Volume 8, Chapter 23 – The Imminent Erosion

“Dofi.”

The moment Fia emerged from the long staircase, Yulisha, dressed in her imperial military uniform, hurried over to meet her. She had watched Fia leave the great hall together with the Queen of Death, and then personally witnessed Fia and that queen part ways—Fia descending the steps while the Queen of Death departed from the side, turning to command the undead army in a language Fia couldn’t understand.

“Well? What did you talk about?”

“Mm… it went smoothly enough. It was a misunderstanding.”

Fia hesitated for a moment, choosing to answer with parts she could share. She had initially wanted to divulge everything, but thinking about how embarrassing it was that she’d been proposed to the moment they met made her hold her tongue. Instead, she opted for an explanation that would let everyone understand the gist of what happened without making herself too uncomfortable.

WUUUUUUUU—

A rhythmic, low horn call echoed across the wilderness. The undead army, arrayed in formation on either side of the gray great hall, began to move slowly. First, the massive bone dragon, over a hundred meters in length, beat its wings and flew deeper into the Netherworld. Then came the nightmare knights and the vengeful spirits. The undead archmages flew toward the enormous Leviathan hovering in the air. Though their movements weren’t fast, they were orderly.

Finally, as the magnificent palace silently crumbled into dust, the entire undead army had already receded into the distance, leaving only a few nightmare knights and undead archmages dressed as maids beside the carriage.

“They must have seen sister’s power and gotten scared into running away. I saw with my own eyes a maid being carried out of the palace by others—she must have gotten a good scolding from you.”

“Don’t celebrate too early. This isn’t over. The battle between the undead and Chaos has been going on for a very long time, to the point where it’s become a fight to the death. I want to go see how it’s progressing. Mother Yulisha and Claire should go back first. Wait, where’s Claire?”

At first, Fia thought Claire was sitting inside the carriage. But when Liti emerged from the carriage and lifted a corner of the curtain, Fia didn’t see anyone inside.

“Claire said she noticed something concerning and left, right after Dofi entered the palace.”

“I could feel the ground shaking, you know. Maybe something collapsed somewhere again.”

Liti, poking her head out from the carriage curtain, pressed her index finger against her chin.

Fia frowned.

“Shaking? The same kind of shaking as before when Tilulu declared herself king in the snake-people’s territory?”

“I think so. Sister Claire seemed really worried. But sister doesn’t need to make that scary face. That shaking just now wasn’t very noticeable—felt like a normal minor earthquake. Maybe Sister Claire was just being too sensitive.”

Not heeding Liti’s advice, Fia lowered her head in thought. Last time she’d felt that shaking was when the wasteland across from Blossom fell into the Sea of Chaos. Where would it be this time?

If this time it was Blossom… no. After the last disaster, she’d inspected Blossom’s land. The Holy Tree made Blossom’s foundation extremely solid; its long, thick roots firmly gripped the earth. It couldn’t be Blossom.

“Did Claire say when she’d be back?”

“No.”

“Sigh, I understand. Mother Yulisha, wait here for me awhile. I need to go back to Blossom and check on things. I’ll be back within half an hour at most.”

The pattern of these collapses wasn’t yet known, so everywhere along the edge of the World Tree Continent, or places close to the Abyss, needed careful inspection. Besides Blossom, there was also the Weeping Mountains near the southern part of the Charm Cat’s territory.

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Fia’s expression made Yulisha sense that something serious was happening. She hadn’t experienced the collapse of the wasteland after feeling the earth tremor like Fia and Liti had, so even though she’d noticed the shaking, she wasn’t tense about it—the degree was too mild, like a distant bone dragon stomping its foot.

“What happened?”

“I can’t confirm yet. Anyway, I need to use teleportation magic to go back and verify things.”

“Alright, I’ll wait here for your news.”

With Yulisha’s affirmation, Fia walked toward the nightmare knights and undead archmages about ten meters from the carriage. Although Lucitine had approved of her, given the undead’s contempt for the living, she didn’t fully trust them.

“What are you all doing here?”

Seeing Fia approach, the undead simultaneously placed their right hands over their left chests and bowed to a ninety-degree angle.

“Her Majesty ordered us to wait here for you, to serve as guides for your journey to the Wall of Sighs.”

“I need to leave for a short while. All of you stay here and don’t act recklessly.”

“We await your command, Your Highness the Queen Consort.”

Even though Fia hadn’t seen Lucitine give them any orders, these undead seemed to know everything. It must be that undead had special means of communication with each other, analogous to the Antler Chaos.

As long as they understood the hierarchy, it saved her a lot of trouble.

Not lingering any longer, with a teleportation portal unfolding before her, the black-haired, red-eyed elf princess vanished from the wilderness.

◇

As it turned out, there was both good news and bad news.

The good news was that Blossom and the Weeping Mountains were completely unharmed. The bad news was that when Fia used teleportation magic to travel from Charm Cat territory to the teleportation point in the Land of Exile, then headed south to reunite with Yulisha, she realized this tremor was no simple earthquake.

Nearly half of the Land of Exile had vanished.

Since most of the area was uninhabitable wetlands and marshes, although the Land of Exile was vast in area, only a small portion of land near Yarua City had settlements. For example, the Second Abyss, where the Confessional Hall was built—extending ten kilometers north from there was all uninhabited zone. The place where the collapse occurred this time was centered on the Second Abyss, spreading approximately two to three kilometers in both directions toward the Land of Exile and the Netherworld.

Furthermore, because the Abyss’s expansion increased the area devoid of elements, the Confessional Hall—originally built suspended above the Second Abyss—lost its magical power and fell into the depths of the Abyss. The only thing to be grateful for was that due to the previous undead attack, all members of the Elf Tower within the Confessional Hall had already withdrawn to Yarua City, so there were no casualties.

Looking down from high above, the massive rift, now six kilometers wide, had become a beast that devoured anyone who approached. Combined with the putrid air blowing in from the Netherworld, the world presented a desolate, apocalyptic scene.

Yarua City, not far away, had probably already suffered earthquake damage.

Utterly terrible—couldn’t be worse.

Hovering at high altitude, Fia stared down at the Abyss below. As usual, the interior of the Abyss was covered by thick clouds, obscuring what lay beneath. But this time, Fia had a distinct feeling of being watched, and this gaze wasn’t coming from any other direction—it was coming directly from the Abyss.

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She’d felt the same sensation before when facing the Mist Demon in Cold Night. After that Chaos-corrupted Mist Demon died, the Chaos on its body had coalesced into a viper that stared at her. The gaze she felt now was even more pronounced than back then. It stuck to her skin like something viscous and unpleasant.

Whatever it was, she’d go down and inspect it first.

The purple butterfly wings behind her spread wider, and Fia dove straight toward the Abyss. Her small body pierced through the clouds in an instant. Then, she halted abruptly in mid-air.

Her field of vision showed Chaos that seemed about to overflow its banks like a bursting dam.

“Tch!”

[Spatial Rift]

A pitch-black rift tearing through space materialized at Fia’s fingertip. An arc stretching from one end of her vision to the other detached from her and instantly plunged into the black sea. The dark ocean below, as if sensing Fia’s presence—having been still and quiet until now—surged madly toward her like a frenzy. The result, of course, was that they were all devoured one by one by the spatial rift. But Fia discovered that the spatial rift’s consumption of Chaos couldn’t keep up with the rate Chaos was pouring in. In just two seconds, Chaos had submerged the spatial rift and continued rushing toward her.

The Antler Chaos sage Milan had explained that Chaos, due to the existence of the Mother, had developed a survival instinct. The reason Fia felt the Abyss staring at her was probably that these Chaos entities sensed her presence, detected danger, and hid within the clouds, not daring to emerge. Only after she left would they surge out like a flood. And now that she’d discovered them, they attacked her frantically, trying to force her back with this assault.

This collapse was probably caused by them. Having discovered that the Second Abyss wasn’t covered by the World Tree’s barrier, they expanded it to facilitate climbing up onto the World Tree Continent.

Fia naturally wouldn’t allow Chaos to touch her.

If one [Spatial Rift] wasn’t enough, then ten!

Using the Moon Key tucked behind her as a staff, Fia consecutively unleashed ten maximized [Spatial Rifts]. In an instant, the twenty-kilometer-long [Spatial Rifts] not only filled the Abyss but also incidentally widened it a bit further. Not a single drop of Chaos escaped the spatial rift’s tearing. Ten consecutive [Spatial Rifts], like iron balls smashed into the bottom of a well, forcefully pushed the Chaos, which had nearly reached the brim, down several kilometers, even creating a vacuum zone within the Abyss that generated tremendous suction.

This still wasn’t enough.

As long as she didn’t seal up the Abyss, Chaos would reappear the moment she left.

Use [Blessing of the Mother Goddess] to create land and block up the Abyss?

Anastasia had mentioned that when the Queen of Death in that world discovered the Second Abyss, she used earth magic to seal it shut. But later, Chaos still broke through the Second Abyss, triggering a continent-wide disaster. Therefore, earth magic wasn’t reliable—it could only temporarily seal it.

But spells like [Spatial Confinement] and [Absolute Stillness] also had time limits. While she could seal it for now and leave it alone, then proactively open the seal later once everyone was gathered, letting Chaos out to meet a prepared defensive line—no one knew how long it would take for Chaos to break the seal. If she misjudged the timing, it would undoubtedly become a disaster.

Was there a permanent solution?

A flash of inspiration struck her. Fia thought of a strategy.

Didn’t I still have a trump card for dealing with Chaos?

She had witnessed the Antler Chaos manipulating Chaos before, and Milan had also said they could freely control ordinary Chaos, using it as nutrients to sustain themselves. If she had Milan dispatch a few Antler Chaos here, perhaps they could control the Chaos with complete flexibility, preventing it from surging out.

In any case, it was worth a try.

Since she had set up a teleportation point in the Antler Chaos stronghold, Fia arrived in their territory in the blink of an eye—it was worth mentioning that Fia had originally thought the teleportation magic might not work due to the distance being too great, and that she would need to use the Charm Cat territory as a relay point first. But when she tentatively tried casting it once, she arrived directly at the Antler Chaos stronghold, which rather surprised her.

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“Father God!”

The moment Fia landed, Milan’s telepathic voice resonated in her mind. And not just Milan—there were also several ninth-rank warriors with completely golden eyes on the square.

Had they been waiting here for me all along?

Considering that Antler Chaos had no need for sleep and could communicate over long distances through soul links, it wouldn’t be strange if they really had been waiting here.

Fia held out one end of the Moon Key to Milan.

“Don’t ask why. Grab this. I’m taking you to the surface.”

“We cannot touch your sacred relic.”

Why?

Fia wanted to ask, but time was pressing. Questions could come later. Who knew if Chaos had crawled up in the past half minute? Fia tucked the Moon Key behind her back and instead handed Milan a semi-finished staff—the Antler Chaos’s exterior was covered in Chaos. Although Fia’s skin could ignore Chaos corrosion, she had absolutely no desire to know what touching Chaos with her bare hand felt like.

“Hold this.”

“Yes.”

Without further communication, Fia used teleportation magic to return to the Second Abyss. In just over a minute, the Chaos that had been pushed back by [Spatial Rift] had already surged above ground. Looking down from above, it was as if the earth had gained an additional expansive black lake.

“This is Chaos from beneath the Abyss? I can sense its wild and untamed aura.”

Milan’s hesitant voice sounded in Fia’s mind. Additionally, Fia sensed a feeling of joy from the several Antler Chaos warriors who had come along. This emotion was akin to a thirsty person spotting a cool, clear spring.

“This is what I wanted to talk about. Do you have a way to control it and prevent it from reaching the surface?”

“Of course. Although this is uncontrolled wild nourishment, it is still nourishment.”

“Make it go back.”

“…As you command.”

“Is there something you want to say?”

Fia’s question wasn’t without reason. Telepathic communication conveyed more information than spoken words—such as the emotions of the person transmitting the thought. When Milan had spoken, there was clearly a trace of regret in his emotions.

Releasing the semi-finished staff, Milan lowered his head and answered sincerely.

“As you can see, our survival requires nourishment for maintenance. Currently, maintaining the population at a hundred thousand is already our limit, due to insufficient channels for obtaining nourishment. If you would permit us to claim this nourishment for our own use, our numbers would no longer be restricted by the lack of sustenance. I wish to relocate our people here.”

According to Milan, the existence of the World Tree’s barrier determined that they could only go from above to below. Once they crossed the barrier, they couldn’t return. Therefore, they couldn’t harness the Chaos beneath the World Tree Continent as nourishment. Normally, maintaining themselves required cultivating Chaos on their own—that is, letting Chaos devour the elements and magical essence from the World Tree continent, allowing Chaos to reproduce on its own. Then they would devour that reproduced Chaos, thereby sustaining their population.

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Was this a case of misfortune turning into a blessing?

Fia pondered the feasibility in her mind.

There was an endless supply of Chaos here. Even if she let Milan leave people here, there was no need to worry about Antler Chaos dying from being separated from Chaos. Their presence could, in turn, suppress Chaos from surging out of the Abyss. Therefore, she absolutely needed to keep them at the Second Abyss. The immediate problem was that Milan wanted to relocate his entire population here. Such a large-scale operation would inevitably become known to most races on the World Tree Continent, and even to Lucitine.

—There was simply no guaranteeing they wouldn’t harbor hostility toward Chaos. Especially Lucitine. She had already explained that the battle between the undead and Chaos had lasted over ten thousand years, and half of the hundred generations of Death Queens had been killed by Chaos. The hatred had long accumulated to the point of being irreconcilable, a fight to the death. If she discovered Fia’s connection to Chaos, leaving aside her hostility toward Chaos, she might even come to hate Fia herself. It must be remembered that racial hatred was not something that could be resolved with a few words.

More importantly, the Antler Chaos were a trump card left by the Eldest Princess. A trump card could not be revealed unless it was absolutely necessary. In the intelligence Anastasia had provided, the Sovereign would side with Chaos when it arrived. To avoid the possibility of that scenario playing out again, and the Sovereign exposing the Antler Chaos, it was best to be cautious for now. That is, not forbidding the Antler Chaos from relocating but ensuring they acted with extreme care.

“I permit it. But your existence cannot be lightly revealed to others. First, dispatch people to map out the relocation route. Then relocate little by little. Be absolutely certain not to be detected by outsiders.”

“Yes.”

As Milan’s words fell, Fia heard an almost imperceptible clamor in the air. Immediately after, three Antler Chaos with golden eyes flew down toward the Chaos lake below. The Chaos vortex she had previously seen beneath the Abyss reappeared. The lake rapidly sank, and in just a moment, it revealed the bottomless Abyss beneath. Only the pockmarked, hole-riddled bare rock surfaces on either side of the cliff indicated that this place had once been eroded by Chaos.

It was the kind of corrosion where, if you reached out to pick at it, it would make a crisp sound and flake off pieces of stone.

“In this way, the wild nourishment will be unable to encroach upon your land. However, the golden-ones left here cannot communicate with you like I can. So if Father God wishes to hear their voices, you will need a sage like me—that is, one with blue in their eyes.”

“Mm. I’ll take you back, and you can select another sage.”

“As you command.”

The blue teleportation portal reappeared. Fia returned to the Antler Chaos stronghold and brought back to the Second Abyss an Antler Chaos whose eyes were one-third blue. Since she still hadn’t seen Claire, and to avoid Claire accidentally killing her own people, Fia specially took out paper and pen, left a note, and handed it to the sage for safekeeping. If this sage encountered a silver-haired, green-eyed woman who, when angered, would reveal demonic horns and a tail, he was to give her the note.

By the time this series of actions was completed, a quarter of an hour had passed.

Fia returned to Yulisha’s side, asked Yulisha and Liti to return to Yarua City, being careful to circumvent the expanded Abyss, while she herself headed for the Wall of Sighs. The appearance of the Second Abyss was already a warning. Disaster was imminent. Dealing with Chaos had to be made the top priority.

She had heard that railway construction had progressed a certain distance. Once the railway was completed, she could attempt to build a tower spanning the continent, leading down to the Abyss. This would allow her to deploy their warriors downward, then implement the tactic of her being responsible for eliminating Chaos while their warriors held the gains, thus beginning the war against Chaos in earnest.

And to minimize casualties, the undead, with their immortal and indestructible characteristics, were absolutely essential.

Watching the convoy escorting Yulisha and Liti slowly make its way toward Yarua City, Fia commanded the single remaining maid—the other undead had been ordered by Fia to escort the carriage.

“Take me to the Wall of Sighs.”

“Yes, Your Highness the Queen Consort.”