Above The Sky
Chapter 581 - 581 550 Small Crisis on Terra Continent 33

581: Chapter 550 Small Crisis on Terra Continent (3/3) 581: Chapter 550 Small Crisis on Terra Continent (3/3) In fact, Ian and the group including Tres did not arrive in Azure City without incident.

Along the way, they encountered numerous phantasms, as well as several ferocious beasts similar to the Sharp Claw Tiger that Ian had killed in the Leyan Territory.

However, the fungus that inhabited these beasts underwent an unusual evolution, whether for better or worse was unclear.

It greatly enhanced the beasts’ strength and their short-term regenerative power, yet it impaired their combat intelligence, turning them from ambush predators adept at various techniques to mere muscle-bound monsters that only knew how to lash out.

Though the saying goes ‘with great strength comes great power,’ and enhancing abilities is never bad, some magical beasts remain limited without wisdom to attack, ultimately becoming mere research material for Ian and the others.

Boom Boom Boom—

Sounds of artillery fire came from afar.

In another city, ‘Lantern Fish City,’ conflicts from multiple parties had already erupted.

As the situation developed, not only the Knight Order of Inspectorate and other forces of The Empire became involved in the Avak Domain, but in light of the silence from the special forces headquarters in the Western Territory, Fiery Flame Land dispatched its elite troops, ‘King’s Guards,’ and Duke of Solin even sent his own Knight Order.

Besides, private troops from entities like the Dragon Worship Cult and certain city lords of the Seven Cities Alliance infiltrated, each with their own agendas, and the completely ‘Dead Domain’-ized Avak Viscounty turned into their battlefield.

Not to mention the various Great Magical Beasts and phantasms that were indigenous to this area.

Ian looked out the window into the distance where, amid the flashes of explosions, he vaguely saw three figures in mid-air pouring fire onto a colossal tortoise the size of a small hill, unleashing power with roars not inferior to that of cannons.

And following that was an ever-growing number of artillery barrages.

The land tortoise was the Third Power Level Mountain-Bearing Tortoise, and the relentless alchemy cannon fire that rained upon it failed to stir even a ripple across its outer layer’s Illusory Heart Light Body.

The giant tortoise, somewhat irked by this, merely lifted its head and roared—suddenly, a visible shockwave traveling in a straight line, carrying waves of dust and debris, blew away everything in front of the tortoise, leaving a cylindrical trench thousands of meters long on the ground.

And as the sky full of mud and dust fragments fell like droplets of rain, a stone shower ensued.

The Sublimator who had been attacking it retreated the instant it opened its mouth, but the alchemy cannon positions behind them were not as lucky, being blown away along with their operators, creating a vast crater over four hundred meters in diameter.

This type of attack, if aimed at a city, would flatten a section of a small city like Azure City, with its population of just over a hundred thousand, in an instant.

This is the power of the Third Level… In The Lost Age, known as the power of a ‘Hero’ and ‘Foundation.’

The battle continued, with the land trembling with explosions and roars.

“The other squads are really having a hard time…”

Ian muttered sentimentally, guessing that the reason why the Knight Order of Inspectorate had dispatched several squads to distract the Mountain-Bearing Tortoise was precisely because they needed to reach Azure City.

Although His Highness Michael could not officially come here, he could still remotely command some actions of the Patrol Knights.

“Yes, we need to be careful as well,”

Tres, not as contemplative as Ian and having given up on thinking altogether upon learning that His Highness Michael was within his group, adopted a strictly tool-like attitude.

Whatever Ian said, he would do, “There’s a Patrol Knight Squad that went missing in Azure City; there’s definitely something secretive here.”

There was definitely a secret, Ian nodded mildly.

The second prince had mentioned that there were local Sublimators still active in Azure City.

That missing Patrol Knight Squad was likely to have encountered these ‘locals’ and been ambushed by them.

Despite the powerful setup of a Patrol Knight Squad, given that the incident might involve powers of up to the Fourth Level, even the most elite troops could suffer losses facing such a crisis.

The caterpillar transport vehicle slowly drove into the city.

“The last signal from the missing squad came from the northwest of the city; we will keep our distance and gather some intelligence for now,”

Ian said, examining the city map and directing the squad’s movements, “Take this road and after passing two streets, turn right, and then stop.

That’s the plaza area; the drone showed it’s quite open there, we’ll reorganize in that place.”

“I can feel it, the Spirit Energy Fluctuation here is extremely…

intense!”

Both Hua’an and Mo Feng showed some discomfort, “What’s going on, the overlap depth with the Domain of Void here has already reached 12%…”

Mo Feng, who had deeper research on this aspect, shook her head, looking around with a bit of confusion, “As long as it exceeds 5%, it’s the danger line.

Over 10%, and phantasms will spontaneously manifest…

and, can I actually smell ‘kin’ from inside this city?”

“There are Fae in this city too?”

The Frost Butterfly frowned slightly, its wings no longer spinning, and it slumped somewhat listlessly onto Ian’s shoulder: “I feel…

a bit dizzy…”

Fae are creatures that are very sensitive to changes in the Domain of Void, and for them, this was like a sudden increase in temperature by more than ten degrees on a scorching sunny day.

Although it wouldn’t affect their activities too much, there was no such thing as portable air conditioning here.

“Rest well.”

Ian stroked the Frost Butterfly’s head, soothing the little fairy.

But his attention quickly shifted to the street outside.

The members of Tres’s squad were all very capable, being the genuine Patrol Knight Apprentices and followers who could carry out various missions.

They were experienced and knowledgeable, having encountered all kinds of Magical Beasts and enemies.

The task in the Viscount Awak Domain was certainly dangerous, but not enough to intimidate them.

Despite this, upon entering Azure City, these experienced and elite Sublimators still felt a bit uneasy.

“Report from Unit 5, a shadow just flitted past the window of the building on the left of car number one.”

“Report from Unit 12, experiencing auditory hallucinations.

I heard something like the breathing of a wild beast, right by my ear.”

“Report from Unit 6, also experiencing auditory hallucinations, I heard a woman’s whispering and the crying of children.

Now there’s also hysterical laughter, and I can’t make out the specific words, but it’s all enough to evoke fear in an ordinary person.”

These auditory hallucinations didn’t make the Sublimators feel unwell, as Magical Beasts capable of creating illusions were plentiful, and they had even killed a dozen true Phantoms and specters.

As everyone knows, with rockets and blades that can cut through Phantoms in hand, no one would fear zombies or Phantoms, and this group of Patrol Knights had more than one Alchemy Cannon at their disposal.

So, how could they be scared of these dull atmosphere groups?

What truly made them feel uneasy was the fog that filled the streets.

“Report from Unit 19, Captain, the sampling of these fogs has been completed.

It has been identified as ‘Madness Fog,’ a special malicious Mystical Phenomena that appear only in the Domain of Void, similar to the Mystical Phenomena known as ‘Lake Deity.’ It can gradually drive a person insane.

Requesting permission to take a Resistance Potion.”

Upon receiving the report, Tres nodded and said, “Everyone take a Resistance Potion.

Continue to take them without interruption until we reach our destination.”

The Resistance Potion wasn’t specifically a mental protection potion; it was essentially designed to block Spirit Energy’s external Origin Quality influence on the user, using its own medical Origin Quality to resist all external Origin Quality sources.

It was known for its comprehensive, rather than specific, protection.

This made it perfect for areas where the Domain of Void overlapped with reality.

Bodies lay everywhere along the street.

Some were pained with wounds all over, while others lay vacantly on the ground as if their souls had left their bodies.

Yet others were overtaken with madness, their mouths full of Flesh and Blood and their bodies covered in thick layers of fungus, evidently corrupted by the rot fungi from Fiery Flame Land, falling into a mindless Frenzy of violence.

Without exception, they were all dead.

The shopkeepers and customers at the store selling vegetables and food had all fallen into their own pools of dried blood without even having a chance to put down their groceries, while a woman run over by a carriage at the street corner seemed devastatingly pathetic, but clutched in her hand was an arm that she appeared to have torn off a passenger in the carriage.

The carriage was empty; the whole city was not so much a Dead Domain but more like a massive slaughterhouse.

The Awak Domain was finished.

“This is a crisis…

Even the Huai Guang Church will not intervene, and a small crisis not even mentioned in the ‘Book of Prophecies’ will quietly lead to the death of tens of thousands, even nearly a million people…

just like that, quietly…

in such a meaningless way.”

Muttering to himself, it was only now that Ian finally understood what was meant by the ‘conflict’ between great powers, what ‘expenditure’ meant.

The cold numbers in reports were gradually taking the form of these equally cold bodies before his eyes.

But the young man’s expression didn’t change much; he still looked calmly at the entire city, with a silver-blue halo flickering in his eyes.

—Anger and sadness cannot change anything.

As a Scholar, what he needed to do was to stay calm and find the crux of the problem.

Ian was trying to find, according to Michael, the so-called ‘living Sublimators,’ that is, the direct, or at the very least indirect, associates responsible for the dire situation behind this city.

Only by finding them could he complete Michael’s mission and have them answer the questions in Ian’s mind.

But suddenly.

The track transporter made a deep buzzing sound and then stalled.