Alex and Venedikt talked for a long time about each possible scenario and their approach to it, deciding that they would keep growing their strength as before but with some additions.

They understood that it would be easy for Magnus to find their members even if they made them not affiliate with any guild that was linked to the organization or the Shiekh.

Because even if they found a third party, kept it hidden, and funded the players through them, it would only work until one of the players flipped on them. Then, they would be back where they began, if not in a worse situation, since now Magnus would know that they were trying very hard to hide from him.

They did add a few things, including that each player who had access to the training chambers would spend two and a half hours training every day, including the players who had entered the ancestral realm.

If Alex could, he would have completely put aside the ancestral world and focused more on his real-world strengths.

But he knew not only that he could not make much faster progress than he was already making but that the matters of the other world were more urgent, and even the daily two-and-a-half-hour break would set them an entire day in the ancestral realm.

Alex also began buying advanced technology or essential elements of one, using every last penny they were making from the domain, preparing not only to go off-grid but also to go to war with the government if needed.

Alex was willing to compromise for the comfort of those around him and had no problem helping humanity grow and advance. However, if those at the top expected him to become their puppet to do their bidding, he was prepared to put them through hell.

After dinner and some well-needed mental rest, the boys returned to the guild house and to the ancestral realm.

————-

Alex woke up in a spacious room, a large bed with crisp sheets occupied the center, and a massive glass window provided a breathtaking view of the bustling city below.

The room seemed mostly empty, but it was far from ordinary, as it held hidden features like gravity manipulation and self-repair mechanisms, and the walls and floors were magically enhanced, making the room resilient to even the most intense outbursts of power.

As Alex came to his senses, he took out his communication badge, and, like waiting for him, it suddenly rang, breaking the silence before the message was delivered.

“This is Legion Commander Thane. All army members up to the rank of Company Captain are to report to the Legion building within thirty minutes. This is an urgent summons.” A stern voice came through.

After checking that the summon was six days old, Alex placed the badge on his belt and then left his bed, and began to stretch his body.

Though Alex had only been gone for forty-two real-world hours, it had translated to nearly eighteen days in the ancestral realm, and he was completely unaware of the current situation in the ongoing war against the Skaven.

So once he felt fully in tune with his body, without wasting any time, he quickly left the room, intent on getting updated as swiftly as possible.

As he exited, he was immediately greeted by Licinia Catilina, the Battalion Leader who had led his group in the first raid against the Skaven. freёwebnoѵel.com

“Hidden One, I was starting to get worried since you have been missing for a few weeks,” Licinia greeted him warmly, like an old friend, as she raised her right hand, a hand that was now a prosthetic iron limb, a grim reminder of their encounter with Ratanak, the Skaven king.

Licinia was a seasoned warrior known for her cold demeanor forged through decades of service. However, beneath that tough exterior lay a bubbly personality she reserved for those she trusted, and after Alex saved her life, he became one of those few.

“I had my reasons,” Alex replied, returning her greeting with a nod.

“So, did I miss anything major while I was away?” Alex asked, eager to catch up on any breakthroughs the Empire might have made in the ongoing chaos, but the serious expression on Licinia’s face told a different story.

“It’s worse than a few weeks ago,” Licinia said with a heavy tone, her usual bubbly demeanor replaced with her usually cold seriousness.

“The Skaven have somehow found a way to create Blight Bringers, and those little shits are causing havoc all over the Empire,” Licinia said, her voice laced with frustration and anger.

“The casualties in grade 3 and lower cities and towns are off the charts, as millions have died and ten times more are suffering from intense, body-decomposing plagues that give them a terrible life of a few weeks before death mercifully takes them,” Licinia continued, but paused as Alex raised his hand to stop her.

“Licinia, calm down and give me the details. What exactly are these Blight Bringers? Are they a new subspecies of Ratlings or something unique to a select few?” Alex asked, his tone steady and focused, wanting to grasp the situation clearly.

The death of millions was no joke, and for such casualties to happen in mere weeks was alarming, to say the least, since even in the worst of past months, there were not such a number of casualties.

“It’s better if I show you one of the incidents,” Licinia replied as she walked into his room, and he quietly followed.

Licinia took out a small badge, activated it, and threw it onto the floor, and as the badge sprang to life, it projected an eagle-eye view of a small mining town with a few hundred houses.

Alex watched intently as the town’s inhabitants went about their daily routines, magic carts moved along rails filled with freshly mined ore.

The town seemed peaceful and ordinary until, without warning, everything changed, as the ground began to shake violently, causing many people to lose their balance, only for the heart of the town to split open, as a massive creature nearly forty meters tall tear his way through the ground.

It was a Hell Pit Abomination, accompanied by dozens of normal Ratlings, right as they surfaced, the Ratlings pulled out small flasks containing a volatile, constantly shifting gas.

The ratlings did not waste a moment before they drank the contents, and almost instantly, their bodies ignited with virulent green flames. Their screams of agony were quickly silenced as the Abomination devoured them whole, its maw gaping and monstrous.

Within moments, the Abomination itself became engulfed in the same virulent flames, and those flames began to spread rapidly through the town, like a wildfire, but unlike typical fire, it did not consume inorganic material.

Instead, the flames targeted only the living beings, sticking to anyone who came into contact with them, their screams echoing throughout the town as the fire consumed them.

The Abomination, now maddened by the pain, went on a destructive rampage, demolishing buildings and tearing open the ground.

The town’s guards and their captain quickly arrived at the scene, and wasting a moment, the captain hurled his spear at the creature, managing to pierce its head and bring it down.

The Abomination collapsed, lifeless, but the virulent flames continued to rage, fueled by the creature’s body.

The once peaceful town was soon engulfed in flames, and minutes later, the flames subsided as the giant beast was reduced to a pile of dark green miasmic smoke.

However, the horror was far from over as the green, virulent smoke left behind by the creature began to drift through the streets of the town, echoing with the screams of the wounded.

The air was thick with this toxic miasma that slowly spread out, lingering and refusing to dissipate even after the soldiers and town mercenaries tried to burn or blow it away.

“As you saw, once the process starts, there’s no stopping the Blight Flames unless you can completely eradicate it,”

“The Blight Miasma spreads through the surroundings and remains in the air for days before naturally dissipating, while not even fifth Rank magic attacks do much to affect it,”

“The time it stays unattended is enough to cripple even elementalists who breathe it in, and just a few breaths can doom ordinary people if they aren’t treated in time,” Licinia paused, her expression grim.

“The Skaven have also somehow gotten their hands on the Iron Empire’s atomizer technology, not on the scale of destroying cities but enough to make every encounter increasingly devastating for us, with casualties mounting as the days go by,” Licinia said before going silent.

Alex felt a cold shiver run down his spine as he absorbed the gravity of the situation, understanding the Skaven had not only unleashed a new weapon of terror but had also upped the stakes in their war against the Magi Empire.

“These are not even the worst news,” Licinia said, making Alex tense up. He turned to her, concern etched on his face, and braced himself for what was coming next.