. He realized that Avron was holding back when fighting so he didn't know what to feel right now.
But what's with those people? Grim and that person clad in a dark purple aura. He only knows one thing and that's they weren't on the side of Olympus.
He took a long sigh as he turned around and called his assistant, Shirley. For now, he should settle everything here. He also called the representative of Sky Avenue.
...
"What happened to you, Souta?"
Sekmet and the others from the Blue Cross Squad approached him. They looked at him with concern in their eyes especially after seeing his condition.
Souta wouldn't die from his injuries but his body was full of wounds. Even his hand was missing and half of his face was gone. The parasite queen had reached its limit so his wounds haven't recovered.
"I'm fine. The battle is just beyond my expectations." Souta forced a smile on his face.
"Damn, look at you... Are you sure that you are fine?" Leilus asked as he observed his gory wounds.
"Yep, this will not kill me." Souta nodded.
Sekmet, Paolo, Drami, and Marcus looked fine. It seems that they've rested properly while he was gone fighting the Red Matter Association.
"I'm glad that you've survived," Marcus said.
"Huhu! We're gonna have a feast once we go back!" Drami said excitedly as she raised both of her hands.
"Hmm? Souta, who's that?" Sekmet noticed something so she asked.
"Huh..." Souta looked down at the corpse of a little girl beside him. This body was Airi and he brought her with him as he wanted her to have a proper funeral.
"Ah... This is Airi..." He said as he smiled gently. He raised his hand and slowly caressed her head. "She is a girl I met in the three nations. I owed her my life."
He proceeded to narrate how he met Airi.
The Blue Cross Squad grew silent as they listened to his story. It was a simple story but it touched their hearts. Airi was a strong and brave girl.
"I'm sorry..." Sekmet said in a low voice.
"It's fine." Souta simply waved his hand. He wasn't bothered at all. Also, this was a good time to divert his attention since he didn't want to fall asleep.
"Um... Souta... Where are Airi's siblings?" Drami asked carefully.
"I still haven't found them. After I've recovered some of my strength I will look for them." Souta answered her question.
"We will help you look for them, right Marcus?" Drami said with a smile as she turned to her lover.
"Oh, yes." Marcus couldn't help but nod.
The other members of the Blue Cross Squad expressed their intention to help him. Souta could only say his thanks to them.
Hmm...?
Souta felt something as he stared at the sky. His eyes changed and he saw a boundless amount of mana in the sky. It caused him to immediately closed his eyes as he felt that his eyes were burning. It was something that he haven't experienced before.
"Argh!!"
His face distorted as he gritted his teeth to endure the extreme pain. The Blue Cross Squad naturally saw his situation.
"Hey, what happened, Souta?!"
"Souta?!"
"Are you okay?!"
Souta didn't look at them. Instead, he pointed at the sky with his finger.
"Huh?" Leilus and the others were confused but they still looked up to see if there was something above.
What they saw were boundless dark clouds. It was enveloping the entire sky as thunder would rumble every second. Lightning would flash from time to time illuminating the whole area.
The dark clouds stretched from the horizon to the other part of the sky. It was blocking every part and no one could see the stars or sun anymore. What's worse was that everyone could feel an unbelievable amount of energy from those dark clouds.
Soon, most people noticed the strangeness above. They couldn't help but look up and observed the changes in the dark clouds.
Ohm!
At this moment, Souta adjusted his eyes to normal. He looked up and stretched out his hand.
Plop!
A drop of water fell into his hand.
Souta gazed at him and felt something. This drop of water contained an enormous amount of energy comparable to an initial level third stage monster orb.
It was astonishing.
Then, he felt rejuvenated. The energy seeped into his body and all the pain disappeared immediately.
Plop! Plop!
In the next minute, the rain poured down on the region. No, the entire Imperium was experiencing the same thing. It was raining all over the world and every drop of rain contained vast energy.
Souta took a deep breath. He noticed that the mana density in the atmosphere rose sharply. It didn't stop as it continued to increase the mana density in the air. Just like him, the other warriors had no idea about this bizarre phenomenon.
'Souta, if I'm not wrong... This is happening to the whole world.' Saya said to him.
'Whole world, huh? I don't know...' Souta was confused. He looked around and saw ordinary people falling on their knees. They were holding onto their neck as they had painful looks on their face.
"Argh!!"
"H-Help me!"
"N-No!"
The ordinary people were having a hard time. The sudden change in mana density made it hard for them to breathe normally. It was as if they were going to die from suffocation. Their movements had slowed down.
It was the effect of higher mana density. It submerged everyone into a sea of mana. If they were just fifty feet below the sea before, then right now they were three hundred meters below the sea surface.
But they were going to be fine. This wouldn't kill them as their bodies were used to living in Imperium even though they were only ordinary people. If it was ordinary people from a sub-world, then the mana pressure would crush their bodies.
"The world got stronger..."
Souta narrowed his eyes. He raised his finger and a five-inch ball of fire formed.
"This... The amount of energy I poured is enough to create a two feet size fireball and it could create a three-meter depth fissure on the ground yet... The power had decreased due to the mana in the atmosphere."
He waved his hand and the fireball vanished. It seems that everything would be harder from now on. If this phenomenon occurred before, the Subterranean World wouldn't collapse like that.
The mana density wasn't the only one that changed. The space and earth had become several times tougher than before. Even some pebbles on the side of the road had increased their hardness.
...
In another place...
A man wearing a black robe with a thick red fur around its collar. On the back of the robe, was a symbol of a red eye. He had messy chestnut color hair and his pair of sharp eyes were watching the rain outside.
This man was Esquin, One of the Seven Deadly Sins. The Gluttony.
"This happened too quickly... It seems that the Imperium didn't tolerate the strange fluctuations before."
Esquin narrowed his eyes with a faint smile on his face. It was as if he was amused by all the events that happened today.
That strange fluctuation before had a linkage with time and summoning. Yes, the time and space were distorted. Its strangeness was foreign to him. Even he, a God, could only understand a bit of it. He could only guess that time and summoning were fused and it pulled something.
It shouldn't happen but the rules were gone so it actually occurred. Pulling something that existed already was a violation and it would cause a tremendous change in the entirety of the sequence.
"If something like that is possible then..."
Esquin muttered as he stretched out his hand. He grabbed the space around him.
Bang!
Cracks spread out in the air.
He looked at it and shook his head.
"That's not it. Something is blocking me. Is it because I lack an understanding of time? But from the fluctuations before... The individual who used it seemed like had a low understanding of time, space, and summoning. It didn't even reach the level of God. So, maybe it's an enlightened ability... or just get that ability through luck."
