Earth's Greatest Magus

1896 Encounter

[System successfully rebooted]

[Lockdown uplifted, all gates open]

"It's finally open!!" echoed through the chambers, prompting a collective sigh of relief. Magus from all walks of life hurriedly made their way towards the gates, eager to escape the relentless onslaught of celestial constructs they faced during the lockdown.

"But!! There's too many of them!!" one magus expressed concern.

"We have to! We don't know how long it will stay open!!" another urged, emphasizing the urgency of their escape.

Similar scenes unfolded not only within the crossover but also in the vaults scattered across the celestial ruins. Thousands of magus, exhausted from battling the relentless waves of infected constructs, seized the opportunity presented by the open gates. They rushed towards other vaults looking for ascended path to the upper layers of the ruins, seeking safety and respite.

However, amid this desperate exodus, a small group on the third layer made a bold decision to descend further into the fourth layer.

"Are you crazy!! Something definitely is wrong. Why are we going downwards!!" Triton, the Kronos magus and son of Poseidon, voiced his concerns. He and Heracles had been following the Earth magus for days, navigating the dangers of the ruins. Now, against the apparent logic of escaping upwards, this group of lower realm magus opted to plunge deeper into the ruins.

"You moron! Just shut up and follow!!" Thrax growled with intimidation.

Julian, ever diplomatic, interjected, "We don't know anything. For all we know, the elves are attacking the ruins, which means danger comes from the surface. There is an enforcer basecamp at the fourth layer, and the commander is our friend. He should know what to do!"

The explanation quickly silenced the two Kronos magus. Despite Julian's rational words, he was aware that his group, especially Klea, had not ventured into the fourth layer seeking safety. Instead, their primary concern was for their friend Emery. Julian was willing to bet that the formidable magus was at the heart of the unfolding problem.

At the forefront of the group, Chumo utilized his [Eye of Raven] to discern the optimal path. Meanwhile, Klea and Fjolnir combined their skills to unleash a powerful lightning spell, clearing a way forward. As they entered the gate to the fourth layer, Klea hurriedly checked the Nephilim devices for messages.

"Dammit!! I think the server is affected. No messages in and out since the lockdown!" Klea exclaimed. She turned toward her Asian friend and inquired, "What about you, Chumo?"

Ever since being chosen as the seed of Khaos, Chumo had a secret way to communicate with Emery, and he had sent messages to the Khaos Guardian.

"I know he has received the message, but no reply means he is very much occupied right now!" Chumo responded.

The news only heightened Klea's irritation. There was no conceivable reason why Emery wouldn't respond if he wasn't in trouble. The Abott's calming words eventually refocused her energy.

"Let's hurry to the base camp!"

The situation on the fourth layer crossover was as chaotic as the infected celestials had run amok all over the chambers. All the magus they could find on their path were either dead or too panicked to explain, and they ran away to the upper layer.

"Dammit, what is going on!"

As they flew toward the base camp, however, Chumo abruptly stopped and said, "Wait... we need to hide... Hurry!"

"What is it, Chumo!"

Trusting his friend's judgment, Julian quickly led the group to hide among the rocks below. As soon as they lay low, they sensed a group of 20 magus, dark elves passing their path, appearing to be trying to run into the upper layer as well. Unfortunately, to their surprise, one of the magus called for them to hold their advance and stop. It was a young human magus in dark elves uniform. He looked down into the rocks and said, "We have the seeds of Khaos hiding down there! Reveal yourselves!"

Hearing the words "seed of Khaos," Chumo quickly realized that this was the group Emery had warned them about. As for the human magus among them, he must be Cole, the acolyte kidnapped and raised by the dark elves. To think they would encounter them in such a situation was definitely unfortunate.

With a long sigh, Chumo said, "They are the voidstalkers; we cannot hide from them."

"We cannot waste time hiding here either," Julian asserted. He glanced at the others conveying a silent understanding that they needed to confront the voidstalkers rather than avoid them. The group cautiously emerged from their hiding spot, ready to face the approaching dark elves.

Confidently, Julian led the group to meet the 20 dark elves magus. He could discern two different groups among them: the 6 in grey uniforms must have been the said voidstalkers, while the rest of the group appeared to be led by one dark elf with authority.

Surprisingly, Cole seemed to recognize Chumo and said, "Oh, it's only you… be grateful that we have no time to deal with you."

Cole was ready to lead the group away, but one of the voidstalker magus disagreed, saying, "They are his friends, aren't they? Master Talaro will be happy if we take them!"

These words caught the interest of the other dark elves leader. "His friends?!"

It took seconds before the dark elves connected the two. "Yes, Monarch, they are his friends from his home planet, Earth."

"Good, we are not going back empty-handed after all! There are only eight of them; we could deal with them in minutes!"

Realizing they were ready to fight, Julian asked, "So what will it be—fight or flight?"

Klea, with annoyance, said, "Fight!! They definitely know what happened to Emery."

The tension in the air escalated as the two groups prepared for an inevitable clash in the midst of the chaos unfolding in the celestial ruins.