Chapter 635: The Base Is No Longer Safe

Several people left through the northern route, but before the second group could reach the alternative route, the old crack widened with a long, grinding sound.

Krrrrrk!

A large part of the main route collapsed.

The rocks fell into the depths, and hot steam rose from the crack. Several guards stepped back, but at that exact moment, the ground behind them also began to split apart.

"The route is blocked!"

When Lian and Alaric arrived, the eastern section had become a piece of land that was breaking away from both sides.

Red molten light could be seen deep inside the crack, and columns of hot steam rose between the rocks.

Alaric immediately contacted the officer in charge.

"How many people are still there?"

"Five people, Commander! Three guards and two staff members!"

"What’s the condition of the ground?"

"It’s unstable! We don’t know how long it will hold!"

"Keep the second route open, no one is going back to save the equipment."

At the same time, Lian looked at the crack.

It was wider than the crack he had covered with ice last night, and even more intense heat was rising from the depths.

Building a complete bridge here would only waste too much mana.

His previous experience had shown that the ice structure would not remain stable for long against this kind of heat.

So it was better to use another method.

"I’m going over there."

Alaric nodded.

"People come first, don’t go after the equipment."

"Don’t worry."

Two huge black wings spread out behind Lian.

Wings of God.

With one movement, Vorhelm’s body lifted off the ground and flew toward the eastern section.

When he landed, one of the guards was helping a staff member whose leg was trapped beneath a piece of rock.

Every time the guard tried to move the rock, the cracks around it spread further.

Lian approached them.

"Move back."

Then he placed both hands beneath the edge of the rock and lifted it without needing any special skill.

The staff member freed his leg, but he still could not stand properly.

"Can you move?"

The man nodded with difficulty.

"I think so..."

"You don’t need to."

Lian lifted him up, and a few seconds later, he handed him over to the healers on the safe side.

Then he immediately returned.

Four people remained.

But when he was about to carry the nearest guard to safety, one of the stone pillars beside the defense platform fell toward two of the staff members.

He changed his position, and his right fist struck the middle section of the pillar.

BANG!

The pillar broke into several large pieces, changing the direction of its fall.

However, the impact made the edge of the ground even more unstable.

Lian immediately lowered his hand.

\[Frost Dominion\]

Intense cold spread across the surface of the rock, but this time, instead of covering the entire crack, he focused the ice only on the connection between the broken edges.

Thick layers formed between the pieces of rock, and the ice structure held the damaged section in place like a temporary support.

This was much better.

He did not need to fill the entire width of the crack, he only needed to buy a few seconds.

"Move away from that side, stay close together so I can carry you over faster."

The guards immediately obeyed.

Lian first carried two people across with short flights, then returned for the next person, but when it was the last guard’s turn, the ground beneath the man suddenly dropped.

"Damn it!"

His body slipped past the edge, and at that very moment, Lian moved, his fingers closed around the guard’s arm, and the man hung in the air for a moment.

Several pieces of rock fell beside him and disappeared into the darkness.

Lian spread his wings with force.

A few seconds later, both of them landed on safe ground.

The guard was still breathing heavily.

"Th... thank you..."

"You’d better stay away from the edge."

The man immediately stepped back, and at that exact moment... KRRRAAAACK!

A large part of the eastern platform collapsed.

The ground, along with the two defense machines and the remaining equipment, fell downward and disappeared among the hot steam and red molten light.

Lian took a few steps away from the edge.

All five people had been rescued, and after checking the condition of the people, Alaric ordered the officer beside him.

"Remove the eastern area from the operational map, the second position will replace it from now on."

Then he looked at Lian.

"Good work."

"The ground here is more unstable than we thought, if the other routes become like this too, you’ll have to move the positions again."

At the rate the cracks were spreading, even the base might soon become unusable.

They had to find a way out as soon as possible.

"I know, we’ll probably have to change the plan before tomorrow ends."

Lian nodded.

Even if they defeated all the attacking Withered, no permanent base could remain safe forever in a land where the ground was breaking apart.

At that moment, the sound of a conversation came from the support storage area.

"I told you that shipment can still be moved." A young girl’s voice was cold and firm.

Lian turned his head.

Near one of the half-empty storage buildings, a girl with straight black hair that reached slightly below her shoulders was standing.

She wore a neat, dark combat outfit, and her dark blue eyes were fixed on a small map.

"The commander’s orders are clear, no one is going back into the danger zone to save equipment." The officer in front of her replied.

The girl raised her head.

"I didn’t ask for that either, the shipment is still inside the safe area, so why has the transfer team stopped?"

"The route near the storage building is becoming unstable."

"Which section? The southern route or the back route?"

"The southern route."

"Then the back route is still open."

The officer frowned.

"For now."

"That’s what I wanted to know from the beginning."

The girl lowered the map and then continued.

"Move the shipments near the exit through the back route, leave the rest behind, there’s no need for anyone to enter the section that’s collapsing."

Lian listened to the conversation for a moment.

This one isn’t bad either.

Instead of making pointless complaints, she was trying to find a practical solution based on the available information.

At that moment, she noticed Lian’s presence.

Her gaze stayed on him for a moment, as well as on the black wings that had not completely disappeared yet.

"Lian Vorhelm?"

"Yeah."

The girl closed the map.

"Myra Kessler, one of the representatives of the Twelve Ancient Guilds."

Her introduction was short and formal.

"Nice to meet you."

"You were over there just a few minutes ago, how much time do you think we have before the back route also becomes unstable?" Myra gave a slight nod.

Lian glanced at the route.

"I can’t give you an exact time, but the main cracks haven’t reached it yet."

"Then can we still move the shipments near the exit?"

"If it’s done quickly, probably, but if I were you, I wouldn’t go back for the boxes left over there."

"I’m not asking you to do that either." Myra nodded without showing any displeasure.

Then she turned back to the officer.

"Then only the shipments near the exit will be moved."

The transfer began.

Boxes containing mana recovery potions and medical supplies were taken out through the back route, and Myra personally recorded the number of shipments.

But just as the last group was about to leave, another tremor occurred.

One of the staff members lost his balance, and the box he was carrying fell to the ground.

Several glass containers rolled toward the crack, and the man tried to pick them up, but the ground near the edge began to split apart.

Myra immediately grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

Several containers fell into the crack.

"I’m sorry..."

The man looked down with a pale face.

"Can you walk?" Myra asked.

"Yes..."

"Then move."

The man took a few steps back.

"Those were really expensive..."

She looked at the crack for a moment.

"I know."

She brushed the dirt off her sleeve.

"But if you had gone back to pick them up and died, we would have lost both the medicine and one of our people, but now we’ve only lost the medicine."

"Thank you." The staff member lowered his head.

Myra did not reply and ordered the person in charge of the transfer to close the route.

Lian watched the scene from a short distance away.

She’s cold and calculating.

But that did not mean she was indifferent to people’s lives, the girl preferred to make her decisions based on reality, even when the result was losing valuable resources.

Myra turned toward him again.

"You’re still here?"

"Is that a problem?" Lian raised an eyebrow.

"No, I just thought you’d leave for your next mission."

"There’s nothing yet."

"Then there probably will be soon." She kept her gaze on him.

Lian gave a short laugh.

"I hope it takes at least a few minutes."

But the girl did not even smile.

"With the ground in this condition, I doubt it."

Then she walked toward the central area without continuing the conversation.

The young Vorhelm watched her leave for a moment.

She’s an interesting person.

Even when speaking with him, Myra had kept the same direct tone she used with the Association officer.

And that was not a bad thing in Lian’s eyes.

In the base’s medical area, several injured guards were resting on temporary beds.

He had gone there for a quick check to see if they needed anything.

But as he passed one of the tables, a short laugh caught his attention.

"If you keep this up, you’ll destroy all the medicine in the base before the Sun kills us."

A young man with light-colored hair and blue eyes was sitting on the edge of the table, he had a slim, well-trained body and wore a dark combat outfit whose high-quality fabric and stitching were easy to notice.

In front of him, one of the female staff members was trying to move several medical containers at the same time.