Chapter 245: Into the Ash Zone

After passing by Antiphus and the Possessed, no one else was selected.

The final team ended up being less than ten people.

The original Expeditionary Force—Hio, the Airlights, and the others—excluding Antiphus, made up five members.

Plus interest.

Then there were Gale, Claire, and Melissa.

He had tried to pick a few more, but in the end, it felt like nothing more than meaningless sacrifice.

After all, the final goal was Kreutzvalt. Anyone who couldn’t even resist against him would just die in the fight.

It was better for them to stay with the Allied Forces and prepare for any unexpected emergencies.

“We’re moving.”

Even so, right up to the edge of the Ash Zone, there was a large-scale movement worthy of being called an army. The march was tense due to the bizarre terrain, but no battle broke out.

“It looks like this is the ‘daytime’ you mentioned.”

“Seems that way. Luckily.”

They arrived during the day, when the Strange Entities don’t appear.

They were fortunate in many ways.

If it had been ‘night’ the moment they descended into the Passage, and the Watcher’s Eye had spotted them, Kreutzvalt would have known immediately.

“How about we spend one night here and move during the next day?”

At Regarda’s suggestion, Hio shook his head.

“Then new variables will arise. There’s no way the Strange Entities and the Watcher won’t notice an army gathered this big. And while their attention is drawn, we get as close to Kreutzvalt as possible.”

That was the plan.

It was also the second reason the Allied Forces were needed.

“So leaving Antiphus with the Allied Forces… was also for that reason.”

“Probably. We definitely needed at least one card to hold off the Strange Entities.”

There was also the thought that Antiphus’s abilities were insufficient to deal with Kreutzvalt.

Antiphus had a variety of skills, and in particular, he possessed as many top-tier skills as Hio. But he didn’t have anything that surpassed them.

Hadn’t they experienced enough of that?

Just pouring out top-tier skills wouldn’t deal any damage to Kreutzvalt.

“I understand.”

He turned his gaze to the front.

A place so thick with gloom that he couldn’t see an inch ahead, a terrifyingly ominous energy swirling around.

The final Expeditionary Force left the Allied Forces behind and entered the Ash Zone.

It was only after entering the Ash Zone that the scenery of the Abyss, as Hio knew it, unfolded.

Ash scattering without rest.

A vile energy that filled his lungs with every breath.

‘This is a truly unpleasant area.’

It wasn’t just Hio who thought so; everyone was frowning.

Still, because they were all at this level, it ended with just a frown. If it had been other knights, they would have been struggling to keep their sanity without a moment to spare.

All to avoid being taken over by the Abyss.

“Claire, are you okay?”

“……Yes, I’m fine.”

Claire covered her nose and mouth with her sleeve, her face slightly scrunched up.

And beside Claire was Melissa, worried about her.

If she had to pick the two most concerning people on this final Expeditionary Force, it would be these two.

Both seemed to be slowly getting a feel for Ideation, but they hadn’t fully awakened or mastered it yet.

They were clearly behind the others in terms of stamina.

Even if they possessed a strong mental fortitude matching their elevated state, it was unclear what would happen if their stamina gave out.

Hio, pulling his gaze away from the two, muttered quietly.

“We need to move as fast as possible.”

“You’ve said that so often I’ve got calluses on my ears, so it’s only natural…”

Vitalianus asked in a tone that was quite cheerful, despite the situation.

“Are you sure following that is the way?”

He gestured with his eyes towards the artifact in Hio’s hand.

The artifact he received from Kreutzvalt, the one that showed the way to Tetradia.

“It’s the most realistic method. I have no choice but to trust it.”

There were roughly three ways to meet Kreutzvalt.

First, find the Safe Zone where Kreutzvalt was said to live.

Of course, he didn’t know where that was, and he felt it was a place fabricated to deceive him in the first place, so he had no choice but to reject it.

Second, when ‘night’ falls, show himself directly before the Watcher.

The Watcher’s Eye is shared and recognized by all the Strange Entities of the Abyss.

Which means Kreutzvalt would also confirm Hio’s location and come find him.

However, it’s a method that requires more thought as it gives the first move to Kreutzvalt.

Which led to the third.

Go directly to the city sunken in the Abyss, Tetradia.

A place expected to be the center of the World’s End.

Kreutzvalt would be there.

He remembered how Kreutzvalt was obsessively attached to Tetradia.

“Understood. Then let’s move as fast as possible until nightfall.”

The Expeditionary Force began moving at maximum speed.

To head towards Tetradia, as Hio said.

To give Kreutzvalt as little time to react as possible, and to secure the first strike.

But there was something Hio didn’t tell them.

‘I wonder… is Kreutzvalt really unaware of this?’

The Watcher’s Eye wasn’t the only eyes and ears Kreutzvalt had.

He was the Master of the Abyss.

The thickly spread Abyss all around was his eyes, his ears, and was essentially him.

Yet he wasn’t taking any action.

It was unsettling, but since there were no other options, he simply didn’t mention it.

Night came quickly.

There was no need for Hio to announce it.

No one here could fail to feel it.

The atmosphere changed completely.

A sinister energy spread out.

Strange Entities began to appear.

All Hio did was offer a few pieces of advice.

“These guys defy common sense. Be careful.”

They were truly Strange Entities, twisting the laws using the Abyss that filled the surroundings.

He couldn’t afford to think of them as the same ones from the Abyss Gates or the Continent.

So he gave the warning, but it seemed unnecessary.

Everyone knew their roles so well.

Despite being called Strange Entities, they were swiftly carving a path forward.

However.

BOOM—!

Since the enemy was who it was, moving stealthily was impossible.

“It’s the Watcher! Evade!”

Hio blocked the Strange Entities causing anomalies as much as possible with his Inversion, and they moved while evading the Watcher’s Eyes.

Even so, the enemies were nearly infinite.

Unlike last time, Hio wasn’t alone and wasn’t only using magic, but the night was still long.

So he had to make the most of this night.

“Claire!”

“…… 4/!”

Melissa’s ice and Claire’s flames blocked the rear.

The Sword Auras of Vitalianus and Regarda broke through the front.

Hio and Gale supported from behind.

Compared to the daytime when there was nothing, it was naturally slower, but they were steadily advancing even against the endlessly charging Strange Entities.

The first night in the Abyss passed like that.

He closed his eyes for a moment and let out a deep sigh.

‘Stay here.’

The last words of Hio Pavlenko were still vivid in his mind.

Even the pitch of his voice and the look in his eyes as he stared at him came back clearly.

“In the end…”

This is how it turned out.

Who was he to blame?

“It was an inevitable result.”

Antiphus Praman showed a hollow, self-deprecating smile filled with despair and regret.

The Jijoncheonma had excluded him from the final battle roster.

What could the reason be?

Sparing him? Because it was dangerous?

That didn’t make any sense.

‘……He doesn’t trust me.’

He had heard it countless times before, from Gale and the other people of this continent.

You people can’t be trusted.

You won’t risk your lives.

You’re a race that knows nothing of true honor, only your own lives.

At the most crucial moment, you’ll run away like you always do.

When he heard those words, he was furious, but he had no real rebuttal.

Because it was true.

He and the other Possessed had always logged out at the most dangerous moments, leaving the burden solely on those who remained behind.

At the time, he thought it was the best choice, but looking back, it wasn’t, was it?

There was always a better outcome possible; he had only ever chosen the second-best option.

“Maybe that’s why I could never become the best.”

Maybe that was the reason.

“Now… well, I’ve given up trying to understand.”

As he was lost in his thoughts, Sirbert approached him from the side.

He put a hand on Antiphus’s shoulder and gazed at the distant Ash Zone.

“…How the hell did we even find this place? The Master of the Abyss, something that isn’t even in the game? And what’s with all that? If we kill him, does it really all end…? I don’t understand anything.”

“……Same here.”

Honestly, the stuff on Earth alone was already overwhelming.

That side was going through a time when the existing system and order had completely collapsed and were being rebuilt.

In the midst of that, people like Antiphus and Sirbert were bound to be even busier.

“Still, I’m trying not to think about it too deeply.”

“At least your mind is at ease, right.”

In the past, he would have scorned such words from Sirbert.

But now, he couldn’t.

Because he had also acknowledged it.

At some point, the desire to defeat the Jijoncheonma had completely vanished, leaving only complete recognition.

Even if all that remained at the end was the fall of a failure.

“So let’s not get too emotional, you and me.”

So this was why Sirbert, acting out of character, had come to his side acting friendly.

He must have thought Antiphus would hold a grudge because Hio had left the Rankers behind.

Well, in the past, he might have… but not now.

He understood well enough.

He had tried to kill him on the 58th Floor.

And he understood that fact but didn’t hold it against him, did he?

Just by not revealing that fact and letting it be, Antiphus felt endlessly guilty.

“……I understand. Let’s just focus on doing our part.”

No other distracting thoughts. Just do his best to protect this place.

That was also an important task.

“Yeah. And soon…”

The conversation that had been flowing was cut short.

The area inside the Holy Power-filled zone was still fine, but a clear change was occurring outside.

An increasingly dark space.

A bizarrely twisted energy caught by his senses.

Because he had been told in advance what was happening, he immediately understood.

“……It’s night.”

Night had come to this place as well.

His body began to tense.

Strength flowed into the hand gripping his sword.

“It’s night! Everyone, form up!”

The Allied Forces moved busily.

They were all preoccupied with grabbing their weapons and forming the predetermined formations.

And from the distance they were all staring at, shapes began to rise.

Some were big, some were small, and as he had heard, they were beings that twisted the laws of the world and defied common sense.

Strange Entities.

Kiyeeeek—!

Kiaaaaak—!

The Strange Entities began to swarm in.

The first night had arrived for the Allied Forces as well.