“Miss Violet, what do you mean…?”

Edwina, who had been silently listening, couldn’t help but speak up.

“Well, it’s like shooting a person before shooting a horse, catching a thief before catching the king. In this matter, tracing its tracks, tracing its origin, and grasping the key points are the most important.”

“Oh! I see!”

The lady knight seemed to suddenly realize, immediately took out the “Scripture” stored in the Holy Emblem, and began to write quickly, causing everyone to exchange puzzled looks, wondering… what exactly did she understand?

That night, Violet, who had returned to the embassy room, sat at the table, gazing out of the window where the spires rose into the night. She contemplated in silence.

Felina still hadn’t returned by now. It seemed that the discussion involving the attitudes and actions of various countries, the true purpose of the Feathered Emperor’s grand invitation to guests from all over the world, had skipped those superficial matters and directly reached the core in the unexpected disaster.

It seemed that tonight, that girl wouldn’t get any sleep, and a certain queen in a distant land was probably the same.

As for her side… what should she do?

Her earlier “tracing back to the source” referred to the Goddess of Earth Seth and the Goddess of Sky Minerva as possible breakthrough points.

With the current development, she could almost be certain that there was some kind of close connection between the Abyss or Abyssal Beasts and these two entities. Even by observing how the Abyssal Beasts on Omo Island rapidly died off after killing the Abyss Worm, perhaps solving this disaster didn’t necessarily require eliminating all the enemies.

But talking is easy, the problem lies in how to proceed.

The footsteps of the Sky God were elusive, probably not even existing in this world. Moreover, the mysterious white-feathered Tila from the Feathered Tribe explicitly told Violet that she couldn’t find the trace of any deities in this city.

Although Violet didn’t fully believe the other party’s words, she always felt that Tila’s attitude at that time was very firm, as if she had some kind of reliance.

Putting that aside for now, if the Sky God truly couldn’t be a breakthrough, then the Miss Priestess’s only hope of contact would be the scattered memories and divine fragments of the Goddess of Earth.

The girl glanced at the ordinary stone sculpture placed on the table, still as unremarkable as ever, with its dull gray-black color.

The encounter with Sethlin was a pure coincidence, and it was currently the easiest and only clue she could grasp. However, due to the unexpected incident on the Spryce Island, she fell into a silent period with an uncertain duration.

“Troublesome…”

Violet sighed helplessly.

It would be great if there was a way to wake her up earlier.

… Actually, there was a way.

The reason Sethlin fell into a deep sleep was simply because someone had tampered with the book without words, and the accompanying memories and information were too vast for her at the time, with the strength of the divine fragments she possessed being insufficient to bear it.

So, she needed to absorb the content slowly through the method of sleep and recover from the damage caused by the impact at that time.

In this way, she just needed to find new divine fragments, merge them with Sethlin, and she would naturally wake up quickly.

And these fragments had to be strong enough, as the small amount of fragments from the head of the Abyss Worm on Omo Island, although successfully absorbed, failed to awaken Sethlin.

“… I understand the logic, but where can I find them?”

……………………………………..

In the wake of the tragic events on Spryce Island and the various pieces of intelligence gathered by the winged individuals during their years of battling the Abyss, the world’s nations, realizing the severity of the situation, held overnight consultations and finally reached a consensus before dawn.

Regardless, they must contain the Abyssal disaster in the south and prevent it from breaking out of the forbidden zone.

After all, although this land is home to many countries, the population is relatively sparse. If it were to spread north, whether to the densely populated Human Union Kingdom, the rich and vast Holy Empire, or the eastern regions, the population density would be many times higher.

Once breached, not only would millions, even tens of millions or more innocent lives be brutally slaughtered, but the Abyssal Beasts, voraciously consuming, would also grow to a despair-inducing extent. At that point, it would truly be a global catastrophe.

After all, Abyssal creatures have been confirmed to indiscriminately attack all life on this world, sparing no one.

The Human Union Kingdom, Holy Empire, Austre Empire, along with the native Azure Sky Kingdom, the five largest nations in the world, excluding the northernmost Snow Country, all took immediate action overnight.

In addition, many small nations in the forbidden zone, the Western Beastman Kingdom, and those sandwiched between several major nations, though not to be underestimated, also responded one after another, providing various forms of support to the frontline.

Due to various factors, this part of the force couldn’t rush to the battlefield immediately. Currently, the main force forming the defensive line is composed of the countries in the far south of the forbidden zone. Even the emergency support transported by the Azure Sky Kingdom through spatial teleportation will take several days to arrive in batches.

The large-scale deployment, led by the United Human Kingdom and Holy Empire, bordering extensively with the forbidden zone, involved armies and powerful individuals pouring into the forbidden zone from another direction, preparing to engage in combat with the terrifying monsters they have never encountered before.

However, the strength of the Abyss still exceeded everyone’s expectations.

The armies of several small countries bordering the Azure Sky Kingdom were defeated by the tide-like advance of Abyssal Beasts in just a few days. The reinforcements from both sides hadn’t arrived yet, and the hastily constructed defenses proved utterly ineffective, crumbling under the relentless assault.

Wherever the Abyssal Beasts passed, no birds flew, and life withered away. No living being could escape or hide under the keen perception of these monsters, as if they existed solely as executioners for the purpose of slaughter.

In three days, the southern regions of nine small nations in the forbidden zone, including the Kingdom of Vyger, the Kingdom of Leven, and the Duchy of Kais, were completely annihilated. Tens of millions of residents who couldn’t escape in time became the prey of the Abyssal Beasts.

The collapsing front line retreated to the central regions, such as the Bolt Kingdom and the Nobos Iron-Blood Empire, where, with the help of finally arriving reinforcements, hastily built fortresses managed to barely hold the line.

However, this was not a long-term solution.

Abyssal Beasts didn’t need supplies; they could easily convert any life they saw into energy. The more they fought, the stronger they became. On the other hand, the military had to consider various aspects such as food, supplies, medical care, and even morale.

After several major defeats, countries finally realized that ordinary soldiers were utterly meaningless against Abyssal Beasts. Only elite warriors at level 10 or higher had a slight chance of standing against the most common Abyssal Beasts when faced with them in hordes.