In a complex web of caves underneath the Itas Continent, East of Astria, Lissandra was holding her mouths with both of her hands while trying her best to not make any sound. As she was engrossed in reading the ancient books laying in that old room, a strange orange portal appeared at the center, freaking her out.

Previously, she accidentally discovered an extremely small room that could only be accessed using a mechanism on the wall, where the paintings were.

As she peeked through the small cracks of the room, she witnessed monstrosities enter the room, one by one. They had four, six, or even eight arms, jet black skin and an appearance that would make anyone horrified. They were of the Cthulhu Race, as for why they appeared here and now, the mortal woman didn't know.

Lissandra was never a believer yet she continuously prayed not to be discovered, she was but a frail woman who can do nothing against such evil creatures. Were she to be discovered, her fate will be worse than death.

'What are they doing here?'

She silently watched numerous monsters appear from within the portal, dragging blue-colored crystals that had varied sizes.

'Those are… Mana Crystals? What do they need them for?'

Such crystals were common and practically useless in Medium or High-Realms, they only serve as a means to recover Mana, a type of energy which is rarely used as it's inferior to Nether Energy.

The monsters conversed with a language unknown to her hence she was unable to know the reason of their arrival at this ungodly hour.

The fallen God remained in that cramped room, barely breathing due to the lack of air and the fear surging inside of her. Only after a whole day passed did she relax but was still trapped in there, drinking water and eating food while hearing the unpleasant laughter of the Cthulhu.

Several days later, the Itas Continent was thrown into total chaos. The Elven Village, the most populated place in this gigantic forest was invaded by evil creatures, which slaughtered and tortured everyone.

Very few managed to survive by escaping amidst that bloody battlefield. The ground was dyed red and the pitiful cries of the elves or humans could be heard from miles away.

In the end, the World Tree had to personally act, using its magic and body to kill those evil creatures. This, however, came at a great cost as these monsters, despite their weakness, managed to summon an evil god using the very same blue crystals they dragged from the portal.

This Evil God had was 40 meters in height, three pairs of eyes and three red horns on its forehead. Everything about it was grotesque and ugly, whether it's its row of pointy teeth or its crooked nose. Its wielded some kind of lantern which started an inextinguishable fire in this forest, killing its subordinates and the fleeing elves.

Although the evil god wasn't the World Tree's match, it still managed to cause considerable damage before it was killed. More accurately, its avatar was killed, it was still alive somewhere else.

Fortunately, the MoonStar acted fast and sent reinforcement, helping the remaining survivors leave the continent and tried its best to extinguish the ominous fire, which had the color of blood.

Jackob and Sonia were dispatched to the Itas Continent. The general of the sect's army accompanied the Ice Magic user and protected her while she poured everything she got to get rid of the quickly expanding fire, which was but a few away from the World Tree.

Although she wasn't able to extinguish it, her high-leveled Ice Magic did slow it considerably, however, the Cthulhu Race was relentless, appearing from out of nowhere and ambushing their group.

As Sonia was repeatedly casting a minor version of [Absolute Zero] to freeze the scorched ground and block the fire, Jackob was crouching behind of her. He held the sniper rifle, Ace, and would shoot every few seconds, taking down one or two monsters, which were miles away.

At first, they were successful in repelling the Cthulhu but the situation quickly worsened when dog-like beasts appeared. They were either the mounts or the cannon fodder. Individually, they were particularly dangerous but the problem was that they usually attack in big groups.

Sonia, who was assisted by a few more mages, couldn't handle the continuous Mana consumption and finally fell unconscious after four days. The other mages didn't fare well either as some were killed and others captured.

Four figures were jumping from one tree to another, fleeing from lion-sized dogs that had messy flesh and bloodied heads.

Jackob was holding Sonia under his arm as he swung down his big axes, dismembering four dogs then jumping back. Although they tried everything they could, they couldn't defend the Itas Continent, which was doomed.

The fire burned half of the forest, which covered the whole continent, plus, the number of Cthulhu increased every day, no one knew where they came from.

****

In the meeting room atop of the High Tower, the main HQ of the MoonStar sect, several elders were pleading Anastassia, who was incensed and worried.

"Vice-leader! Please don't go!"

More than three thousand died in the Itas Continent. None returned alive, she didn't even know whether her sister and husband are still alive or not.

She never thought things will escalate so quickly. It was supposed to be an easy job, just like last time. They will kill the invading race and be done with it.

The several old men were kneeling in front of Anastassia, blocking the exit and banging their head on the floor.

"Th-there's nothing you can do, please stay, Vice-leader!"

Anastassia glared at them and used Nether Energy to push them away. Just as she was about to leave, a young man with a flushed faced barged in the room. He panted heavily and talked only after locating Anastassia, who was but a few steps away.

"V-vice leader! An army… an army is marching toward us!"

She frowned and told the youth to calm down and only talk after he drank a bit of water. After taking a deep breathe, the youngster continued

"The Xi Clan betrayed us, an army of monsters is marching toward us. They'll arrive in three days, their number is unknown."

His tiredness and pale face was proof that he ran all the way here the moment he saw the army. It wasn't an easy feat to continuously run without a rest, especially for a mortal.

Anastassia ordered him to go rest before leaving the room, ignoring the desperate elders. She went to the roof of the High Tower and stared at the cloudy sky. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, unable to come to a decision.

After a few minutes, she looked down to the creepy pendant hanging on her neck before hastily flying South. After a while, she appeared above the uncountable army of undead. She ripped the necklace and clenched it with both of her hands, applying all the strength she could muster.

"I must do it…"

She wholly focused on the pendant, pouring all her Nether Energy inside. Her gaze was focused on the motionless undead.

"Move move… come on MOVE!"

Despite her desperate shouts, the undead remained unresponsive. Nonetheless, the woman didn't give up, her pool of Nether Energy depleted yet she kept sacrificing her vitality to cause a reaction from the pendant.

Only after three hours did the pendant started emitting a purple light which covered her body. Her beautiful dark red hair became jet black while her skin turned whiter than snow.

She coughed mouthfuls of blood but she didn't stop. The purple light stretched to all direction, bringing an illumination brighter than the sun behind the cloudy sky.

Anastassia's figure, which was enveloped by the ominous purple light, fell from the sky, heavily crashing in the ground. She grabbed her head as unimaginable pain assaulted her, causing her to shout hysterically like a crazy person

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH…aAHHHHHHHH!"

The purple light stretched to all direction, covering the whole army within minutes, then it suddenly vanished into nothingness. This was nothing but the silence before the storm as the whole Western Continent shook violently.

A black miasma covered the sky before it transformed into a humongous whirlpool that attracted every being's attention.

As if ordered by a mysterious force, the undead's creaky bones moved, their feet started banging on the ground, all at the same time, in a cyclic manner. The dormant bones dragons awakened, roaring loudly and shaking the very being of Astria.

The pendant Arthur gave her was nowhere to be seen, it had turned illusory before entering her body, becoming a part of her. Back then, when Arthur crafted this simple item, which summons undead, didn't know that it would cause the birth of an entity he couldn't fathom.

The continuous exposure to thick death energy and the use of the pendant, coupled with her indomitable will and necessary sacrifice were the main causes for such a result.