Twenty minutes later, Caspian and his brother had barely healed up.

They were only able to move, but it was enough for them.

Previously, they had tried to go to the surface, but their body status denied them that chance.

However, they weren't distraught.

Judging by the tremors they had been hearing for quite some time, if they had gone to the surface, they would have died without even knowing.

Moreover, they had a task to do!

Caspian and his brother jerked their bones as they looked at the tall wall that blocked the rift from their sight.

Due to the battle that occurred here, it was already cracking and when Conan pressed it, it crumbled like a sandcastle, revealing the rift behind it.

As soon as the wall crumbled, the two brothers rained an array of attacks on the zombies that were escaping from the rift.

This temporarily cleared the surrounding from zombies, but the two brothers knew more would still come.

"We can't do anything," remorse Conan.

They had been warned when they took over their duties to never let the rift fully opened.

Yet, here they were, looking at an open rift!

The reason for such a stern warning was because when a rift was fully opened, it could never be closed back.

Their ancestors had risked their entire lives to close the rift back in their day. This was only possible because they were stronger than the current king and his men.

Even after that, the person that closed the rift wasn't them, but a very strong cultivator that came from the central continent, which was filled with amazing cultivation resources, necessary for breeding cultivators.

The two brothers could explain how they currently felt.

They knew they had no power to resist the outpour of zombies. They were even lucky that they had not encountered any zombies that they couldn't fight against.

Conan nudged his brother from his sorrowful wallow.

"What?" asked Caspian with soul-less eyes.

As a king, he felt the full brunt of this disaster.

He had failed his duties.

He had failed his family.

What had he not failed?

It seemed that anything he touched was bound to be destroyed!

Noticing Caspian's vacant stares, Conan softly muttered, "I know that look in your eye. It isn't time for that. We are not done yet. You are better than this. There is so much that we can still do!"

He offered to his depressed brother, "Let's start with temporarily relieving those above from the rift. I'm sure our army is there fighting with their lives. We have to do something."

Conan managed to make Caspian remembered something as the latter stood up and rubbed his ring, bringing out many blue crystals that contrasted with the color of the rift

Seeing this sight, Conan breathed as he knew what his brother planned, "Azure Halldumene….."

He knew what his brother planned to do.

Caspian walked closer to the rift, stepping on the broken decapitated heads of the zombies while doing so.

Marking a good distance between him and the rift, Caspian stopped in his track.

He wasn't dumb to move closer to the rift. He had seen some of his soldiers do so, and it didn't end well for them.

One by one, Caspian threw the holy crystals inside the rift.

By the time he was done, screams could be heard at the outside of the rift, and he didn't need anyone to tell him why.

The rift became unstable as it continuously changed size. One second, it is smaller. The other second, it is tiny. The next second, it is back to shape.

Looking at it, Caspian smiled as he had accomplished what he came here for.

Now, there wouldn't be any zombies in the meantime.

Before coming down here, he had prepared the crystal in case things spiraled out of control, and now, he was right to do so.

During his fight with Talon, he was almost tempted to use the crystals against him but decided not to as it wouldn't stop the main problem.

Moreover, Talon's Netheran side was astonishingly strong and Caspian didn't know whether it would effectively stop the Second Evil or not.

His guess was that it wouldn't!

Looking at his current action, there was no doubt that he had made the correct decision.

After stopping the rift, the two brothers limped to the surface.

The channel they took directed them to the throne hall in the palace, the exact place where the Eden's Garden was beneath.

After they had gotten to their destination, the two brothers found the place deserted, not even a single soul was there.

With their heightened senses, they could hear the swinging of swords, the cries of men, the snarling of zombies, and the munching of humans going on in the streets.

They covered their tunnel entrance and looked at each other.

"I guess this is it," smiled Caspian.

Thanks to his brother, he had seen hope.

No matter the consequences, he had to save as many as he could.

He told his brother, "Let go separate ways. You take the north. I take the south. We will meet back here in two hours' time. Remember, two hours!"

Being the detailed person that he was, Conan asked his younger brother, "What if one of us doesn't make it or is late?"

Meeting the pure eyes of Conan, Caspian responded, "In case of such scenarios, whoever arrives in time would be free to take the tunnel entrance and choose a path that leads to the dark forest. After that, we would contact the One-Eyed Wolf! "

The two brothers nodded at each other as they began their journey to rally as many people as they can find.

...

A few hours ago, after the warning of the tremors.

A group of five sat steadily as they watched two people duke it out in an indoor courtyard, covered with a transparent glass roof.

*Boom!*

One of the two currently fighting was a tall young boy with a burly build and goofy black eyes. He wore leisure clothes, but wrapped around his hands was an intricately designed glove.

His opponent was different.

With a black hair that was cut short to allow him to fight better, his brown eyes that seemed brown enough to be considered bright, and an athletic build that made it easier for him to carry his heavy broadsword.

The two clashed over and over again.

However, they didn't use the power of their elements due to their friends that were at the edge of the courtyard watching them.

After an umpteenth clash and a victor still wasn't found, the two panted heavily and fell to the comfy grass.

"I guess this is our limit," sighed one of them.

If one looked closely, one would recognize the whole group.

The two that sparred against each other were Nico and Roan Aztec.

The group of five watching them were Lola, Melania Aztec, Jaya, Sierra Aztec, and Cheyenne Aztec.

They were the combination of the royal children and the famous trio.

Judging by how comfortable they were, it could be seen that they had been meeting together for quite some time now.

It was safe to say that they were already close friends. Possibly due to the already established friendship of Sierra and Jaya.

It was also why there were already on a first-name basis.

Roan mocked his spar partner, "Despite saying you got better, you are still very slow."

"What are you saying, Roan? I was faster than in our previous fight," smiled Nico.

"It's cute that you think that," boisterously laughed Roan.

It also earned the laughter of their "spectators" who moved closer to join their conversation.

Knowing that Roan was right, Nico tried to find confidence in the only one that would always side with him, "Lola, I'm faster, right? Right?"

His soft and warm-ly eyes made it almost impossible for Lola to tell him the truth, "Yes, you are--"

Jaya's cold words freed Lola from her pain, "Of course, what do you expect her to say?"

She rolled her eyes as she told Nico, "You aren't meant for speed. Focus on your damage instead of that."

Hanging his head down, Nico sighed as he knew himself better.

His mind wasn't tuned to excel at fast attacks.

However, he wanted to learn it. That was why he chose Roan as his sparring partner as the latter was faster.

Yet, it turned out such a fighting style wasn't just meant for him.

Just like what his gloves were meant for, an aggressive fighting style was the best for him.

After finding himself and listening to Jaya, Nico finally gave up on his attempt to learn the other fighting style.

*Kyaa!*

He was about to thank Jaya when he and the whole group of friends heard a loud scream.

Suddenly they heard multiple banging on the courtyard door.

Having no knowledge of what was going on, the group was puzzled as they opened the door.

Before they knew it, a shadow jumped at them!