DIVERGING

Lynne and Parsia were standing in silence at the edge of the cliff, observing the fast-moving soldiers. The basic plans had already been set in motion, and the Commander and Joana had already departed. After a few moments of silence, Lynne turned to Parsia and spoke.

“I have a side task for you.” he said.

“… of course you do.” Parsia grumbled.

“I want you to go and get my father,” Lynne said seriously. “And tell that Bastard Prince to change the name of his Kingdom because I’m taking Skyfire.”

“…”

“Also, find the Immortal Magus Sect in Rolyhard Kingdom,” Lynne continued. “Get the Bastard Headmaster to join us. If he refuses, tell him to give you 100 Spell Art manuals. If he still refuses, tell him I’ll pay him a visit and we’ll drink tea for 14 days straight.”

“… w-what?” Parsia was clearly confused but Lynne didn’t elaborate any more.

“Move through the southern parts as they’re safer,” instead he switched topics slightly. “And start purchasing any herbs and medical ingredients you can find. Also grab some materials for basic Enhancing and Enchanting.”

“What about making peace with Beastkin?” Parsia asked, arching his brow.

“It’s fine,” Lynne shrugged. “I already asked Utta and Liz-boy to do it, and if someone refuses, all he has to do is mark their name down. And once I’m back, they will.”

“… you’re really serious about this, aren’t you?”

“Of course,” Lynne nodded solemnly. “Alright, task someone with escorting the men to the fort. It’ll be our temporary hideout.”

“Good luck.” Parsia said.

“Hm.” Lynne nodded and turned around, leaping off the cliff and onto the desert.

Beneath, Thalia, Gru and the monkey were already waiting for him, sitting atop the rocks while chatting lightly. The moment they saw him, they immediately got up and dusted off their clothes as they switched their sights towards the center of the Eastern Wastelands.

“You guys ready?” Lynne asked, smiling. “Wait, I don’t care. Let’s just go.”

“… aah, sometimes he really makes you want to punch him in the face, doesn’t he?” Thalia said, smiling.

“Boss is the best!!” Gru exclaimed happily; in truth, when Lynne chose him to accompany him to the tower, Gru felt as if a whole new path had opened up before him, removing whatever little regret and doubt he had about following the young lad. This idiot is so brainwashed, Thalia thought, her eyebrows twitching. I bet he’d smile happily even if Lynne burned him alive. Aah, whatever…

“Yo, rotten brat,” the monkey said as he jumped onto Lynne’s shoulder. “When did you get so cocky? I think we ought to teach you a lesson!”

“You? Teach someone a lesson?” Lynne sneered arrogantly. “Hah, heavens would topple over first! Grow an inch, then threaten the tall!”

“… you’re becoming dumber and dumber by the day.” the monkey said, shaking his head.

“Oh right, Gru.” Lynne suddenly called for the muscular man.

“Yes, Boss!”

“Do you know anyone here that goes by the ‘Queen’?” although Lynne didn’t expect much, he still asked; however, when Lynne mentioned ‘Queen’, Gru suddenly froze in place, terror-stricken. “You do?” Lynne followed up, surprised.

“B-b-boss surely d-doesn’t mean the Q-q-q-queen?!!” seeing him this terrified, even Lynne and Thalia had grown suspicious.

“Well, I won’t know if you don’t describe her.” Lynne said. “So describe her.”

“…”

“… ugh,” Lynne grunted when he saw just how terrified Gru became. “Your Boss is here. Who would dare even lift a finger at you? Huh? King or Queen, fuck ‘em. I’m the real deal!” Oi, he really needs to be beat up properly! Thalia and the monkey thought the same thought.

“R-right, Boss is here! Of course!” as if all his courage suddenly returned, Gru’s expression relaxed as he continued. “All I’ve heard are… are rumors,” even if courageous, he still remained cautious and lowered his voice. “There’s a story among Beastkin here, about this supreme existence. They say that no one who’s ever seen her had survived. The legend goes that she appeared here one hundred years ago, and made every leader of every clan submit to her! Those who didn’t were killed… alongside the entirety of their clans!” Gru swallowed a gulp as he reached this point. “Supposedly, she keeps the entire Wastelands in check and makes sure things never escalate too much. Nobody really knows how strong she is, but most believe she’s at least a Creator…” Lynne’s and Thalia’s eyebrows shot up when Gru finished. Creator? Here? Although Thalia was slightly doubtful, she didn’t say anything.

“Creator? Interesting,” Lynne suddenly smiled mysteriously. “Well, whatever. If we start building a Kingdom here, she’ll no doubt show up eventually.”

“…”

“You seem pretty lax.” the monkey said.

“Well, I don’t plan on remaining Empyrean Child forever,” Lynne said, sneering. “Besides, I’ve finally broken through some bottlenecks in other Laws. But holy shit, Void is so confusing. Who the hell would even bother with it? Aah, but it’s so good. I’ve only understood two Gifts, but they’re absolutely insane!” Lynne appeared to be in delirium as he spoke. “First one is called Mana Vacuum. Do you know what it does? Huh? Do you?”

“…”

“Fuck, wipe that grin away from your face, rotten brat!” the monkey exclaimed, slapping Lynne gently.

“I can suck Mana from another person’s attack! How insane is that shit?! And the second one is even more ridiculous, Pocket Void! I can stock on reserve Mana ten times my usual amount! Aah… why the hell did I become Empyrean? Void seems much better…”

“Fuck, what did you say?!” the Spirit suddenly appeared next to Lynne, shouting angrily, startling Gru. “Did you say Flames are worse than Void?! I’ll skin you alive you rotten brat!”

“Hah, shut up you damn see-through bastard!” Lynne retorted immediately. “What if I did, huh? I’m not wrong! I only ever get to burn shit with Flames! I was able to do that when I was five! Do you know that, one time, I threw a torch at a nearby farm and burned it down to the ground, killing nearly every livestock there was?!”

“Flames aren’t so simple, you rotten brat! Listen here, Flames are~~”

Lynne began fighting back and forth with the Spirit, and even the False God joined them shortly after describing why Blood was the best of all. The monkey, Thalia and Gru were left stunned in silence at the side, simply shaking their heads.

* * *

Far, far away from Lynne and others, an enormous volcano was currently spewing flames like spit as they arched through the sky in shapes of blazing rocks. The entire mountain was soaked in lava, and temperatures reached insane levels, making it so that no ordinary person could even dream of approaching it.

At the bottom of the mountain, three people stood in silence, observing the phenomena. Just then, a huge, hundred meters long blazing rock dove towards them. One of the three figures merely waved its hand gently, blasting the blazing rock into smithereens, as if it was never there.

“We won’t accomplish much like this,” one of the figure spoke; he was a heavily bearded man, seemingly in his late forties, exuding aura far beyond that of Lynne. He was frowning at the moment as his strangely crimson eyes peered at the summit of the mountain. “She won’t even let us approach her.”

“It’d be stranger if she did,” the man standing at the other side spoke; he was much younger and average looking, but his aura was no weaker than that of the bearded man. “However, you’re right. Just staying here isn’t accomplishing anything. My scouts have already informed me that that Tower Queen bitch is on her way.”

“Disregard her,” a woman’s voice spoke calmly; if Lynne was here, he’d have no trouble recognizing her – as she was his mother. Yunchi stared at the top of the mountain with complex look in her eyes. “Even if we can’t do anything to her, she can’t do anything to us either. The greater question is how to deal with her before Ryuuk awakens from his slumber.”

“Lord Eysal and Miss Rena are already setting up the arrays and formations,” the bearded man spoke. “Ryuuk won’t get far.”

“We can’t disregard the possibility of him having helpers,” the average-looking man said. “But, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.”

“Leno.” Yunchi said.

“Yes, Miss?” the average-looking man bowed respectfully.

“Go and intercept the so-called Queen,” Yunchi’s voice was full of mockery as she spoke. “Tell her to get lost or Clans will stop tolerating her. If she doesn’t, it’s fine to use force.”

“Yes, Miss!” the man called Leno suddenly disappeared in the gust of wind, as if he was never there.

“Teros,” she then turned to the bearded man. “What do you propose we do?”

“Hmm…” the bearded man thought for a moment before replying. “Unless we smoke her out, we stand no chance of defeating her. Even in the open field, our chances don’t surpass 60%.”

“You value her quite a lot.” Yunchi said, slightly surprised.

“She’s still a True Dragon, Young Miss,” Teros sighed slightly as he spoke. “They’re terrifying creatures that shouldn’t be underestimated by any means.”

“Then?”

“We should secure the perimeter as much as we can,” Teros spoke in a serious tone. “And gather at least ten more Gods or Creators.”

“… it won’t be easy,” Yunchi frowned for a moment. “Lord Grandfather is already angry with me after the fiasco with Median.”

“We could always go to Innok Clan.” Teros proposed.

“No,” Yunchi firmly shook her head. “Those bastards will want too much for ten of their strongest. I’ll go back home and convince the Grandfather. You stay here and oversee things. Nothing can go awry, understood?!”

“Understood, Young Miss!” Teros bowed respectfully.

“Good,” Yunchi said as she turned around. “We need to thin out their forces as much as we can before the war begins. Brothers Ty and Slyn have already secured one True Dragon, three Immortal Phoenixes and eight Headless Giants. We can’t lag behind.”

“Yes, Young Miss!”

Soon, the silence returned to the bottom of the mountain, with only Teros remaining there. He had a complex gaze and even more complex expression as he looked at the sky.

“Aah…” Teros sighed deeply as he lowered his head. “I can only pray we don’t bite off more than we can chew.” he also slowly turned around and began leaving. “I wonder how far that young one has progressed. According to the High Lord, he should be barely inching the peak of the Magus Realm. Ugh, it doesn’t do me any good to think about it. What’s done is done, we can’t change the past…” he, too, slowly disappeared in silence, and the blazing rocks and volcano slowly toned down, only occasionally bursting out with flames.