Chapter 176: Lord Kale

The world of Vegas consisted of four vast continents.

First was Sulivanter, a territory almost completely developed by the Rizen Group. Before the apocalypse, the corporation had turned the wild landscape into a booming industrial and tourist hub, centered around their headquarters in Rizen City.

Second came Leveron, the most crowded and technologically advanced landmass in Vegas. Once home to numerous nations, it served as the political, economic, and cultural heart of the pre-apocalyptic world. This was also where Leo currently resided.

Third was Dravaryn. Unlike Leveron, its true wealth lay buried deep underground. Dravaryn held the richest veins of ores and minerals in the world. Mines scarred its mountains and burrowed into its depths, feeding raw materials to the other continents.

The final continent was Varkesh, a barren, war-torn land starved of natural resources. Long before the apocalypse, endless conflicts had ravaged the region. Warlords ruled entire territories, smuggling rings operated in broad daylight, and syndicates waged brutal turf wars. It served as a safe haven for the world’s most notorious mercenaries and criminals.

And now, the apocalypse had ruined all of it.

Meanwhile, deep beneath the Dravaryn Continent, a massive cavern opened up inside an abandoned mine. Veins of precious metals and raw ores laced the rock walls, catching the dim light. A throne dominated the center of the chamber. Carved not from wood or stone, but from jagged chunks of raw ore, it stood as a bizarre yet striking monument.

An alien sat upon this seat. His sheer presence flooded the cavern with an oppressive, heavy weight, even when he sat perfectly still.

He measured over six feet tall. Long white hair cascaded down his back, stopping just below two curved black horns. His eyes held no whites and no pupils—just pools of pure, solid gold. He wore a flowing robe resembling a priest’s garments, stitched with elaborate golden thread that gave him a sacred air. A dark tattoo shaped like a crucifix marked his forehead. Two massive, feathered black wings folded tightly against his back, blending into the surrounding shadows.

Surrounded by the glittering earth, he looked less like a beast hiding in the dark and more like a buried god waiting for the surface world to crumble.

A man with crimson hair knelt before the throne. Two black horns jutted from his forehead. This was Zeltan, the lone survivor who had escaped Rendell City. He bowed his head low.

"Lord Kale..."

"I have failed the mission and made many mistakes this time."

"I deserve the punishment of death."

Lord Kale let the silence stretch. Then, he opened his golden eyes.

"Rise, Zeltan."

"There’s nothing to be done over spilled milk."

Zeltan got to his feet. Lord Kale continued,

"Recount everything that happened."

"But first..."

"Tell me about the most important mission."

"Did you find the source of the energy explosion?"

Zeltan tensed.

"Lord..."

"I located the place where the energy explosion originated."

"But I was too late."

"When I arrived, the basement of the building where the explosion occurred was completely empty."

"It was a small town."

"But there was something strange about it."

"There wasn’t a single corpse soldier left alive."

Lord Kale’s golden eyes narrowed. Zeltan continued,

"The corpse soldiers had been gathered around a single building. Judging from the remains, someone had deliberately lured them there before collapsing the structure. There were traces of human explosives in the ruins, but whatever method had been used to lure the corpse soldiers had long since disappeared."

"I searched the area carefully."

"But there was almost nothing left."

"However..."

Zeltan reached into his clothes.

"I found this."

He stepped closer to the throne and offered a piece of parchment. Lord Kale took the paper and unfolded it. A complex magic circle covered the surface.

Lord Kale frowned, his solid gold eyes locking onto the intricate ink. He studied the design in silence before speaking.

"This is a Soul-Trapping Formation."

"From the High World."

Confusion tinged his voice.

"What is something like this doing in a low-level place like the Broken World?"

He stared at the parchment a moment longer, then shook his head.

"Do you have anything else to add?"

Zeltan bowed again.

"I’m sorry, Lord."

"I couldn’t find anything else."

"There were no other traces."

Lord Kale gave a brief nod.

"Go back."

"Investigate this matter again."

Zeltan met his gaze. Lord Kale’s tone dropped, carrying a heavy warning.

"You should know how important this is."

Zeltan dropped to one knee.

"Yes, Lord."

Lord Kale leaned back against his ore-carved seat.

"We were originally supposed to head toward the Boundary World as reinforcements for His Majesty."

"But one year ago..."

His golden eyes narrowed.

"A similar energy explosion from this world struck our ships."

"Even from such a great distance, the energy was powerful enough to affect our fleet."

"That was what caused us to crash into this world."

Lord Kale drummed his fingers against the armrest.

"There is something wrong with this world."

"Something we don’t understand."

He stared down at the parchment. His features hardened.

"We can only redeem ourselves before His Majesty if we uncover the source of that energy explosion."

"An energy surge powerful enough to affect us while we were merely passing through this world from such a great distance..."

"That power cannot be ordinary."

A sharp light caught in Lord Kale’s golden eyes.

"Find the source."

"Whatever it is..."

"We must know."

Just as Kale finished speaking, Zeltan replied, "Lord, I can no longer return to that continent. I had to destroy the teleportation formation while coming here."

Lord Kale narrowed his eyes. "What’s the reason? Most of our resources were destroyed. You know we can’t find resources to build a teleportation formation in this barren world."

Zeltan lowered his gaze. "Lord, let me explain to you. We had the battle in hand and victory was certain for us. But, a person appeared suddenly and used a law weapon to kill the blood puppet instantly. The use of a law weapon was not the thing that scared me the most, but the person had personally used the law weapon and had not received the slightest backlash and was still standing fit and fine. A person capable of using a law weapon is what compelled me to escape without further thought. You already know that the man in the floating island and his army of women had forced us to hide deep underground here. I didn’t want to attract another troublesome opponent to this place, so I deemed it necessary to destroy the teleportation formation."

Listening to Zeltan’s explanation, Lord Kale’s calm expression broke for the first time. He fell into deep thought.

"Indeed, another troublesome opponent would hamper our plans further," Lord Kale said, shaking his head. "First we failed to deliver our mission, and now one after another, troublesome opponents keep appearing."

Not wanting to waste the moment, Zeltan pressed the issue. "Lord, I know it’s presumptuous to ask this, but what was our original mission?"

Lord Kale gave a slow nod. "I think it’s high time you know this. We were originally delivering the corpse clan poison to the boundary world, where his majesty would use the corpse clan poison to wreak havoc on the forces of the boundary world. Look what the corpse poison did to this world. Seventy percent of the population wiped out in a matter of days. The boundary world’s concentration of Aether and Zen is abundant. His majesty was planning to revive the Corpse Emperor and enslave him."

Zeltan echoed the name, his curiosity piqued. "Corpse Emperor? Is he someone formidable?"

"Yes, he was," Lord Kale confirmed. "It is said that the Corpse Emperor was the only one in history who had almost brought the Astral Master to the brink of death."

Zeltan’s eyes widened. "The Astral Master? You mean that legendary figure?"

"Yes, you can just see the results of the corpse poison in this world," Kale replied. "But it’s a shame. Originally we had only a portion of the Corpse Emperor’s essence which would be used to revive him. But during the crash, we lost the essence and it spread in this world. So, basically, our mission has failed."

At that moment, a female alien emerged from the shadows of a nearby tunnel.

She stood around five feet four inches tall, with long pink hair falling over her shoulders.

Two curved horns protruded from her head, while her eyes contained narrow, vertical pupils resembling those of a serpent.

Her unusual appearance gave her a mysterious and slightly intimidating presence.

The female alien stepped up to the throne and lowered herself into a deep bow.

"Lord, the Core Extractor is finally completed." ℯℯ𝑙.

Lord Kale nodded. "At least one thing has gone our way." He stood up from his seat. "Let’s go see the Extractor."

Without another word, the female alien turned and led the way. Zeltan trailed behind Lord Kale as they descended into the deeper tunnels. A short walk brought them to their destination, where the narrow rock passage opened into a massive underground chamber.