Chapter 82: Secret Realm Rift |
The night wind swept through the withered forest along the Greenfield Trade Route, branches swaying under the moonlight like clawing shadows, making the scene extremely eerie and terrifying.
Yet a streak of golden light suddenly cut through, startling them like frightened children, causing them to tremble.
O’Brien, sprinting at full speed, left behind a thin golden line across the night sky, splitting the scenery along his path into two halves.
However, he hadn’t gone far before he was stopped atop a hill by a familiar figure.
“You going there is useless.”
The tone was as lazy and teasing as ever.
“Kyle?”
“What, you don’t recognize me so quickly?”
Golden light flickered in O’Brien’s eyes. The Kyle before him seemed fine on the surface, but he could vaguely sense a discordance within the soul.
“It’s you—but also not you!”
Kyle curled his lips. Montoya was still only at Grandmaster level; his disguise truly wasn’t enough to fool a Paladin.
“Enough, don’t worry about whether I’m real or not. Either way, it’s useless for you to go. Just go back to Coral Thorn City.”
O’Brien’s expression turned grave. “What exactly has happened?”
Kyle turned his head toward the depths of the Greenfield Trade Route. Faint spatial fluctuations rippled through the night sky there from time to time as he spoke slowly:
“I’m not entirely sure either. Based on the current information, my deduction is this—the empire’s development of the secret realm has yielded no results for a long time. Instead, they’ve poured in massive manpower and resources, losing quite a few Intent and Transcendent experts.”
“So they chose to force their way in—tear open a gap in the secret realm and see what’s inside.”
“Of course, there’s another possibility… but I hope it’s not true.”
O’Brien frowned deeply. A situation that even Kyle feared?
“What possibility?”
“That something inside the secret realm wants to come out.”
“What?!”
Even O’Brien couldn’t remain calm now.
Normally, the ecology of a secret realm was completely different from the real world. The species inside usually couldn’t adapt to external environments, so it was extremely rare for them to come out on their own.
However, there existed an extremely dangerous exception—when the secret realm possessed highly invasive ecological properties and forced assimilation characteristics.
Within such secret realms, the entities inside often had astonishing environmental adaptability and evolutionary speed.
Thus, there were usually very few creatures within—sometimes only one terrifying existence—because everything else had long been devoured or assimilated.
Once such beings discovered they could leave the secret realm and enter the broader, richer real world, they would often break the barrier without hesitation.
It wasn’t about good or evil—it was simply an instinctive desire for greater space and more abundant resources.
When that happened, the collapse of the secret realm and its overlap with reality would be inevitable.
And even if that creature were killed afterward, it would make no difference.
“Th-this…”
O’Brien now understood—there was truly nothing he could do. He didn’t even have the strength to break ordinary space, let alone shake the barrier of a secret realm.
If he went, he would simply be reduced to dust by a stray shockwave.
“As for anything else, I’m not sure yet.”
“I’ve already sent Alvaro to investigate. If there are signs of spatial collapse, I’ll inform you immediately. For now, go back and figure out how to evacuate more people.”
Kyle urged again.
“…I understand.”
O’Brien felt somewhat dejected. There were simply too many dangers in this world. Even a great city like Coral Thorn City could face annihilation at any moment.
Yet the sense of duty as a Paladin made him cling to a sliver of hope:
“Is there really no solution? If a Legendary Paladin intervenes, would there be a chance?”
As a Paladin, O’Brien had ways to contact others of his kind. In extreme emergencies, he could even summon a Legendary Paladin—though the cost might be his own life.
“Not everything can be solved with brute force—unless the Paladin you summon is strong enough to crush the secret realm with bare hands!”
“Of course, if it’s a Legendary with extremely strong spatial control, capable of ensuring that even if something escapes, the secret realm won’t collapse—that could work too.”
Kyle’s slightly mocking tone made O’Brien’s temples throb.
That level of power wasn’t merely Legendary anymore—it was at least Demigod.
Even if he knew such an existence, sacrificing himself wouldn’t be enough to summon them. The gap between them was simply too vast.
“Stop thinking about it. If there were a solution, would I still be wasting time talking to you here?”
“Besides, there are plenty more anxious than you. If this really is the worst-case scenario, the empire is the most desperate one. If things go wrong, the Crescent Empire might as well rename itself the ‘Crescent Remnant Empire.’”
After a long silence, O’Brien let out a deep sigh. “I understand.”
***
Reality unfolded just as Kyle had expected. The empire’s secret realm exploration leader, Simon·Sike, was pacing anxiously.
After several explorations yielded nothing, two previous leaders had already been replaced.
This newly appointed leader had taken over this mess for less than a week, only to encounter such a dire situation.
Fortunately, he hadn’t done anything yet, so the current turmoil had little to do with him. Aside from reporting to the empire and requesting Legendary support, all he could do now was maintain the spatial formation and do everything possible to stabilize the secret realm.
Even if disaster struck, it wouldn’t matter—after all, he was the closest, so he’d also die the fastest.
“Report! Sir, spatial pressure is surging—the mages maintaining the formation can’t hold on anymore!” a messenger ran over in panic.
Simon took a hard drag from a specially made cigar. The intense stimulation temporarily steadied his nerves.
“Activate backup energy—deploy a dual-layer formation!”
He looked up toward the terrifying rift at the center of the camp.
From afar, it appeared as a flat fissure several hundred meters long. But standing beneath it, one could see a massive vortex—like mist, like an ocean—slowly rotating, with violent roars and horrifying screeches echoing from within.
“Sir, the energy consumption will be too fast!” said a mage responsible for both monitoring the formation and resource allocation, his voice trembling.
“At this rate, we can only hold for half an hour!”
Simon lit another cigar, forcing himself to remain calm. “Any response from the capital?”
“Not yet… the communication array is being disrupted by spatial interference. Transmission is extremely unstable.”
“There’s no time to hesitate. Hold for as long as we can—activate the formation immediately!”
Simon personally rushed to the core of the formation, taking control of the second layer.
The camp was already in chaos. Mages hurriedly adjusted formation nodes, while warriors formed massive battle arrays, their auras converging as they remained fully alert, ready to face whatever terrifying existence might burst out from the rift.
Fortunately, the empire’s formation was powerful enough to restrain the rift, preventing it from expanding further.
Though violent tremors still rippled through the surrounding space from time to time, at least things weren’t getting worse.
But Simon had no idea how much longer they could hold.
He had done everything he could.
What remained… was left to fate.