[-Valhald Rakuntash has died.]

“The Lord is dead! Shhhhk! Let’s get revenge!”

“Kill all the humans!”

“Let’s drink the blood of humans!”

The orcs raged, infuriated by the death of their esteemed Lord.

Valhald had fallen, but his orc army numbering in the hundreds of thousands remained. However, Pram paid them no mind. Instead, his attention was turned towards the sky above them.

[-It’s over, Desir.] [-Good job, Pram.]

Shortly after the quick exchange via communication magic, someone appeared from the sky. A young man enrobed in a black coat and wielding a long staff hovered over the battlefield. Desir Arman.

He directed his staff towards the ground, and the complicated spell array he had been calculating was revealed to the orcs and humans. The intricate matrices were painted on the world, the sky as their canvas. A super-massive spell array hung above them, and the clouds themselves began to flee for their lives.

*Whoosh*

A nauseating amount of mana began to surge through the battlefield. Those who were unfortunate enough to gaze up at the sky were dumbstruck, forced to continue looking upwards, like mindless zombies. It was as though their very souls had been captivated.

The once noisy battleground, filled with the sound of weaponry clashing, the screams of the defeated, and the howls of the victorious, had been replaced by silence. The song of the morning birds was the only thing that remained. No one could find the strength to open their mouth, let alone swing their weapon, while witnessing the enormous spell above them.

The silence, beautiful as it may be, was short lived. Desir had finished arranging his spell, and opened his mouth.

[Binder of Earth]

The supposed defensive magic looked completely different when Desir invoked it.

As the spell was invoked, the ground shook and deep cracks began to appear. Within the center of the orc army, a platform several hundred meters in length began to rise. The orcs caught atop it were stuck, unable to do anything but crowd towards the center of the rising platform.

“W-What is this?!”

“I, I will kill you! Shhhhhk! I will surely take revenge!”

Orcs cursed out loud. However, the sound of their voices did not reach Desir.

The platform began to curl upwards towards the sun, compressing itself into a massive ball. Desir’s face was emotionless, his actions devoid of hesitation.

*CRACK*

A horrifying sound echoed across the battlefield. Stone and flesh ground against each other. The entire battlefield was entrenched in the shadow cast by the nearly moon-sized weapon. [Gravity Control]

Desir invoked another spell. The orcs standing where his staff was directed simultaneously began to kneel. They were all unable to remain standing under the sudden increase in gravity. *CRACK*

The pull gravity continued to increase. The weaker orc were pulverized into the ground leaving behind nothing but a bloody stain. “Sa-Save me! Shhhhk”

“Shhhk! Stop it! I’ll die!”

The orcs shouted in despair at the threat of death.

But this was just the beginning.

Desir smoothly lowered his staff towards the ground…

The giant sphere began to fall from the sky.

“Uh?”

*BOOM*

They were crushed.

The orcs crushed under such a heavy weight weren’t even flattened; they were instantly killed. It happened so fast that most did not even have the chance to scream. The few that did… Well, they didn’t scream for long.

From the epicenter of the meteor strike, the ground began to collapse. “… … !”

The aftershock of the crash forcibly grounded the Knights of Kelin, their legs unable to move, despite the collision happening a fair distance away from where they had evacuated.

After a while, the shaking ceased allowing the witnesses enough leeway to look at what remained of the orc army. Maya, one of the Kelin Knights, muttered as she looked at the mushroom cloud of dust.

“This is impossible… … ”

Her eyes were widened in fear, more than any sense of admiration.

Even though they were allies, she could only feel fear towards the boy floating in the sky. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what the orcs were experiencing.

The orcs no longer struggled. They all knelt down while looking up at the sky. “Have mercy! Shhhk!”

“Soul of the great warriors, save us!”

The surviving orcs cried out to Desir to spare them.

Unfortunately for them, however, the completion message for clearing the Shadow World had not yet appeared.

[Howl of Magma]

Geysers of hot air burst through the cracks in the partially collapsed ground. *Whooosh*

It was magma. Magma surged forth, soaring out into the air like a geyser.

As Desir gestured with his staff, half of the hill burned red. The soaring magma began sweeping the ground like a tsunami.

*Grrrrr*

The screams of the orcs could no longer be heard over the hiss that filled the battlefield, the rapid cooling of the magma demanding the attention of everyone present, both alive and dead… Between the screams, the magma, the shattered ground, and the begging for mercy, it was as if hell itself had been reborn.

The orcs had lost. Even the absolute minimum number required to form an offensive against a modest army had been lost in this battle. Valhald Rakuntash had died, and the scattered orcs would never regroup.

[-You have successfully completed the final quest, ‘Extinction’.] [-Rewards have been distributed.]

* * *

“With this, you can predict the Shadow Worlds artificially created by Skull Mask.”

As a man with light silver colored hair spoke while sipping tea, a woman’s voice could be heard from the communication device.

[-Thanks to you, we can cope with the Shadow Worlds more easily.]

“I'm happy to help. If you’re able to prepare for the Shadow Worlds before they manifest, the damage dealt and the resources you need to commit will be significantly reduced. Doing so is important for Desir’s plan to succeed.”

The man had the appearance of a forty year old, but his eyes emanated an aura of profoundness and wisdom: an aura one could only accumulate after living for a century. The incongruity between his appearance and aura left a strange feeling within those that interacted with him.

This man was the Seventh-Circle magician, and the Master of the Magic Tower, Zod Exarion. “How is the war going, Priscilla?”

The person speaking to Zod via remote communication magic was Priscilla Haicilkite, the Saint of Artemis, and leader of the Artemis Church.

Priscilla replied with a firm tone.

[-Bad. Even an optimist would struggle to say it’s going well. We’re doing all we can just to hold out.]

“As soon as our operation starts, the war will be over.” [-I hope so. I don’t know how much longer we can last.]

After ending the call, Zod sighed and turned his eyes to one side.

In the direction of his gaze was a video showing the frontline of a battle.

Zod was deep in thought after just seeing the army flag the enemy waved. Emblazoned on the flag was a dragon.

‘Divide’s power is terrifying. Our worst predictions have proven to be true.’

Every country on the continent was locked in an unwavering war. Their common enemy: the Kingdom of Divide.

It was impossible for a nation to wage war against the whole world. It was impossible even for the mighty Hebrion Empire. Yet Divide not only managed, but flourished. Even in response to a massive difference in military power, Divide had seized the upper hand time and time again. ‘No, this isn’t Divide, this is only because of Skull Mask.’

Skull Mask.

One of the most heinous leaders of the criminal group known as the Outsiders. He had concealed himself while infiltrating numerous countries through mankind’s history. He moved secretly while hiding his true purpose.

It was no exaggeration to say that Divide’s ability to stand up against the world was all due to him. In reality, this wasn’t one country declaring war on the world. This was one man.

‘This situation would have been much easier to handle without the Shadow Worlds.’

Skull Mask had the power to artificially create Shadow Worlds. Some of the worlds created were even Level One and Two Shadow Worlds… catastrophes the likes of which mankind had not seen for the longest of times.

This power was more threatening than any strategic weapon. A Level One Shadow World had only appeared three other times in recorded history. Each time, the strongest country of that age was consumed by such a Shadow World.

As if this situation wasn’t hard enough, Skull Mask then made Divide mobilize its forces and began invading neighboring countries. The power of Divide’s forces, bolstered by chimeras and homunculi, which had been created and subsequently perfected by Skull Mask, was simply overwhelming. The amount of time and resources he must have put into their research over the past century must have been colossal.

Fortunately, the kingdoms were able to unite swiftly due to the recently formed alliance and previous battles against the Outsiders. Not only was their reaction fast, the chain of command was quickly established and well structured. Thanks to this stroke of good fortune, the damage caused by Divide’s army was able to be minimized. It was a tremendous achievement considering a majority of each country’s force had to be committed to clearing Shadow Worlds.

While these courses of action seemed natural, there was a single boy behind such an achievement. Without him, no matter how much experience they had gained through fighting the Outsiders, they would not have been able to achieve nearly as much this quickly.

‘Even still, the situation is far from good… … ’

All they could do was reduce the damage incurred. Things would only worsen as time progressed.

Surprisingly, even when faced with such a situation, Zod did not appear desperate. His eyes glowed, checking for every move possible, despite his opponent being only one step away from checkmate.

As Zod was arranging his thoughts, the door of his office opened and a boy strode inside. Zod spoke, seemily expecting the unannounced visit.

“Did you have any trouble clearing the Shadow World?”

“It was rather easy, I only needed to deal with the enemy troops. Their leader moved as I expected he would, so Pram was able to eliminate him first.”

Zod chuckled to himself.

“You’re probably the only human on the continent who can talk about a Level Two Shadow World like that.”

Zod beamed at the boy, Desir Arman, with a proud expression. ‘If you weren’t here, we wouldn’t be able to make it by today.’

As he thought about the situation they found themselves in, he once again reached the conclusion that, without Desir, the entire continent might have already fallen into the hands of Skull Mask.

Desir could make reality what others dismissed as dreams.

He had made great strides towards neutralizing the endless conflict between the nobles and commoners in the Hebrion Empire.

He had normalized the relationship between the Hebrion Empire and Western Kingdom Union, who had been hostile to each other for much of recorded history.

He had also managed to form a joint-alliance with the Esteban Tribe of barbarians, protectors of the peace that had maintained their policy of isolationism until now.

They wouldn’t have been able to deal with the numerous Shadow Worlds artificially created by Skull Mask if Desir had failed to achieve a single one of these milestones. And even now, the damage they would have taken at the start of the battle would have been significant if not for Desir’s guidance.

“So, did you get what you aimed for?”

“Yup.”

Desir pulled an object out of the dimensional pocket in his Clothes Line, before showing it to Zod.

It was a flag featuring blue hydrangeas. A phrase was written on the handle of the flag.

[The Captain of the Knights of Kelin, Kuros Pawhinke, presents this flag to the savior of my country, Desir Arman.]

Desir helped the Knights of Kelin and received a flag with a sentence as a token of friendship. Desir walked towards the wall where many such flags were on display.

“This is the 250th.”

The inscriptions and symbols on the numerous flags were all unique. Each one of them represented a group.

[The 13-Star Magic Research Group]

[Knights of the Wave]

[Nevarta Mercenaries]

…

…

…

They were all armed forces which had considerable reputation across the continent, regardless of their country of origin.

Desir helped them clear Shadow Worlds, and was promised their cooperation in turn.

He didn’t limit his activity to the larger nations like the Hebrion Empire or Western Kingdom Union, but made relationships with powerful groups all around the continent.

Their strength united would be a devastating military alliance.

A transnational military coalition had gathered under the name of Desir Arman. ‘Now, we can address problems as they appear, anywhere on the continent.’

Zod, who knew Desir had been moving with such a purpose, admired the fact that Desir had actually managed to pull it off.

But there was something that Zod didn’t know.

‘I only gathered those who showed skill in the Shadow Labyrinth and were able to make it more than five years. In a situation like this, power alone is useless; their adaptability will be their strength.’

The people Desir had gathered could be called the elite of humanity, those with the power and ability to survive the worst disaster man-kind would ever face.

‘With this, preparation for the Shadow Labyrinth is nearing completion.’

Even now, when the current rendition of humanity was facing their biggest crisis, Desir continued to look towards the future, a future that may have been much closer than he originally believed.

“So the troops are ready. Tower Master, how are the things I requested going?” This was another piece to Desir’s plan to completely knock down Skull Mask. “It has been completed already. The flying flagship is ready to set sail.”

“In that case, the stage has been set.”

The completion of the secret plan to reverse the current situation in the one go was almost upon them.

“It’s time to gather the last actors, and start the play.”