A demon descended from the sky like a cannonball, slamming into the ground. A cloud of dust and mud flew up in the air.
A beam of light descended from the sky, crashing directly into the deep pit. Then, an even more exaggerated aura emanated from the beam, and with it, a full moon fell.
With a resounding boom, it crashed into the pit.
The full moon shattered, and Sofia's figure emerged from within.
Watching the dust dissipate, leaving nothing behind in the pit, Alka said silently, "I think you'd better not use this trick again, or you'll lose all your spoils."
Hearing this, Sofia shrugged helplessly. What else could she do?
With Sofia's mastery of the Pale Moon, she was now able to use this treasure to transform herself into a full moon.
As she transformed into the moon, Sofia could continuously radiate moonlight, generating a variety of attacking abilities. The range of its impact is truly extraordinary.
Furthermore, all areas within sight of the moon and within its reach will benefit from its spiritual power.
Enemies who see this moon will experience psychological and mental oppression, even the impact of the moonlight itself.
This is the inherent power of the moon, but when combined with Sofia's other treasures, it develops strange abilities.
For example, the moon can be sent crashing down like a meteor, without Sofia having to maintain speed; it can simply convert speed into force.
The moon's size can expand with Sofia's power.
The moon can now be the size of a meteorite, easily destroying a small city.
Furthermore, it can transform into a full moon, suspended high in the sky. Through the convergence of meteors and light, it becomes a veritable artillery turret, launching continuous attacks from the sky.
The demon that just died was a sixth-stage Steel Demon, a rare demon with gray-black skin like steel.
It was also a skilled melee fighter with formidable defense, but Sofia's combo decimated it.
Three Holy Grails plus two Scepters, a total of five treasures. Combined, Sofia's strength goes beyond simply fighting opponents of higher levels. He can also instantly overpower opponents of lower levels.
"Have there been changes in your dreams lately?"
Sofia asked nearby.
"Why do you say that?"
"I see a lot of mist-like creatures I've never seen before, always in the distance. And that mist looks a bit like the construction of that strange building."
Sofia and the others in the dream briefly thought they were hallucinating. If they were not mistaken, the construction site stretched almost to the very edge of their vision. This meant that the kingdom of Alka had expanded to an incredible extent, and the entire kingdom was under construction.
After hearing Sofia's words, Alka nodded.
"Yes, I moved the kingdom here."
"Here?" Sofia asked doubtfully, then, thinking of something, pointed at his feet.
Alka nodded.
"You want to... stabilize the World Scar?"
"Not that I do. No, I do, too. But it's a mission I was supposed to complete."
Alka briefly explained to Sofia their previous exchange with the White Mist Serpent.
"Oh, I see." Sofia nodded, suddenly understanding.
No wonder the White Mist Serpent from the dream had helped them; it was for this reason. Previously, I'd thought that frantic Miami was some dream enemy that needed to be eliminated.
One demon after another was killed around them.
This was a team of 100 demons, but they appeared from inside the demon-proof wall.
It was unknown how they had gotten in, but their goal was clear: to kill Alka and his men.
By now, Alka and his men had probably learned something: the Devouring Mouth had issued a bounty among the demons of the World Scar, targeting none other than Alka and his men.
So, they'd occasionally encountered attacking groups of demons, and they'd gotten used to it.
Perhaps the Devouring Mouth had hoped these demons would kill them, or perhaps it simply didn't want Alka and his men to have an easy time.
But Alka and his men were still growing stronger.
"But I don't think the surrounding space and environment have gotten any better."
Julia, listening to the two's conversation, said from the side.
She was quite perceptive of such surroundings.
Hearing this, Alka nodded and explained, "As Sofia just mentioned, the entire Dream World activity is still expanding, and the scale of construction is over 50 times greater than before.
However, the remaining Dream World creatures and the influx of Dream World creatures are only about 20 times more numerous than before. Of course, it will take a long time to complete, and it will have an impact on the scars of the entire Dream World."
This is a slow process, not something that can be easily accomplished. Hearing Alka's words, everyone nodded. So that's how it is.
After clearing out the demons, Alka and his men stripped away some of the materials and returned to the Vastova camp.
It's no longer called the Vastova camp, but rather the Return Town.
Yes, although it's only been about two months since Vastova arrived to build the camp, it's already become a town.
Most of the Vastova people have already arrived.
Trade caravans have even begun to arrive, and trade has begun between them and the Stone City.
The town's mainstay industry is a recently built steel mill.
It produces upgraded and enhanced rock-shaking spears, specially crafted for demons.
Attacks fired with magic power have a powerful penetrating effect on demons.
Of course, they could also trade in more advanced weapons, but the problem is that Vastva's current technology isn't capable of producing them on an assembly line.
For now, they can only operate a single factory to manufacture firearms.
Alka and the others also took turns going out, each task assigned to them. They occasionally had to eliminate demons or cults that had infiltrated the city walls.
They also drew maps and collected information on treasures.
Their current goal was to reach the sixth stage as quickly as possible.
But that couldn't be achieved in a hurry, so their real goal was to obtain the [Cloud Staff].
They were preparing to head out. After all, the orange dot of light was on the other side of the map, and the journey wouldn't be easy.
It would take at least a month.
"So, let's divide the team now. Who will stay in town?"
Because the highest combat power of Vastva's returners was only at Stage Two.
This was already considered fast for their meditation.
While they had a variety of weapons to defend against ordinary imps and low-level demons, they were clearly not up to the task of resisting stronger demons.
If they were to search for the Cloud Staff, someone had to stay behind.
They had been allowed to integrate into the world from such a dangerous place, sharing what they needed and helping each other for so long. They couldn't just watch them fall into such a dangerous situation.
Not to mention the Devouring Mouth, who might already be aware of the situation. Given its wicked nature, it wouldn't mind sending some demons to attack the camp.
"Let's two stay," Jason said after a moment's thought.
Jason and Alka, along with Sofia.
One of them had to stay, as they were the strongest members of the team, possessing the most impressive combat prowess.
After a brief deliberation, Juanlu and Mathilda also decided to stay.
Finally, Simon also decided to stay, as his research had reached a crucial stage.
Aside from these people, the others would follow Alka to retrieve the Cloud Staff.
"Then it's settled. Let's act early tomorrow morning."
With the decision made, everyone began to prepare.
…
The next day, as the curtain of night had barely fallen and bright daylight had arrived, Alka and the others set out towards their destination.
According to their planned route,
Alka and the others appeared directly on the Voice of Dawn through the mirror.
"Set sail!"
The Voice of the Dawn quickly sailed out of the cliff cave Alka had prepared for him.
They could sail directly across the sea to the other side of the island. Once there, they could continue in a straight line to their destination.
This was much faster than flying directly over land.
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Because Alka couldn't continuously control the magic mirror to carry them aloft, no matter how much magic power he possessed, it wouldn't be enough to sustain such a drain.
Since they couldn't fly continuously, the Voice of the Dawn became the fastest option.
Furthermore, sailing this way would make at least half the journey easier, as the boat was still comfortable.
This voyage took them less than five days to reach their landing point.
Alka dug a hidden depression using the Earth Plate, hid the Voice of the Dawn once again, and then led everyone onto land.
"There's such a vast forest?"
As soon as they reached shore, they found themselves at the edge of a forest, its dense undergrowth almost completely obscuring their view.
However, this forest wasn't lush and natural; it was utterly dim, as if something sinister lurked within.
The aura of the abyss still lingered, and yet trees were growing again.
"Should we go through? Or take a detour?"
Hearing Sofia's words, Alka glanced into the distance.
The forest covered a much wider area than they had imagined.
"Forget it, let's go straight through. Stay alert."
With that, the puppet girls following them spread out to scout ahead. Alka and the others also hurried forward.
Circles of silver light emanated from Sofia's feet, expanding into the distance.
"These plants have been infected and mutated by the abyss's aura," Julia said from the side.
She could clearly sense the abyssal aura within these plants; that's why they grew so densely in this area imbued with the abyss's aura.
After all, the abyss is more than just desolate and desolate.
They had only taken a few steps when a branch whipped towards them.
In the instant the branch lashed through the air, Pororo waved his hand, shattering the entire branch into pieces.
Then, he swung his claws with all his might.
A few meters away, a large tree, as if struck by lightning, collapsed into powder. The entire tree collapsed.
The moment it fell, everyone heard a shriek that seemed to pierce their souls.
Then, shrieks echoed one after another, emanating from the surrounding trees, stinging their very souls.
Faced with this situation, Sofia transformed into a full moon, emitting a flood of moonlight.
The spiritual shield immediately blocked the screams, and the moonlight, like an attack of demon-killing energy, caused the trees to shake wildly, their pain palpable through their swaying.
Clearly, these trees weren't possessed souls, but rather some kind of spiritual monsters.
Maintaining the moonlight, the group swiftly made their way through the forest.
As they advanced, the surrounding trees swayed incessantly, their bodies shimmering in the moonlight as if dead.
Thankfully, despite the vastness of the forest, they advanced at a brisk pace, reaching its outer reaches in less than half a day.
Upon emerging, they were met with a desolate and desolate landscape, a fitting reflection of the abyss's infestation.
After emerging, Alka manipulated his lens to create something resembling a magic carpet, which swiftly carried them forward.
...
After about ten days of traveling, alternating between walking and flying, they were finally nearing their destination.
"Based on the maps, the treasure might be in the alien's territory. It's in a mountain range."
Sofia said, looking at the two maps in his hands and comparing them for a moment.
"It's okay. The aliens whose territories are marked out on the maps are at least not hostile to humans. They might even provide assistance to the front lines. All we have to do is avoid offending them."
As Alka spoke, he suddenly noticed Sofia's expression turn serious.
Seeing this expression, everyone immediately became alert, as it meant another demonic attack.
As expected, the ground shook. Alka immediately used the Earth Card and stomped on the ground beneath his feet.
The ground before him immediately shook, then vibrated. Demon after demon was hurled from the cracked area, some already bearing numerous wounds from crushing and collision.
It was clear that Alka's recent attack had inflicted severe damage.
Looking at the demons before him, Alka blinked.
There were only eleven in total, and only three of them had reached the sixth stage of strength.
"You're truly lingering! Your utter demise will serve as a warning to your damned kin," Alka declared, addressing the crowd directly.
"Capture them all alive."
Hearing this, the crowd, though perplexed by the reason, immediately obeyed.
Sofia waved his hand, and a small moon appeared above their heads.
Then, his own speed increased, transforming into a streak of white light. He struck a demon, sending it careening straight into the ground.
The moonlight condensed into several spears, piercing the demon and pinning it to the ground.
Alka dragged a demon into his dreamland through the mist, then froze it in place, sealing it into a block of ice.
As his dreamland began to connect with this area, Alka's dream power grew stronger.
Even with preparation, he was still dragged into a dreamland and fell asleep.
A variety of music rang out, and Pororo's gray lightning began to mutilate the demons' limbs.
Alka and his companions had ample experience dealing with these demons, each of them an expert demon hunter.
They could identify the characteristics and strengths of certain races by their appearance, and they were familiar with their weaknesses.
Since the Vastva people appeared in the outside world, they also began to build laboratories outside, including those for demons.
Their experiments were not just about curiosity about these demons.
With their power, they focused on studying which attacks would cause the most damage.
Aside from one demon being crushed to death by Sofia's careless lack of control, the other ten were all subdued through various means.
"Why capture them alive? Are you sending them into the dimension?" Sofia asked nearby.
Only when they needed samples did they capture demons alive. Otherwise, they simply killed them and stripped them of their materials.
They didn't even bother to talk to these demons.
After all, these demons weren't necessarily truly dead.
Hearing this, Alka smiled: "Of course, we want them to die completely."
"Dead completely?"
"Dragged into a dream?" Lucilia asked, reacting immediately.
Alka smiled and nodded.
With a light snap of his fingers, their surroundings flipped, entering the mirror's reverse dimension.
Then, Alka waved his hand gently, and mist began to swirl throughout the dream space.
As the mist swirled around, it began to draw closer to the dream, until it became a completely dreamlike world.
A gigantic mist creature, consisting solely of a wolf's head and a pair of floating wolf claws, appeared within the space.
This wolf-like mist creature had reached the sixth stage of strength.
Upon seeing Alka, it immediately lowered its head.
"Your Majesty," came the voice from its soul.
Alka nodded: "Bring these demons into the furnace and let them become nourishment for new life."
Looking at these demons, the mist-like white wolf immediately nodded.
Then, more mist creatures poured into the space.
But it seemed the space could only accommodate one sixth-stage mist creature; the rest were all fifth-stage.
Together, they bound and restrained the demons, then vanished from this space.
With the demons gone, Alka snapped back to reality and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"It was still a bit forced."
Despite saying this, Alka smiled.