Chapter 498. Different From Then (3)

“That’s done,” Chi-Woo said, “It’s finished now. Then—” He stood up and took a sharp breath of the morning air. “You promised, okay?” To survive and return to Earth together.

“It’s only a conditional promise.” Chi-Hyun also got to his feet. “My answer is always the same, just as your goal has always been the same.” He continued calmly, “If you want to impose something on me, you have to show it by action.” Chi-Hyun smirked. “You know it well too. I don’t just believe in words.”

Chi-Woo shook his head. Seriously, even after saying all that. “You’re the same as ever.” But that was all right. It was good enough for now. “Anyway, look forward to it.” This was not the first time they’d talked about this; they had butted heads multiple times so far, and in particular, the conversation they had had during the war with the Abyss had been quite serious. Chi-Hyun gave the same condition at that time. He had said, ‘If you want to stop me, you better do a good job.’

Chi-Woo wasn’t able to do well in the end. He was able to save his teammates trapped in the Astral World, but that wasn’t because he had done a good job, but thanks to Philip. As a result, Chi-Woo lost Philip. It was a result he had to accept because he hadn’t done things perfectly. The same was true this time. There was no telling what his imperfection would bring about.

“It’s going to be different from then.”

Chi-Hyun’s eyes darted round at Chi-Woo’s declaration. “…Yeah.” Then he smiled and said, “Don’t make a mistake this time.”

Before he realized it, dawn had broken out. Light shone faintly on their surroundings, where darkness used to be prevalent. The brothers stood side by side and looked at the morning sky, slowly brightening little by little before they suddenly flinched and whirled around to stare at one place, as if they had rehearsed it beforehand. There was a moment of silence.

Soon after, the campsite of the Shalyh’s expeditionary force began to get a little noisy as a small dot suddenly appeared in the distant light. The dot didn’t stop in place. It gradually grew in size, and when it reached a visible range, it became large enough to fill a person’s entire view.

“It’s the Sernitaaaaaaass!” Someone standing guard let out a loud cry and shook up the campsite. The Sernitas finally making an appearance looked exactly like what the Last Dragon had described. It was taller than most skyscrapers, and it was as enormous as it was tall; from the outside, it looked like a large, round basket, resembling a bird’s nest holding eggs from one perspective. But from a different perspective, it looked like a cocoon that hadn’t wrapped around the main body completely. Though it looked relatively normal at first glance, a closer look would reveal that it was way more bizarre than expected.

The whole body was covered with bluish flesh, and the surface was completely uneven. The uneven parts were moving nonstop, as if it was living and breathing in and out. On top of that, there were countless tentacles that split like tree roots at the bottom. The thing was so enormous and peculiar that it made the expeditionary force think that the Sky Castle they had seen during the great war might have been the miniaturized version of this.

Of course, in terms of appearance, this one was much more grotesque. Moreover, it was clear that the mysterious and strange creature presumed to be the Sernitas looked like a ‘vessel’ to contain something. The campsite had become completely noisy and rowdy by now, and Chi-Woo and Chi-Hyun turned around at the same time. The moment they had been waiting for had finally arrived.

* * *

The Sernitas made their grand appearance. A dreary air flowed through the plain, which had been serene and still until dawn. Some tried to steady their shaky breathing, while others murmured something nonstop with trembling lips. The expeditionary forces tightly clutched their weapons and widened their eyes; the tense atmosphere suggested how nervous they were.

While the Shalyh’s expeditionary force tried to overcome their fear, Chi-Hyun sharply scanned the Sernitas. ‘Why did they stop?’ Based on what he heard from the Last Dragon, the Sernitas had relentlessly advanced after resuming external activities. However, the Sernitas stopped moving at a set distance while facing the expeditionary force. They were on standby. Of course, it hadn’t even been ten minutes since the Sernitas first appeared, but Chi-Hyun couldn’t help feeling suspicious of their actions.

At that moment, black smoke rose on a large scale around the Sernitas, which had transformed into a nest. The overflowing smoke entered the atmosphere and rushed toward the Shalyh’s expeditionary force like a tsunami. The mages on standby immediately stepped out. They each summoned the wind and tried to push the black smoke back, but the black smoke seemed to be something other than air and wasn’t affected by the wind at all. When the black smoke pushed ahead in all directions without being hindered in the slightest, the Shalyh’s expeditionary force activated their AI Armor with their mana.

However, something that no one expected happened. The AI Armor had been able to resist the Sernitas’ surprise attacks in the past, but this time, the armor corroded and melted as soon as it touched the smoke. When they realized what was happening, the dark smoke had already hit the expeditionary force. Those who were standing in the front immediately held their breath, but their efforts were futile. As soon as the dark smoke touched them, their skin turned red as if it had rusted. Small bubbles rose from the reddened skin and began swelling like balloons before bursting.

Screams broke out everywhere. Blood mixed with yellow pus poured from those standing at the front line as they collapsed. Seeing their allies collapsing one by one, humanity and the League tried to quickly step back, but there was no place for them to withdraw to. The black smoke had already swept through the area, and more was coming from the front. The expeditionary force was already in chaos because they couldn’t even stand a chance from the start.

Then light shone from the center of this hellish scene of chaos and disaster, flowing down from the atmosphere and dancing like an aurora. A twinkling starlight descended, and soon, the screams died down.

When the light touched their body, those who were squirming in pain blinked in surprise as the pain dissipated. Their red boiling skin quickly cooled, and new flesh patched over the wounds. Moreover, the light falling like sleet seeped into the black smoke with ease and neutralized it while making it transparent. The source of the constant flow of light was none other than the center of the expeditionary force, or to be more precise, the saintesses with Evelyn at the center.

Noel, Aida, Shersha, and Teresa knelt in a circle around Evelyn and prayed. It was the same for Evelyn, who was standing at their center. She held her hands tightly and muttered prayers nonstop with her head bowed. Receiving power from the other four saintesses, Evelyn unleashed her divinity on a large scale. Judging by how she was shaking with sweat pouring down her whole body, it seemed to be extremely strenuous, but at least the Sernitas’ first move was successfully nullified.

Chi-Woo breathed a sigh of relief and suddenly frowned. ‘...No, could this be called a first move?’ A sudden thought came to his mind. He hadn’t felt any hostility from the black smoke that had just flowed out. Of course, since the Sernitas were their enemy and they had suffered real damage, there should be no point in questioning the Sernitas’ intentions, but he really hadn’t felt even the slightest hostility from that attack.

If he had to describe it, it felt like the black smoke was a byproduct of the Sernitas’ preparation for a proper attack. It was as if a giant had raised his foot to trample on a group of ants, but during this process, the ants were caught in the tremor of the ground and died in hordes, before the giant had even stepped on them. Since Chi-Woo’s defense system, which blocked all kinds of external interference with his divine blood as its base, reacted immediately, there was no need to even explain how the others were faring.

‘It wasn’t even a proper attack…’ It might have been nothing but a simple movement from the Sernitas, but on their side, Evelyn and all the other saintesses, who were considered the main force of the expeditionary force, had to fight with all their might.

[It’s a…disaster…! It’s calamity itself…!]

Chi-Woo’s expression darkened as the cry of the survivor of the Cassiubia Mountain Range seemed to be echoing inside his mind. It was clear that the Sernitas was preparing for something far beyond his imagination. ‘Nest…cocoon…vessel…’

𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

There must be a connection there, but he couldn’t quite put a finger on it. While he couldn’t be certain, perhaps even this war was merely one of the preparatory processes for the Sernitas. When the moment finally came, the Sernitas would launch a decisive attack at the most certain moment. And the target was…

‘There’s a high chance that it’ll be me.’ What in the world were they preparing, and what was hidden in that giant cocoon? He didn’t know at the moment, but he should never let his guard down. Chi-Woo’s train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a pained groan. It was from a very close distance, and looking down at his left shoulder, Chi-Woo’s face fell. Asha, who was sitting on his shoulder, was in great distress. Judging by how Asha was squirming their lump-like body, they looked as if they were poisoned.

“Asha, what’s wrong?”

However, Asha didn’t answer and groaned as if they were going to faint at any moment. Chi-Woo hurriedly tried to infuse them with exorcism mana, but it was in vain. Chi-Woo became flustered by the sudden turn of events. Thanks to the saintesses’ divinity, the black smoke from the nest had been completely neutralized and disappeared. Those who were injured earlier were beginning to stand up one by one after recovering, but only Asha was still in severe pain.

Meanwhile, Chi-Woo wasn’t the only one who found the Sernitas’ action strange. Chi-Hyun felt the same way. The Sernitas was trying to accomplish something with this being part of the preparation. He needed to find out what it was so that he could at least be ready for it. While he was seriously contemplating if he should split that enormous body in half and look inside—Chi-Hyun suddenly flinched and looked down reflexively.

‘The ground…?’ The ground suddenly became wet. The soil, which had been firm under the soft grass, was slowly receding. He wasn’t mistaken. The ground was melting like ice under the scorching sun and becoming a swamp. Judging by how the soles of his feet were digging into the ground little by little, the plain was likely going to turn into something like a swamp before long.

“…No wonder.” Chi-Hyun did not know of the Sernitas’ true aim yet. However, one thing was clear. He realized why the survivor had mentioned an ancient monster while rambling, as well as the reason the main forces of the Cassiubia Mountain Range were so determined to retreat yet failed to do so and got annihilated. The Sernitas had appeared less than an hour ago. No—it had only been about ten minutes, let alone an hour. Nevertheless, the whole area had already been completely territorialized.

If this battlefield was already in this state, there was no need to even mention how a land that was originally the Sernitas’ would have been. Whether it was inside or near the border, they shouldn’t have gone near the Sernitas from the start.

‘Contamination.’ Since Chi-Hyun had gone to many different worlds, he had experienced a similar kind of attack before, but the intensity and speed of this contamination were definitely unusual. Contamination was like mold. It started as a parasite and spread quickly by releasing spores everywhere and eventually succeeded in taking over its host. However, the problem was that the Sernitas did not target only their immediate vicinity but the entire Liber as its host. It would spread not just here, but swallow the planet itself in the near future, and this was the reason Asha was groaning in pain as Asha was essentially Liber’s World.

Chi-Hyun let out a hollow laugh. What the hell were they trying to do by using an entire planet as their nutrient? He had planned to wait and see for now and adjust his plan based on how their enemy acted, but this was not the time for such passive measures.

‘…What?’ Then Chi-Hyun’s eyes narrowed as the Sernitas suddenly changed form once again without a moment’s break.