Night Ranger

Chapter 566: Queen’s Worries

After carefully analyzing the intent of Eve’s words, Marvin had Anna write an answer.

The albatross that had sent the letter was still in White River Valley. It had clearly been ordered by Eve to wait for Marvin’s response and bring it back.

In the letter, Marvin expressed his support for the North’s forces and also indicated that he would go to Deep Water City as soon as possible.

He didn’t speak too much about the details of an alliance, though, because it was just an idea for now. It would be far easier to discuss such things in person.

But Marvin still reminded Eve in the letter that she should be extremely careful of the Gods’ forces rising in the North.

Absolute belief was a very frightening thing. In this chaotic world, with the Gods added to the fray, it would be very easy for someone to betray their own ideals and willpower.

In contrast, the South was facing a lot less pressure from the Gods. But maybe that was because most of the South was still being devastated by the Wizard Monsters.

After all, the South Wizard Alliance had a huge number of Wizards.

…

After sending the reply, Marvin put the trip to the North on his schedule.

But he also had many other important things to handle, and White River Valley was a huge territory.

If Marvin wanted, he could even build a small kingdom and rule over it as the king. Surely no one would oppose him.

Anna had chosen many people with administrative talents from the refugees to become officials responsible for supervising the increasingly busy matters of the territory.

In spite of this, there were still many things that Marvin needed to check personally.

He spent a whole afternoon going through everything.

He also got a decent understanding of White River Valley’s current situation.

With the influx of refugees, the territory’s population was already approaching ten thousand, and this number was increasing every day. The food supply wouldn’t be sufficient.

Marvin distributed the food in the eleven Golden Bulls to those that managed the various regions and had them handle it according to his rules.

River Shore City was in Madeline’s charge. The City Lord could deal with her own people efficiently. The Adventurer Camp was temporarily being handled by the leader of the Lord’s guards, Andre. As the original garrison leader of White River Valley, Andre was one of Marvin’s first followers. His strength had risen up quickly, and many believed that it was related to Constantine’s guidance. He was now already at the 4th rank.

As someone with Marvin’s trust, Andre could suppress the lawless adventurers.

And there was no need to worry about the Shas. Aside from their leader, Constantine, they also had a very good-natured elder.

When Constantine wasn’t there, the Shas’ matters were handled by him. Marvin had met with him for a short time, and he seemed to be a very loyal and honest man. The Shas were very sincere people. They only wanted to defend their own territory and didn’t have much ambition for more. Thus, Marvin had no issue with letting them handle their food.

White River Valley’s core, as well as the northern mine and the eastern Ogre Hill, were naturally under Anna’s management.

The only place that gave Marvin a problem was Sword Harbor.

The city had just been established, and the population was still low in number, only consisting of a few sailors and fishermen.

The person currently in charge was Sword Harbor 1’s captain, Roberts.

Because Sword Harbor 1 currently wasn’t going out to sea, he was temporarily managing this territory, but it wasn’t a reliable situation.

First of all, Roberts lacked talent in management, and moreover, Marvin didn’t feel at ease leaving the supervision of a harbor that occupied such a key location for White River Valley in the hands of a half-pirate-half-sailor commoner.

He hesitated before deciding to temporarily put aside the matter of who to put in charge of Sword Harbor.

After all, there weren’t that many people there for now, so the food distribution and workforce allocation could be handled by Anna for now.

Anna, Lola, and the others would make proper arrangements for the duties and the distribution of power throughout the territory, so Marvin didn’t need to worry about that.

Next, he had to deal with White River Valley’s biggest issue.

Food, it was still food.

…

Arborea, at the foot of the snowy mountain.

The Shadow Shrine’s ruins had long since been removed, and at the Queen’s order, the people there were creating an artificial valley.

At the end of the valley was a sharp, 90° fall to the Ashes Plain!

Arborea had been lodged firmly into the Ashes Plain by the Plane Traction spell.

Madeline had set up a Teleportation Array here, but because of the cost of the Planar Teleportation Array being too huge, they had only used it twice.

Those two times, they had mostly sent gold, pearls, and other treasures. These treasures were used to support the construction of White River Valley before the disaster.

Princess Nana didn’t break her promise. She had stored away half of the spoils gained from the destruction of the Shadow Shrine for Marvin.

She still admired Marvin from the bottom of her heart.

Even the unbeatable God that no one in Nottingheim could provoke was defeated by him.

And when Marvin left, he took her beloved older brother, Aragon, with him.

“When will they return?”

The new Queen, wearing a simple dress, was glancing down at the valley from atop a nearby mountain, as several guards were silently protecting her.

She seemed depressed and worried.

According to Orland’s words, Arborea had already more or less synchronized with the Prime Material Plane, Feinan.

At the very least, the time flow was about the same.

But it had already been four months now. Besides the two times that the Planar Teleportation Array had been used, they didn’t get any other news. This made Nana feel anxious.

How was it over there?

She was very curious, but she knew that no matter what the outside world was like, she might not have the opportunity to explore it in her life.

She belonged to Arborea, she belonged to Nottingheim.

The people here needed her. She was Nottingheim’s queen. They trusted her and she had to revitalize the kingdom.

Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but sigh.

Many days had passed and the kingdom was breaking away from the Shadow Shrine. Their land was gradually recovering, which made Nana very happy.

But then that troublesome matter caught up to her.

The nobles, even including her most respected Scholar Orland, were beginning to hint that it might be time for her to take a prince.

They had even put together a list that included the young talents from across the kingdom.

But Nana only glanced at it without interest.

She was a girl with high ambitions, as evidenced by how she became the Queen.

No one on the list attracted her eyes.

She directly vetoed everyone’s suggestions, which was a rare arbitrary act.

But she knew that this matter would still come back later.

After all, as she grew older and Nottingheim continued to flourish, she would need a child to inherit the kingdom.

Thinking of this matter and how she couldn’t consult anyone about it made her frown.

“Your Highness, it is getting late,” a maid to the side reminded.

Nana nodded, preparing to end her walk. There was a court banquet that night and she had to attend.

Who would have thought that a bright purple light would suddenly shine from the other side of the valley!

Chapter 567: New Discovery

When Nottingheim’s Queen caught sight of Marvin and Aragon’s faces, she couldn’t help rubbing her own eyes, afraid that she had seen wrong.

Aragon the Storm Swordsman, who had already advanced to Legend rank, was moving like lightning. He rushed to the path and hugged his younger sister.

Nana’s excited tears were pouring down.

She had been waiting for that day for a long time.

…

Aragon was the same. He had left Arborea only because he wanted to see the outside world.

At the same time, due to the limitations of the plane laws, his strength had always been suppressed to level 18. He couldn’t level up leaving him thirsting for more strength.

With his talent, he should have been able to reach the Legend Realm easily.

After Marvin took him to Feinan, he didn’t wander around, instead only exploring Sword Harbor and the area to the south.

Most of the time, he was the strongest expert guarding Sword Harbor.

Aragon ultimately completed the final step on the eve of Marvin’s trip to Arborea.

He had been promoted from being a Half-Legend to a genuine Legend Swordsman!

Marvin had been worried before because he couldn’t decide who to send to speak with Nana. Aragon had some understanding of White River Valley, but ever since he exceeded level 18, wouldn’t he also be unable to enter Arborea?

But things changed later.

After Marvin used the pass Hathaway had given him entered the Ashes Plain with Madeline’s help, Marvin discovered with surprise that Arborea’s limit restriction had already been increased!

It originally was a Secondary Plane, but because of the special connection with the Prime Material Plane, it got upgraded. This was something that Marvin hadn’t thought about.

Not only was Arborea’s flow of time now similar to Feinan’s, but it was also extremely close to it.

At least Arborea’s Plane Will was no longer preventing the Legends from entering.

As for whether the Gods could enter, Marvin didn’t know. He had no way to connect to Arborea’s Plane Will and understand the limitations.

But according to Madeline’s planar knowledge, although the level limitations had been lifted, the strength of those inside was still restricted.

If people in Arborea wanted to reach a higher level, they would receive a restrictive mark from the plane.

It was a terrible mark, and it was also one of the reasons that many powerhouses from Secondary Planes yearned after places like the Crimson Wasteland where they could improve themselves further.

…

The changes happening in Arborea made Marvin pleased, yet somewhat worried.

He was pleased because he could now enter that world. The food issue was a matter of life and death for White River Valley’s Sanctuary and he couldn’t help attaching a lot of importance to it.

He fought for his life outside, fighting a chaotic war with Gods, but if he didn’t have enough food to support his people, White River Valley would directly collapse.

He couldn’t tolerate the destruction of all that he had built up.

As for what caused him some worry, Arborea’s strength restriction was a kind of self-defense mechanism.

Now, this self-defense mechanism had been destroyed, which was bad for Arborea itself.

The inhabitants couldn’t become Legends, but if Legends from other planes came, they would be able to do as they pleased. Wouldn’t any random Legend be able to turn Arborea upside down?

That issue was temporarily set aside by Marvin.

After seeing the two of them return, Nana was very happy.

All of Nottingheim was full of admiration for Marvin. Nana listened to Marvin’s request and unhesitantly chose to accept.

Marvin’s request was also very simple. He wished to exchange valuables for food of equal value, any kind possible.

What Nottingheim lacked the least was food.

The plane’s climate was extremely good for agriculture. It had good humidity, was filled with forests and lakes, and the vast arable lands were very fertile.

Back when they were under the rule of the Shadow Prince, most of the Plane’s monsters had already been killed. This was a considerably prosperous land.

Nottinheim was rich in food. There were more than hundred thousand households in the kingdom, and almost every one had surplus food, even if one didn’t count Nottingheim kingdom’s official food treasury.

In contrast, they lacked strong metals. Iron ore was pretty sparse, so they were in need of ironware.

All the soldiers’ weapons had been used by their predecessors. They had to be maintained and used carefully.

After learning about this, Marvin had a rough plan.

He would buy food from Arborea, and even if his share of riches from the Shadow Shrine wasn’t enough, the ore from White River Valley’s northern mine could be used in exchange. Although White River Valley was mining ore, they didn’t have the production capabilities to make it all into weapons.

The Planar Teleportation Array couldn’t be used easily, but by using numerous large storage items to facilitate the process, the planar trade could benefit both sides.

Soon, Marvin and Queen Nana reached an agreement and signed a trade contract between Nottingheim and White River Valley.

Following their arrangements, the first batch of food was packed and Marvin brought all the storage items he had been able to gather, most of them coming from River Shore City. It was a major city, after all. Madeline had previously gathered many items from the Three Ring Towers’ Craftsman Tower as reserve supplies, including over thirty storage items.

Right now, Marvin had over fifty storage items with him. Bringing these back would provide enough food for White River Valley’s current inhabitants to eat for two to three years!

Thus, thanks to the trade agreement, the food issue had been completely solved and Marvin sighed in relief.

In fact, White River Valley only need some breathing room. In autumn, the farmers’ cereals could be harvested and at that time, they might not need to rely on Arborea’s support.

Despite that, in order to be safe and make sure that they would have enough surplus after trading some of the food for weapons, Marvin still finalized a long-term cooperation agreement.

Both Aragon and Nana were very grateful to Marvin for his past help, and thus the cooperation went pretty smoothly.

Marvin was quite pleased that the problem of food was resolved without issue.

After the joyous banquet, Aragon was pulled aside by many old friends to chat, while Marvin was bored due to most being too apprehensive to greet him, so he left the court.

Arborea’s air was a lot fresher than Feinan’s. At least there wasn’t a large amount of Chaos Magic Power mixed in.

He walked alone for a while when he suddenly met the fancily dressed Nana.

She was different than she had been during the afternoon negotiations in the study. She seemed a lot brighter and more lively now.

Her identity as the Queen of Nottingheim added a sort of unspeakable charm to her. Although she was still very young, she had gradually gained the character of someone in her position.

It’s just that in front of Marvin, she once again seemed like that helpless little girl he met in the depths of the palace.

“Sir Marvin, there is actually one more thing I didn’t mention yet.”

Nana looked as if she had just remembered something as she explained, “Before you left, you once told us to carefully search everywhere to guard against the remnants of the Shadow Shrine.”

“In the process, we made a new discovery.”

Marvin suddenly felt very interested.

“What did you find?”

Chapter 568: Dream Land

In a corner of Arborea, in front of some vast ruins.

A team of people was staring in awe, including a small team of royal guards.

Marvin and Aragon stood in front of the ruins, revealing dignified expressions.

Apart from them, Nana and the court’s first mage, Orland, were also there.

This was the new discovery that Nana mentioned at the party.

Orland began to explain, “There had been a Shadow Shrine temple here.”

“When we arrived, we were surprised to discover that it had already been destroyed. That seemed very strange to us.”

“Thus, after I heard my subordinate’s report, I investigated it and found something unexpected!” Orland said excitedly.

Speaking of it, Orland had spared no effort to help the Nottingheim royal family.

He was actually a very powerful Wizard. Despite being under the pressure of the plane and the Shrine’s suppression, he had still been able to silently reach level 18 on his own. This was a miracle in itself!

And what was even more impressive was that he stayed in the court for a long time, frequently going in and out of the imperial hall, but those Priests never discovered his true status.

The old guy’s ability to hide his strength was quite remarkable.

At the last moment, he stood up and revealed power far beyond that of a normal scholar. He held back the Shrine’s people and gained some time for Marvin.

After getting rid of the Shadow Shrine, Nottingheim underwent some restructuring. Nana held the lion’s share of the power as the queen, and the highest authority under her was the one holding the position of prime minister, Orland.

Nana and Orland were the most distinguished people in the entire plane, and it was very difficult for most to see them.

But it was different for Marvin.

When he heard about it, Marvin became very interested in their new discovery. They didn’t say much more after describing the place briefly, and at his request, they led Marvin out of the capital to head toward the ruins of the Shadow Shrine on the northwestern border.

…

According to Orland, there were many strange things about these ruins. The most glaring oddity was a special underground area they found below the ruins.

Thus, he had others proceed with the excavation, and thanks to the soldiers’ efforts, they were able to find a tunnel!

The tunnel led even deeper into the darkness. Orland probed it several times, but after proceeding for a bit, he felt a power that far surpassed his own and thus didn’t try dare to go any further.

He sealed the tunnel and waited for Marvin to return to Arborea before coming together to explore it once again.

Marvin walked down the tunnel and felt a mysterious aura from the depths of the tunnel.

This discovery was indeed unusual.

The construction of the passage itself was very strange. It wasn’t made with ordinary materials.

And looking at it from an architectural point of view, the entrance to the passage must have been a secret room.

As they proceeded through the darkness, a light wind sometimes came through, showing that the passage had an exit.

Marvin took the lead, followed by Aragon. Orland and a few guards also followed behind. As for Nana, she remained outside at Marvin’s recommendation.

Just as Orland had said, the passage had quite a few doors. His Perception also let him sense that there was an aura of Divine Power.

‘Could it be remnants of Glynos’ power in this plane?’

Some doubts remained in Marvin’s heart.

He increased his pace.

They soon reached the end of the passage.

That aura was becoming richer and richer. Orland stopped with a bitter smile on his face.

“This is where I stopped last time.” The old Wizard shook his head as he regretted, “I can’t withstand this power.”

Marvin understood.

This was a typical case of Divine Power repelling someone.

Because the Divine Power in the passage was too dense, it formed something akin to a Divine Law boundary. Orland, as a level 18 Great Wizard, wasn’t even a Half-Legend. He wasn’t like Aragon, who had already advanced to Legend and could resist the Divine Law’s suppression.

“I’ll check it out on my own,” Marvin said after thinking for a bit.

Aragon showed a bit of surprise since he was also feeling curious about the depths of the path, but since Marvin made this kind of decision, he wouldn’t raise any objections.

Such a dense Divine Power most likely meant that there was huge danger ahead, and Aragon was still a newly advanced Legend.

“Sir Marvin, be careful.”

Aragon and Orland stayed to guard that part of the passage.

Marvin nodded before proceeding on his own.

He increased his speed, turning into a blur in the passage.

A light appeared in the distance.

‘Divine Light…’

‘This Divine Power… It’s really familiar…’

Marvin was silently contemplating that power when suddenly, he shivered!

‘Fuck!’

‘No wonder this feels familiar!’

‘It’s not the Shadow Prince!’

‘It’s… him!’

Marvin stood still in the passage filled with Divine Power as he suddenly made a realization.

At first, he had thought that it would be Glynos, which was further supported by the aura feeling so familiar.

But this Divine Power didn’t seem to have a Shadow attribute, which made Marvin feel that something was wrong.

As he got closer, it occurred to him that it seemed so familiar because he had recently fought against this Divine Power!

This was the aura of the Dream God!

Marvin couldn’t help but clench his teeth, with killing intent flashing in his eyes.

The Dream God’s Divine Servant, Ambella.

That time, if not for Lance appearing in his memories, if not for Lorie coming from the distant Rocky Mountain and giving him a portion of her Fate Power, he would have suffered and perhaps died under the Dream God’s plot!

Marvin had already recorded this enmity.

He would definitely get his revenge!

It was just a matter of time.

…

‘Unexpected, so unexpected.’

‘Why would there be an entrance to [Dream Land] in one of the Shadow Prince’s Secondary Planes? Moreover, it seems like the Dream God isn’t aware of it.’

‘It must have been done secretly by Glynos.’

Marvin leaned against the passage’s walls, coldly looking toward the other side of the halo.

It seemed to be on a tall mountain, and from that point of view, he could see a huge area of that plane!

If Marvin took a step in, he would enter Dream Land.

Although Dream Land was not the Dream God’s God Realm, it was still one of the most important Secondary Planes controlled by the Dream God!

‘Found your nest,’ Marvin thought to himself cheerfully.

He was already putting together a plan. Since he so fortuitously found a back door to Dream Land, how could he forgive himself if he didn’t give the Dream God a gift?

Chapter 569: Vassals

Marvin observed the passage for a bit before silently leaving.

Because it was such an unexpected discovery, he hadn’t made proper preparations.

This was a very secret entrance, and in all likelihood, the Dream God hadn’t noticed that Glynos had left such a secret passage to Dream Land.

When the right moment came, Marvin could exploit it and strike a big blow against the Dream God.

But not now.

Ambella had just died. Even if the Dream God didn’t get any information from her, he would surely be more alert toward Marvin now that his number one Divine Servant vanished without a trace.

It was just that with the matter of the Universe Magic Pool, he couldn’t afford to dispatch more followers to handle Marvin.

He had to exercise restraint for a while, and during that time, Marvin could prepare.

When the Dream God decided that he could kill Marvin, Marvin would give him a big gift!

In Marvin’s mind, a plan no less crazy than the firing of Judgement Day at Glynos’ God Realm was taking shape.

…

Afterwards, Marvin didn’t tell the secret of this place to anyone, including Aragon and the rest.

He only told Orland that he should seal this place properly with a group of trustworthy guards. If any changes occurred, Orland should inform him about them.

Because Marvin’s tone was very serious as he told them that this place was a “very dangerous” location, no one dared to be careless and they complied with Marvin’s arrangements.

With Arborea secured as White River Valley’s backup, Marvin felt like he had regained a lot of breathing room.

Although Nottingheim wasn’t completely in Marvin’s control, Nana, Aragon, and the others had a very good relationship with Marvin. In the upcoming period of war and chaos, Arborea would definitely show its worth.

But Marvin would have to consider how to keep the Secondary Plane intact.

The Gods were currently attacking the Universe Magic Pool, so in all likelihood, no one would pay attention to this particular plane.

But originally, when Dark Phoenix used Plane Traction, it had caused a lot of commotion. It should have shaken the God Realms. And although the plane’s coordinates hadn’t been exposed, if the powerful Gods wanted to look for it, they would surely be able to find it, especially considering that it had been connected to Feinan.

And if they found it, even if they couldn’t recover it, they could still destroy the world.

Marvin had to consider the long term.

The ideal solution would be to bring it to the White River Valley Sanctuary. The Sanctuary created by the fusion of the Wish Scroll and the Earth Crystal wasn’t totally part of Feinan anymore. It had a very unique nature and could be said to be separated from Feinan. But it was also still closely related to Feinan.

It was very inclusive, and it would be possible to pull the entire Arborea plane in.

But the power of at least twenty Major Wish spells would be needed!

That was because Arborea’s surface area was too great, about four times that of the current White River Valley. Only a Wish Pillar was left in the Sanctuary, and the power was already barely enough to maintain the Sanctuary. Marvin needed to find much more Wish power if he wanted to go with this route.

He would have to find a solution of some sort.

For the time being, he could only hope that the Gods wouldn’t find Arborea.

Despite this, Marvin still decided to properly nurture the strength of Arborea’s natives.

When Aragon expressed the wish to stay in Arborea for the time being to catch up with his sister, Marvin decided to offer some others the chance to visit Feinan.

He told the natives of Arborea that there would be three spots available for powerhouses that wished to leave with him. If they were willing to pledge eternal loyalty to him, they could follow Marvin and leave this plane for the Prime Material Plane, just as Aragon had.

After all, only Marvin had the key to freely enter and exit the Ashes Plains. Apart from him, even if the others could activate the Planar Teleportation Array, they wouldn’t be able to reach Feinan smoothly.

As for the matter of the pledge of loyalty, Marvin had decided on it after careful consideration.

Even if he trusted Nana and Aragon, he couldn’t be totally unguarded against those that he didn’t know.

He had no plans to nurture future enemies.

To the people of Arborea, Marvin was powerful, but he was also an outsider. They respected him, but they might not be favorable toward him forever.

He could satisfy the wishes of the plane’s powerhouses and allow them to make breakthroughs, eventually attaining the power of the Legend realm as Aragon, but the premise was that this power had to be under his control.

Marvin wouldn’t treat them like servants. Instead, he would use a much less harsh [Vassal System].

Admittedly, those under a Vassal Contract would have to prioritize their master’s will, but in most cases, they had their own free will.

Marvin did this to nurture some fighting power for White River Valley and Arborea while also averting the possibility of being bitten in the back.

Within a day from when this news was spread by the royal family, ten level 18 powerhouses came to the royal city in hopes of getting the chance to travel to Feinan.

Even Marvin didn’t expect to see so many of Arborea’s most powerful arrive so quickly. They had mostly existed in the shadows of the Shadow Shrine, always living in seclusion.

Now that there was hope for a breakthrough, they jumped at the chance.

And they didn’t really mind becoming Marvin’s vassals.

Marvin had left a profound impression on everyone in Arborea when he beheaded the Shadow Prince’s Idol. Becoming part of such a mighty figure’s entourage was something that most people could accept.

Marvin’s contract made a lot of sense in their eyes.

The problem was actually on Marvin’s side.

Due to the Planar Teleportation Array being too expensive, he could take at most three of them with him.

Ultimately, he chose two men and a woman from among these ten people.

Those three were quite young, all under 30.

People still in their youth had the most potential.

What Marvin found interesting was that the three of them were all nobles from the royal city. The two men practiced the Storm Swordsman path like Aragon while the woman was a rarely seen Astrologer.

He was impressed when he found out that this Astrologer named Rachel had surprisingly gotten so far by studying on her own.

She learnt Astrology and Divination magic from some ancient books, but she always stayed hidden at home. After all, the Shadow Shrine would have kept watch on her if her power had been exposed, and it would have gotten her family involved too.

Now that the Shadow Shrine was gone, she gradually revealed her strength.

To Marvin, Rachel was the most promising one among them.

And those two brothers weren’t bad either. They were born in the Lyon clan and were captains of guard teams in the royal city. They had outstanding strength and great potential.

Marvin estimated that these three would be able to break through to the Legend Realm in at most a year if they followed him to Feinan!

This duration seemed ridiculous, but they were peak powerhouses of the entire Arborea plane.

As they had been at the boundary of the restrictions of the plane’s laws for a long time, just like Aragon had been, they would easily break through once they reached Feinan.

After making his decision, Marvin comforted the others, saying that there would still be an opportunity in the future.

Afterwards, he set foot in the Teleportation Array back to Feinan with the food that Queen Nana prepared for him, and his three vassals followed a few steps behind him.

Chapter 570: Setting Off! To the Underdark!

Marvin finally had enough food for his territory after his trip to Arborea.

That solved the biggest hidden danger to White River Valley.

During the three days, White River Valley had continued to develop rapidly.

As soon as his three vassals entered Feinan, they felt the shackles suppressing them disappear.

They could feel their strength increasing quickly!

After a few moments, one of the Lyon brothers instantly rose to level 19.

At that time, they all looked at Marvin with gazes full of gratitude.

If not for Marvin, they wouldn’t have gained this chance to advance!

Marvin was also very satisfied with their improvement.

White River Valley was currently lacking in high-end military power. If these three could grow stronger, they might be able to shore up that shortcoming.

The Lyon brothers were sent to Sword Harbor by Marvin.

He assigned them the duty of patrolling the area south of Sword Harbor, which bordered the wilderness and put a lot of pressure on the hunting teams. They frequently met large groups of monstrous beasts, which caused them significant problems.

With these two experts joining, the burden on the hunting teams should be reduced by quite a lot.

As for the Lyon brothers, this was exactly what they had been looking for.

Marvin didn’t restrict their actions as long as they did their jobs. Furthermore, he gave them a chance to temper themselves. They only felt gratitude toward him.

As for the Astrologer, Rachel, Marvin made plans for her to be at Anna’s side.

Astrologers had a very special way of advancing, and they didn’t need to kill anything. As their knowledge and comprehension increased, they would naturally level up.

Rachel was born into the nobility of Arborea and possessed very good administrative abilities. Marvin had Anna test this woman carefully.

If she was useful, then she would be nurtured for an appropriate role. After all, Sword Harbor was still lacking management staff!

There were no doubts regarding the loyalty of the three vassals because they had each signed a Vassal Contract with Marvin. There were relatively few restrictions, but if they went against them, Marvin could make their souls collapse with just a thought.

…

After spending some days travelling around his territory and handling the most important internal issues, Marvin considered the reorganization of his territory complete for the time being.

At that time, he thought to himself that being a good Overlord was truly quite troublesome.

Even with so many helpers, he still had so many things that he needed to deal with.

He couldn’t imagine what White River Valley would be like if he didn’t have Anna, Lola, and the others to support him.

It was definitely thanks to their great efforts that the Sanctuary was currently thriving.

But regardless, it was impossible for Marvin to take it easy for long.

Over the course of the five days, the eldest sister of Rocky Mountain had already gradually ramped up her entreaties as she urged him over and over again. She had made an explicit ultimatum the previous evening. If Marvin didn’t leave with her, she would set off by herself.

Marvin forced a smile. He was sure that Jessica’s hurry was partially due to her quick-tempered nature, but he also knew that the situation was probably really critical.

Otherwise, a powerhouse like Jessica wouldn’t be so anxious about it.

Marvin prepared for the trip by taking some useful things from the Sanctuary’s warehouse and then he set foot on the Teleportation Array to Rocky Mountain.

In the current period of the Great Calamity, because of the great amount of Chaos Magic pouring in, many long distance Teleportation Arrays became nonfunctional.

White River Valley currently had three working long distance Teleportation Arrays, two of which had been set up in Madeline’s Wizard Tower while the last one was set up inside the castle. The first two led to the North’s Lavis and Rocky Mountain in the southwest, while the last one naturally led to the Ashes Plains.

In fact, the most notable place that they still lacked a Teleportation Array for was another alliance the Thousand Leaves Forest, which was also the one closest in distance.

Madeline was apparently researching that issue. It could be a problem with Thousand Leaves Forest, but Ivan hadn’t sent any bad news, so Marvin could only suppose that it was caused by interference from the Chaos Magic Power.

After Madeline helped him through the Array, Marvin opened his eyes to see Jessica’s enraged face just in front of him.

Rocky Mountain.

“If you came a few hours later, I would have already set off,” Jessica grumbled, seeming to be in quite a bad temper.

Marvin froze for a bit at the sudden proximity, before looking into the distance. He couldn’t help holding his breath when he realized what he was seeing!

Countless creatures from the Underdark were packed outside limits of the light of Order.

This time, it was even more exaggerated than during the attack from the Black Dragon’s army!

There were almost three times as many creatures from the Underdark as there had been during that siege on Rocky Mountain.

“What happened?” Marvin blurted out.

He had guessed that the situation was likely very serious, but he hadn’t expected it to be so ridiculous!

“They have been attracted by the light of Order.”

A familiar voice echoed behind Marvin.

Kate.

Marvin turned and noticed that Kate seemed a bit weak. The girl had lost a noticeable amount of weight since the last time he saw her.

It was clear that they had been under a huge amount of pressure during this disaster.

Especially for a place like Rocky Mountain, which seemed remote but had danger lurking on many sides. Not only were they facing the attacks from the Underdark, but as far as Marvin knew, there were two other forces eyeing this place, the Dark clan and the Wild.

The invasion of the Dark clan and the Wild happened three years later in the game and was the result of several Gods’ schemes.

But perhaps it would happen early this time after all the changes that had manifested since Marvin’s appearance.

He would have to put off looking into it until later.

From what Marvin could see, the situation in the Underdark was far worse than he had imagined!

“Can’t your powers drive them away?”

Marvin found the situation rather queer, as he knew that the Underdark’s lifeforms weren’t brainless.

The power of Order gave no benefits to them, and ordinary hostile lifeforms that tried to forcefully enter the light of Order would be directly obliterated!

But they were still advancing to attack Rocky Mountain anyways!

This was quite strange.

“You haven’t noticed it yet?” Jessica coldly pointed at that dense army of creatures from the Underdark and pointed out, “They had already turned into monsters.”

“From the information I’ve managed to get, a major change took place at the Eternal Frozen Spring. Only by solving that root issue would we have a chance of forcing these monsters to withdraw.”

“Thus, I have to take a trip to the Underdark, and I need your help.”

Marvin took a deep breath, nodding silently.

With so many monsters from the Underdark being controlled to do the same thing, this might really be related to the Dark Specters from the Eternal Frozen Spring.

It was time to take a real trip to the Underdark.

Last time, he only crossed through the Underdark as a shortcut. This time, he would go deep into the Underdark with Jessica!

He thought of the powerful and dangerous monsters he had met there in the game, the extremely precious treasures, and the Artifact!

Marvin’s blood was boiling!

Chapter 571: Underdark Winter (1)

Two silhouettes were quickly heading deeper into a dark cave.

It wasn’t the first time for either of them to be entering the Underdark, but compared to Marvin, Jessica was clearly not as familiar with the place.

The terrain of Rocky Mountain and the surrounding areas was very complicated. Not only was it widely varied, but it was also littered with caves. She had frequently gone to the Underdark before to train.

But that was only the upper layer of the Underdark.

She had never been to the true Underdark.

Thus, she invited Marvin to go with her to navigate. Otherwise, with the Fate Sorcerer’s proud temper, she definitely wouldn’t accept anyone’s help.

This was also due to the current situation being too critical.

The three sisters managed to establish a completely new order in Rocky Mountain after triumphing over many great difficulties, but then they suddenly met with such a frightening encirclement.

If they couldn’t settle this issue, then that unending flow of monsters would swallow Hope City sooner or later!

Kate couldn’t leave Hope City.

She was the key to guarding the Source of Fire’s Order, and furthermore, with her unique Protection Power, she could help the Source expel the dark lifeforms.

This was the reason that Hope City had been able to hold on for so long.

Marvin could tell that Kate had become pale and haggard because she had to keep using her Fate Power.

This situation couldn’t be allowed to persist. She couldn’t contend against all the Underdark’s monsters alone. Jessica had gathered a large amount of information before finding clues that pointed toward the Eternal Frozen Spring.

As one of Hope City’s founders, Jessica definitely wouldn’t sit still and wait for their impending doom.

Marvin could understand her anxiety. If White River Valley had encountered this kind of trouble, it would have given him a huge headache.

It could only be said that Rocky Mountain was in a really awkward location. Even in the game, it had suffered repeated major assaults. It was a place well known for having many missions.

There were no Golden Children now, no players participating. It would be many times harder for the three sisters to hold off the enemies on their own.

As a close ally, Marvin wouldn’t just sit and watch.

After browsing the map of the Gloom Area that had been found by Jessica, the two quietly set off.

With the combined efforts of the two Legend powerhouses, it wasn’t hard for them to avoid a few transformed monsters.

These lifeforms weren’t very strong individually, but a sufficiently large number of them could cause some problems.

They entered from a tunnel entrance inside Hope City. As they progressed, they avoided several monsters coming up from the ground and continued into the darkness.

Along the way, they calmly studied the number and the quality of the monsters.

What worried Jessica was that the number of monsters coming out was more or less constant, but their overall strength was continuously increasing.

These monsters all had a distinctive feature. Their eyes were all completely white.

There were no impurities in those eyes, and they looked like snow.

This was the characteristic of Dark Specters!

‘What extent did the Dark Specters expand to in this area?’

Marvin and Jessica glanced at each other with some apprehension.

The two kept going further down very carefully. By relying on Marvin’s previous experiences and his memory, they managed to avoid many dangers. Eventually, after about three hours, they reached the city of the Underdark that was closest to Rocky Mountain.

Marvin faintly recalled that this town was called [Blightsow]. It was a city established by the Duergar, the Gray Dwarves.

There were many mines in the surroundings of Blightsow, which attracted many Duergar to settle there. The Duergar didn’t welcome Drows or Bugbears, but were surprisingly okay with allowing the other races of the Underdark in, provided they could pay the fees to enter the city.

But as Marvin and Jessica bypassed a cave and reached a high platform, they both went silent when they looked at the city of Brightsow below them.

Brightsow had already turned into a ghost town!

A very tall building, a large city wall, crisscrossed streets… Everything was the same as Marvin remembered.

The only difference was that no one was there!

“Did the Duergar all move?” Marvin asked rhetorically. He found this rather hard to believe.

“Let’s go! Let’s enter the city and check it out!” Jessica proposed decisively.

The two had very high Perception and Marvin had Darksight. Jessica was using her Fate Power to open her Night Eye so that she could also see freely in the Underdark.

Since the city looked like a ghost town from their vantage point, the two decided that they didn’t need to hide themselves.

They directly jumped from the platform!

Jessica dropped like a meteor in the center of the area enclosed by Brightsow’s city walls.

A low sound echoed in the sky as Marvin turned into a Royal Griffin so that he could investigate the city from above.

“We’ll split up!”

The two had the same idea and went separate ways to start looking for clues in Brightsow.

…

Marvin spread his wings, hovering stably for a bit before starting to slowly descend.

He flew over the street, his eyes burning like torches. But he didn’t see a single living being no matter where he looked.

Duergar buildings had very recognizable characteristics. They tended to be short but imposing. They were experts in the fields of architecture and forging. If not for them generally being too sinister, Marvin would have been interested in inviting a few Duergar to settle in White River Valley.

But the strength of that group of Dwarves couldn’t be underestimated.

In the end, what could have happened to make them give up on the city they had been living in for a few hundred years?

Marvin had a vague idea.

‘The Butterfly Effect… Does it really have to be so serious?’

‘The Dragon God’s Wrath started ahead of time, and now, even the [Underdark Winter] also shifted to an earlier date.’

Marvin forced a smile.

The [Underdark Winter]… This name not only represented an extremely harsh climate that started before the Great Calamity, but it was also the first large-scale storyline quest!

But in his memories, the [Underdark Winter] happened after the [Rocky Mountain Defense] quest!

Here, the Dark Clan’s invasion had yet to begin. Instead, there was a problem with the Eternal Frozen Spring, catching Marvin a bit unprepared.

His previous experiences and memories had already been losing their effectiveness, making it more and more dubious to continue depending on them.

He needed to make his own judgements.

At that moment, Marvin noticed a Duergar staggering around!

The Dwarf was holding a barrel of alcohol that was about his own size!

‘A person?’

Marvin was pleased and dismissed his Shapechange skill as he landed on the streets below.

The Duergar was drinking noisily from the barrel and didn’t even notice Marvin approaching.

“Gulp gulp!”

A great amount of alcohol was sloshing around in his stomach.

He was muddle-headed, unable to stop.

Marvin frowned faintly before activating his Domain, [Slaughter]!

He didn’t use his advanced False Divine Vessel to activate his Domain, only using his Legend power to activate it.

This was sufficient.

As the power from the aura of the Slaughter Domain washed over the originally drunk Duergar, he suddenly shuddered and nearly fell down!

Marvin stared coldly at him and said, “Answer a few questions for me.”

Chapter 572: Underdark Winter (2)

The Duergar was extremely frightened, but he only showed a look of confusion when he heard Marvin’s request.

He couldn’t understand Marvin!

Marvin felt a bit embarrassed.

He used Common, but while Common was spoken quite widely on the surface, those that lived in the Underdark generally used a lingua franca of their own, which he hadn’t ever learned before.

Luckily, although he didn’t know how to speak it, Jessica was pretty proficient in it, as she had been fighting in the Underdark for quite a while.

Marvin grabbed the pitiful Duergar and brought him to Jessica.

She was at a huge public square. From the buildings that surrounded it, the area looked like the place where the Duergar would hold celebrations and other various kinds of activities

“Who are you? What happened here?” Jessica asked in a threatening tone.

The Duergar were the kind to fear the strong while bullying the weak. It looked to him like it would be a bad idea to provoke these two Humans before him, so he immediately spat out what he knew, with some pauses so that Jessica could summarize it for Marvin.

After a few minutes of questioning, Marvin and Jessica glanced at each other and let the Duergar leave.

They already had the information they wanted.

But it seemed that the situation was a bit trickier than they had expected.

…

That Duergar was named Shawn and had been a rather undistinguished inhabitant of Brightsow.

He didn’t have the talent for crafting. He was very lazy and very poor. It could even be said that he was the lowest kind of existence in the city.

If not for his cousin, who had a blacksmithing shop and frequently helped him out, he might have already starved to death.

Normally, it would be very difficult to get any important information from this kind of person.

However, the circumstances were a bit special at that time.

From what Shawn said, some issues had cropped up in Brightsow City about two months ago.

Marvin and Jessica recognized that as more or less the time when Black Dragon Clarke launched an attack on Hope City.

The expansion of the Eternal Frozen Spring and the awakening of Black Dragon Clarke must be related.

As for the details, Shawn himself only knew about the rumors. Fortunately, his cousin was quite an important figure in the city, and thus, he managed to hear some confidential information!

It turned out that two months ago, the Eternal Frozen Spring had started spraying out Extreme Cold Water!

That Extreme Cold Water froze quite a lot of rivers in the Underdark, including the ones that supplied Brightsow with fresh water.

The leaders of the Duergar sent many craftsmen and scholars to search for a way to survive the Underdark Winter. Similarly extreme conditions had been recorded in history, but they had never been as serious.

The climate began to seriously deteriorate, and under the continued effect of the Extreme Cold Water, the originally meager crops became even rarer, some people even began freezing to death within the city walls.

During these harsh times, Brightsow sealed its gates.

The Duergar gathered together to discuss countermeasures.

Ultimately, they found a way to obtain enough water. As for the food, they could only plunder other cities.

Plunder. Slaughter. Copulation. The three everlasting constants of the Underdark.

They sent excellent craftsmen to the Deep Dark River in order to dig a well that could access the water.

It had been recorded in history that during the Underdark Winter, many rivers would be frozen over, but there would still be water below.

The result of the digging… was that they excavated a disaster!

A few days after the start of the project, a couple of strange signs appeared.

Some of the slaves in charge of the digging apparently suffered from a burst of epilepsy and died in front of everyone.

The Duergar felt that this was a foreboding omen.

Many of them believed that they should stop digging, but the leader of the Duergar was very obstinate. He personally took charge of Deep Dark River Project and ordered them to keep digging. They had to dig for fresh water!

After three days, Brightsow received the news that they were successful!

They successfully dug through the layer of ice on the Deep Dark River and found fresh water below.

With fresh water secured, they should be able to survive the Underdark Winter.

But just as Brightsow’s inhabitants were feeling overjoyed, ready to welcome their leader back, a high-tier craftsman arrived in front of the city, covered in blood.

The guards hurriedly rushed him to be treated, but unfortunately, that Duergar had too many wounds. The Duergar were good at forging, but they weren’t particularly good in the medical field.

The craftsman soon died.

But as he did, he said a lot of crazy things.

He warned the people of the city that they definitely shouldn’t open the door when those from the Deep Dark River Project came back.

Because… they became monsters!

Those were the craftsman’s last words.

But no one believed him.

Even if he had been a renown craftsman during his life, his words had been considered the nonsense of a delirious person on his deathbed.

Only one person believed him.

And that was Shawn.

Because that craftsman was his cousin who had helped him for so many years.

That could be considered quite lucky. After hearing of his cousin’s death, he immediately sold his cousin’s blacksmith shop and bought himself a place to live.

He used the rest of the money to buy a lot of food and ale and then sealed himself in the cellar, living cut off from the rest of the world.

At the same time, he made sure to pay attention to what was happening in Brightsow.

He installed a prism that had been owned by his older cousin on his door.

It would allow him to observe what was happening in the city.

At first, nothing happened, and Shawn happily lazed around at home, eating, drinking, and sleeping.

But later on, a large noise woke him up.

He saw countless Duergar and other lifeforms running on the streets.

They were fighting each other!

Fear could be seen in some people’s eyes as they fled, while some others had completely white eyes!

They looked like pure snow!

Shawn was terrified at the sight, and he remembered the last words of his cousin!

‘They became monsters!’

This was the only thought that the pitiful Duergar had.

He didn’t dare to leave the cellar.

Every day, he would use the prism to stealthily check the situation on the streets.

The city was getting more chaotic all the time, until one day, some monsters charged into his house, and the prism exploded!

That was the scariest time for Shawn. Fortunately, the entrance to the cellar was very well hidden, and none of the monsters found it.

Thus, Shawn remained hidden in the cellar day after day.

Eventually, he ate all the food he had and drank all the alcohol. After feeling famished for several days, he decided to leave the cellar.

But when he stepped outside onto the streets, he found that the city was already empty!

Everyone seemed to have disappeared!

Shawn couldn’t do much on an empty stomach and decided to look for something to eat first, and then alcohol. He wouldn’t be able to survive without alcohol.

As a result, he met Marvin and Jessica.

…

“Clearly, those disappearing Duergar all went toward Hope City.” Marvin shrugged as he stated his conclusion.

The Dark Specters had certainly awakened, but the question was, how many Ghost Mothers had awakened?

Chapter 573: Eternal Frozen Spring

Based on Shawn’s story, the change in the Eternal Frozen Spring really was related to the return of the Dark Specters.

This was actually good news for Marvin.

The [Underdark Winter] was a large-scale storyline quest, and although Marvin didn’t directly participate in it, he had read many messages about it in the forums and had a pretty good understanding of the quest.

The Eternal Frozen Spring was a very mysterious place, known as the coldest place in the world.

Even the peak of the snowy mountain in the Far North wasn’t as cold as the Eternal Frozen Spring.

Some believed that the Ice God slumbered below the Eternal Frozen Spring, while others said that the Eternal Frozen Spring was the convergence point of the Universe’s cold essences.

But whatever the case, the Eternal Frozen Spring was a very dangerous area.

When the [Final Ghost Mother] instance was unveiled, countless guilds had been wiped out at the Eternal Frozen Spring.

Afterwards, people gradually summed up their experiences.

To get rid of the Final Ghost Mother, one had to do a preparatory quest to obtain a sword that was specialized in killing Ghost Mothers. At the same time, they had to resist the countless Dark Specters on the path to the Final Ghost Mother. This required five Wizards with 6th-circle barriers against ghosts. The last thing needed was high Cold Resistance.

Marvin remembered that when the Eternal Frozen Spring instance was first unveiled, the price of equipment with Cold Resistance became outrageously excessive. Furthermore, ruthless merchants were adding to the momentum.

But, simply put, the difficulty of this instance was way too high.

Even a typical team of Legends wouldn’t be able to clear it!

From this, it could be seen how frightening the Final Ghost Mother was!

…

“As far as I know, the Dark Specter clan didn’t originate from Feinan. They invaded Feinan in ancient times and created panic in Feinan’s lifeforms.”

“But under the guidance of the Night Monarch and other heroes, the people of Feinan killed the Ghost Mothers and sealed the Final Ghost Mother in the Eternal Frozen Spring.”

“This was because the Dark Specter clan only had one fear, extreme cold.”

“But after so many years, Dark Specters appeared once again. There was only one possibility: Not only had the Eternal Frozen Spring’s seal become loose, but after a millennium of tempering and enduring, they got rid of their last weakness. They no longer feared the cold.”

Taking a deep breath, Marvin calmly continued his analysis. “But the good thing is that the Dark Specter clan is a kind of very peculiar community. They don’t have their own awareness. They are all controlled by a Ghost Mother. A Ghost Mother represents a collective consciousness, and overall, their actions are controlled by the Final Ghost Mother. After such a long time, the number of Ghost Mothers in the Eternal Frozen Spring should be no more than five, but each Ghost Mother would probably control thousands of Dark Specters.

Jessica immediately understood Marvin’s meaning. “So you’re saying that these monsters don’t have individual thoughts and that as long as we kill these Ghost Mothers, the Dark Specters will also die?”

Marvin nodded.

In his eyes, rather than their previous weakness to the cold, this was the Dark Specters’ biggest flaw.

Although the Dark Specters could be very destructive, they had no wills of their own and could only listen to the Ghost Mothers.

The Ghost Mother behind the group of monsters attacking Rocky Mountain should be hiding somewhere.

It seems that the Final Ghost Mother in the Eternal Frozen Spring had cooked up a big scheme.

After eliminating Brightsow, she began to lead her own pawns toward the surface.

Marvin knew that the Dark Specter clan was very frightening.

Unlike other monsters, their only purpose in the world was expansion!

Continuous expansion!

Up until the entire Universe became a world of Ghosts!

This lifeform was somewhat similar to the Astral Plane Locusts. But Locusts would inevitably have natural predators, but this didn’t seem to be the case for the Dark Specter clan, at least in this Universe.

If he had any choice, the Night Monarch wouldn’t have just sealed the Final Ghost Mother away.

He did so because he was unable to kill her.

The Dark Specters were that frightening. Hope City was surrounded by bodies taken over by Dark Specters and was on the brink of crisis.

Fortunately, before Marvin left, he took the time to tell Kate what he knew about Dark Specters.

With her Protection Fate Power and the power from the Source of Fire’s Order, even if that Ghost Mother went all-out, there should be no issue holding them off for another ten days, or maybe even half a month.

And during that time, Marvin and Jessica could accomplish their goal.

…

“Then what are we waiting for?!” Jessica had always had a fiery temper. “You know so much about the Eternal Frozen Spring, so let’s kill our way in and get rid of that Ghost Mother.”

Marvin smiled bitterly.

“Even the Night Monarch couldn’t kill it. Are you sure your Fate Power will fare any better?” he asked.

Jessica remained silent. She was a very powerful woman with a lot of self-confidence.

In all of Feinan, Jessica was considered one of the strongest, if not the strongest, after the Plane Guardians.

Even Marvin estimated that if he fought her, he would only have about a 30% chance of winning. Ruler of the Night was a powerful class, but it couldn’t rival the favorites of the Plane Will.

Fate Sorceresses were the ones blessed by fate. They could use spells practically without limits. Each time they acted, multi-casting, critical effects, additional enhancements, or other such things could happen.

Stat-wise, it could be represented as [Luck +5].

But even so, Jessica didn’t dare to say that her strength was stronger than that of the Night Monarch!

The Night Monarch had been powerful enough to rival an Ancient God.

“Then what should we do?” She knew that since Marvin had asked like that, he had probably already come up with a plan.

Marvin calmly told her, “Hope City won’t be captured in such a short time.”

“If we want to breach the Eternal Frozen Spring, it won’t be enough with just the two of us. We need the help of other forces.”

“Other forces?” A strange expression flashed in Jessica’s eyes.

At that time, a dark shadow appeared on Brightsow streets.

A Drow!

Jessica was on guard!

Marvin waved his hand, hinting that she didn’t need to be nervous.

“Master… I immediately rushed over after your summons,” Raven reported obediently as she knelt on the ground.

“Master? You actually have a Drow slave?” Jessica looked at Marvin with a weird gaze!

‘That guy is so wretched and horny, look at this Drow’s clothes, who knows what that guy is up to?!’ The Fate Sorceress already started worrying about her younger sister.

Marvin coughed, trying to get rid of the awkward atmosphere. “It is quite helpful that you managed to survive despite the attacks of the Dark Specter clan. Now, I need to understand the current situation in the Underdark.”

Chapter 574: Great Vortex

In fact, as soon as Marvin arrived at Rocky Mountain, he used the book of Nalu to call for the chess piece that he had left in the Underdark.

The Dark Elf, Raven.

After they fought off the Black Dragons’ attack on Rocky Mountain, Marvin had given Raven an order.

She had to do her best to establish a force in the Underdark, a force that didn’t follow any Gods.

Because of the Book of Nalu, if Raven sought shelter from the Black Dragon God or the Queen of Spiders, they might notice that she was being controlled.

Thus, Marvin had repeatedly warned Raven that she should establish a force that consisted only of non-believers.

Fortunately, the Gods had yet to descend. Although the Underdark had a very vile environment that made life difficult, at least a third of the lifeforms there believed in a God. Most of them believed in the Black Dragon God and the Queen of Spiders. However, the beliefs of these lifeforms were as fickle as their natures.

To be frank, some of them were fake believers.

They only actually believed in strength. If the Black Dragon God and the Queen of Spiders could bring them benefits, they wouldn’t care about selling themselves.

At the same time, the rest of those in the Underdark were non-believers.

After Clarke’s death, Raven very quickly gathered a group of followers from a small town.

It was also a matter of luck. The force she established settled just east of the [Great Vortex], adjoining a hill with a group of caves. This was a relatively gentle and safe part of the Underdark.

It was also because of this that they were able to survive the invasion of the Dark Specters.

Thanks to Raven’s narration, Marvin and Jessica gradually understood the current situation in the Underdark.

…

In short, the creatures of the Underdark weren’t faring well!

They had lost control of at least a third of the Underdark already, whether it was due to retreating ahead of time, or being swallowed by the Dark Specters!

From what Raven said, the area west of the [Great Vortex] had already fallen to the onslaught of the Dark Specters!

Marvin was worried by the speed of the expansion.

A map of the Underdark appeared in his mind. The Great Vortex happened to be under the Sage Desert.

In other words, more than half of the southern part of the Underdark had already been swallowed!

According to Raven, the Underdark was already way different than before.

Even the races that had long-held hatred between them put aside their differences and joined forces.

They relied on the Great Vortex and established a stronghold there with an impregnable defensive line!

All the Underdark’s races banded together to withstand the invasion of the Dark Specters!

This war had already gone on for more than a month. The losses of the defenders were disastrous, but they also won some victories.

A few days ago, during one of the Dark Specters’ attacks, their Ghost Mother’s location was exposed. Four Legends from among the allied defenders made a move together, going all-out, and forcibly killed the Ghost Mother.

Thanks to this, the pressure on the stronghold and the defensive line lightened.

The temporary and hastily established Underdark United Council was intensively studying how to resist the Dark Specters, but the problem was that their rate of progress was very slow.

There were clear signs that the council was preparing a small team of Legends that would launch an attack on the Final Ghost Mother in the Eternal Frozen Spring to solve the core of the problem.

…

“In fact, if not for the discovery of that Ghost Mother’s location, which eventually led to her death, I wouldn’t have been able to sneak over here.”

Raven seemed somewhat nervous.

After all, the Dark Specters were too frightening.

Even those in the Underdark who were used to bloodiness and cruelty felt it unbearable.

Just imagining their own consciousness being destroyed, only leaving behind a walking corpse that was under the control of a Ghost Mother, becoming part of the Dark Specter army… This made them shiver.

Moreover, when the defenders fought against those that were possessed by Dark Specters, it was possible for Ghost Larvae to enter their bodies and successfully parasitize them.

No one liked to fight such a pernicious enemy.

The only reason the entire defensive line had yet to collapse was the natural defense of the Great Vortex.

If this defense was broken, the Underdark… might be done for!

…

As Raven finished her account of the situation, Marvin and Jessica sank into contemplation.

The return of the Dark Specters wasn’t just a disaster for Rocky Mountain. The entire Underdark was suffering from their attacks!

The Great Calamity didn’t affect the Underdark that much because there were few there that drew support from the Universe Magic Pool to cast spells. But the eruption of the Eternal Frozen Spring, the onset of the Underdark Winter, it was simply forcing them on the path to extinction!

According to Raven, the strongholds were currently under a huge amount of pressure. They were short on food, the climate was extremely cold, and the morale of the soldiers was terrible because many of their comrades had been turned into Dark Specters, who they then had to fight. It seemed almost a joke that these races that had been fighting each other for generations were now fighting side by side.

The town with Raven’s followers was mostly occupied by a branch of Dark Elves and a group of Half-Elves.

Because of the Book of Nalu, Raven had a very strong will. With that on top of her previous talents as a leader, she was able to convince these people.

But it would be another matter if she left for a long time. In the Underdark, the leadership position could change hands very quickly.

Jessica glanced at Marvin before saying, “You make the final decision, I believe you have an appropriate plan.”

Although the Fate Sorceress was rather high-handed, she wasn’t unreasonable.

She knew Marvin had always been resourceful, and moreover, he knew a lot more about the Underdark and the Dark Specters than she did.

Considering how he had solved so many of Rocky Mountain’s problems, Marvin was the better choice for coming up with a plan.

Since he already had Jessica’s approval, Marvin nodded.

“Good. Let’s go to the [Great Vortex] first.”

…

They were standing on the narrow ropeway, above a bottomless abyss that seemed like it might engulf them at any time.

Marvin and Jessica followed Raven through the shortcut.

They spent almost four hours meandering through the caves as they avoided all the dangerous locations, and in the end, they successfully reached the [Great Vortex]!

The so-called Great Vortex was actually a very frightening part of the Underdark.

In this underground part of the continent, there was a gap that seemed like a lake, in the center of which was an endless void.

Every day, a frightening storm would scrape the void for at least ten hours!

When the storm raged in the Great Vortex, no one could cross!

The last line of defense, the [Rosen Strongholds], had been established on the other side of the Great Vortex.

They relied on the vortex as a natural barrier and used their knowledge to deal with the Dark Specters.

The luck of Marvin’s party was pretty good. Not only did they manage to avoid the Dark Specter army, but when they reached the Great Vortex, the storm had already stopped.

They could slowly make their way over using the ropeways.

This was something that Dark Specters couldn’t do.

And the people of the Rosen Strongholds relied on this to determine whether or not those that approached had been possessed.

“I already signalled the stronghold that we would be arriving.”

After a pause, Raven whispered, “But it’s best if you disguise yourselves. Although the Dark Specters are the biggest threat right now, the surface races are also not welcome in the Rosen Strongholds.”