Zara abruptly opened her eyes. The feeling of cold sweat pouring down her back seemed especially sensitive today.
'What…what was that?' She thought shakily.
The scene she'd just witnessed, what was it? Where did it take place? Who were those people? And most importantly, who was that man?
The questions in her head piled up higher than any mountain peak. The unfortunate part was, this wasn't the first load of mysteries that'd been dumped on her in recent times.
Ever since the group landed on Calypto, she kept seeing these strange images.
It wasn't always that man.
Sometimes it was merely scenery, gruesome scenery she'd never witnessed in person. Sometimes it was other people, but they only appeared as hazy outlines in her mind.
She could barely remember their voices when she opened her eyes.
'It hurts…'
Her splitting headache never faded and her mental state became infinitely worse with every passing day. No matter how she tried to ignore it and move on, the strange visions didn't allow her any respite.
Ba-dum!
Her heart suddenly beat powerfully, almost leaping out of her chest.
The world was enveloped in shadows.
The hazy outline of a man appeared before her.
'This is…'
As Zara watched from the side, the man began to move in a strange pattern. His feet glided across the ground like it was made of ice, his body twisting delicately as if he was dancing to the most subtle melodies in the world.
Without even realizing it, Zara began following his movements.
Her left foot went forward, her right foot circled around, her hands raised into the air and naturally flowed with her movements.
The mana in the air became excited. It whirred to life and buzzed around her like tiny little spirits enjoying her performance. Light and darkness split in two and populated each side of her body.
But Zara didn't even notice it.
As she continued following the mysterious man's movements, her momentum grew until finally…!
The light and darkness combined as one. They swirled together like yin and yang in a basketball-sized cavity in front of Zara's body.
At that moment, she abruptly opened her eyes.
The vision came to an end.
The ball of counteracting energies fizzled out of existence.
Zara fell to the ground panting. Despite her mana capacity being almost full, she felt as if she'd drained it completely.
Collapsing to the floor, Zara clutched her head in pain.
'Just…what is going on?!'
***
Unlike the Jade Continent, the Lotus Continent was far more connected to the Nox's main force. Of the seven remaining continents, it was still only seventh in overall power, but the significance of the Lotus Continent lay elsewhere.
"The Lotus Continent is essentially where the Nox are getting all of their resources," Tyler stated as he looked at his holographic world map.
"Whether it's metals and minerals, precious herbs, or even people, the Lotus Continent has them in abundance. Or at least, had. I can't say what the current state of the continent is."
"The people have likely all been captured at this point, but I doubt they've gathered all the resources they desire yet. If they had, there's no way this world would still be standing." Damien responded.
The World Core was already completely under their control, as was the world's population. By all intents and purposes, Calypto was completely conquered.
"There's a reason the commander only ordered us to stall for time rather than fighting all out. The Nox outnumber us by far too much for our small group of 5000 to dream about exterminating them." Damien muttered.
Calypto was an Infected Source World. This meant that it wasn't just an ordinary Nox base, it was more akin to a factory that mass-produced mindless 3rd class Nox for the Higher Nox to throw around as they pleased.
While these 3rd class Nox could be killed with a single look by someone at Damien's power level, their sheer numbers made them difficult to face.
After all, nobody had infinite mana in this apocalypse.
"The Lotus Continent probably has some hints about the creation process. If we can find those hints, it won't just be beneficial to us, but also to any soldiers who have to raid Infected Source Worlds in the future."
By this assumption, the group chose their plan of attack. While their movements wouldn't deviate much from their strategy on the Jade Continent, their goal was far more robust.
'Utterly decimate any plans that the Nox might have.'
The group moved with this intention, slowly making their way inland as they circled the continent's periphery and took down base after base.
Compared to the Jade Continent, the forces were only marginally stronger. Besides an increase in the number of mid-level 4th class Higher Nox, there wasn't much of a change.
'This is only the seventh continent and mid-level Higher Nox are becoming common. By the time we get to the main base, am I going to see extreme peak 4th classes on the street like cabbages?' Damien joked to himself.
He waved his arm and enveloped the group in front of him in spatial mana, promptly sending them to the Sanctuary.
It was around the 1500th "food supply" they'd come across, and yet another few thousand people who'd been welcomed to Theavel.
'Sheesh, it's going to get crowded if we keep going like this.'
Despite his complaints, Damien was actually quite pleased with the sudden influx of denizens on Theavel. After all, the relationship between a world and its people was symbiotic.
A world grew through the achievements of its population, while the people were given residence and mana by the world so they could comprehend its laws. The more people living in Theavel, the more who explored its various regions and conquered it, the more the world itself would grow and evolve.
Another half month passed without any change to the routine. Damien and his squad slowly became more synchronized and efficient, and before long, they were closing in on the central area of the continent.
"That mine is what they've been fiercely trying to protect as we've moved. Even if it isn't what we've been looking for, there should be something noteworthy in there." Tyler commented.
Damien nodded. The closer they got to this very mine, the more fierce the resistance was. There were no longer Nox who tried to run away to save their lives. Even the most cowardly enemies threw themselves at Damien and the rest with abject terror in their eyes.
'Either there's an eldritch horror waiting for us underground, or we just hit the jackpot.' Damien thought to himself with a smile.
"Then, let's not deviate from the usual strategy for now. Just remember to be cautious, and don't lose sight of those around you."
With those words, Damien took the lead and entered the mine. The cold and damp atmosphere was completely unexpected from a place that seemed like it'd be filled with dry humidity. The ground squelched under their feet as they walked, almost as if they were in a swamp.
But that rotten smell…
'It's blood.' Damien realized instantly.
The analogy that blood flowed like a river was often used to describe massacres, but was it truly realistic? It was hard to imagine how much blood was necessary to truly form a river.
Yet, here and now, Damien encountered that very situation.
His eyes hardened.
'This scene…is oddly familiar.'
