Chapter 104: The monster awakened

The heavy silence hanging over Aurora City was shattered by a deep, earth-shaking tremor rising from far beneath the planet’s crust.

The vibration was so profound that it resonated through the bones of every living being on the planet. The air instantly became heavy, carrying with it the suffocating scent of ancient dust and long-forgotten oceans.

A chill crept down Victor’s spine.

[Ding!]

[The ancient entity has been disturbed by the spatial fluctuations caused by the high-grade dungeon gates.]

[The apocalyptic monster slumbering beneath the planet’s crust is awakening.]

[Name: Charybdis.]

[Realm: Elemental Sovereign.]

[Race: Cosmic Monster.]

[Bloodline Grade: 6.]

Victor’s eyes narrowed as he silently read the notification. Before he could fully process the information, another line materialized before him, causing his expression to become even more serious.

[Estimated emergence time: 12 hours.]

Victor remained calm despite the shocking revelation. His thoughts immediately shifted toward the far more immediate threat that was still inside the golden dungeon.

"What about the breakthrough time of the captain of the Demonic Dragons?" he asked inwardly.

The system responded without delay.

[Estimated breakthrough time: 10 to 12 hours.]

"So the two disaster would arrive at the same time."

Victor slowly exhaled before turning his attention inward. After advancing into the realm of a true Sage, countless changes had taken place within his body, and even his method of wielding magic had fundamentally transformed.

His grimoire had completely dissolved into countless particles of light.

"System, show me my current combat power."

A familiar panel appeared before his eyes.

[Combat Prowess: 700 Mega Star.]

Victor stared at the number in silence.

His combat prowess had increased seven hundredfold since his breakthrough. Such growth would have been unimaginable only a few days ago, enough to make even the strongest beings on Ethereum despair.

Yet Victor felt no sense of relief.

He understood better than anyone that true strength was always relative. Against an ordinary Sage, he would be overwhelmingly powerful.

Against what was about to awaken beneath the planet...

He was still insignificant.

"System, give me a rough estimate of an Elemental Sovereign’s combat power."

The answer appeared almost immediately.

[Charybdis possesses approximately 5,000 Mega Star Combat Prowess.]

[Unique Ability: Decay.]

[Its Decay Authority is capable of killing opponents whose combat prowess exceeds its own.]

Victor’s expression darkened.

Five thousand Mega Star.

Even after his tremendous breakthrough, the gap between them remained enormous. If both the Cosmic Monster awakening and the Demonic Dragon captain reached the Elemental Sovereign Realm at roughly the same time, humanity would be facing an unprecedented catastrophe.

He had only one option.

He had to become stronger.

"System, how many Evolution Points do I need to advance to the Elemental Lord Realm?"

He paused briefly before asking another question.

"And if my physique still refuses to awaken... can I instead evolve my bloodline?"

The system answered immediately.

[To comprehend a single Elemental Domain requires approximately 3 billion Evolution Points.]

[Space Domain requires 5 billion Evolution Points.]

[Time Domain requires 10 billion Evolution Points.]

[To merge all Domains into the supreme Chaos Domain requires an additional 10 billion Evolution Points.]

[Total estimated requirement: 49 billion Evolution Points to become a perfect lord. But you can however become a lord with one element for now.]

[If you comprehend the Domains naturally, the required Evolution Points will be reduced significantly.]

Victor fell silent.

Forty-nine billion Evolution Points.

For a newly awakened planet like Ethereum, it was an almost impossible amount to gather. Even if he exterminated every monster on the planet, it would still be nowhere near enough.

Fortunately...

He did not need to master the Chaos Domain just yet.

Victor’s eyes lingered on the system panel for a few more seconds before he slowly closed it.

He did not need all forty-nine billion Evolution Points.

Not yet.

To survive what was coming, he only needed to comprehend his first Elemental Domain and step into the Elemental Lord Realm. Everything else could wait until humanity survived this catastrophe.

He looked toward the dark horizon.

"I hope Diana can gather enough monsters to reach three billion Evolution Points."

Without wasting another second, Victor established a mental connection with Diana.

"Diana."

His voice echoed directly within her mind.

"After gathering the monster hordes, have everyone report their exact locations."

"I’ll open Space Portals directly above each gathering point and eliminate everything at once. We cannot afford to waste time fighting them individually."

Diana answered almost instantly.

"I understand."

"I’ll organize everyone immediately."

The connection ended.

Within moments, orders began spreading throughout every battlefield under Diana’s command.

Victor silently nodded.

The strategy for the next twelve hours had been decided.

Rather than allowing humanity to exhaust itself battling countless monsters one by one, they would herd every creature into massive groups before erasing them with overwhelming force.

It was the fastest and most efficient method to gather Evolution Points.

Victor slowly raised his hand.

The avatar was manifested.

After the recent breakthrough to the lord tier spell,

It could now move freely within a radius of nearly ten thousand kilometers.

That distance was enough to cover an enormous portion of Ethereum.

The avatar vanished.

Victor remained standing atop the walls of Aurora City.

He had no intention of leaving.

His role was different.

He would become the anchor point for every Space Portal that would appear across the planet.

Closing his eyes, Victor contacted the World System again.

"Help me broadcast a message to every human on Ethereum."

The World System immediately acknowledged his request.

[Ding!]

[Global Mission Activated.]

[The Supreme Sage Victor Waker requests that all humans gather nearby monsters into designated locations.]

[Do not eliminate the monsters unless absolutely necessary.]

[Once sufficient numbers have gathered, Space Portals will be deployed to exterminate them.]

[Rewards will be distributed according to individual contribution.]

The notification appeared simultaneously before every human on Ethereum.

Whether they were ordinary civilians, Awakeners, soldiers, or Sages, everyone received the same message.

For countless people, it became the first genuine hope they had felt since the appearance of the enormous purple-golden dungeon.

Everyone understood what awaited them if the Demonic Dragons emerged.

If they did nothing...

Humanity would perish.

Across the planet, military commands changed immediately.

Instead of engaging monsters head-on, Awakeners began driving them toward predetermined gathering zones.

Soldiers established defensive lines to guide monster migrations.

Even ordinary civilians volunteered to transport supplies and relay battlefield information.

Entire cities began working together with unprecedented unity.

Nobody knew whether Victor’s plan would succeed.

But every single person wanted to contribute.

If gathering monsters could increase humanity’s chances of survival...

Then they would gather every monster on the planet.

...

Meanwhile, inside the colossal purple-golden dungeon...

Twenty pure-blooded Demonic Dragons stood silently in perfect formation.

Each one radiated an overwhelming pressure capable of crushing ordinary Sages with nothing more than their presence.

They had expected their invasion to begin immediately.

Instead...

They had spent hours doing absolutely nothing.

The vice captain’s expression gradually darkened.

He stepped forward respectfully before bowing.

"Lady Delila."

"The humans refuse to enter the dungeon."

"Rather than attacking us, they’re gathering monsters throughout their world."

His golden eyes flashed with irritation.

"Why are we remaining here?"

"I wish to slaughter those arrogant insects myself."

At the center of the dungeon, Delila remained seated.

An enormous cocoon woven from dense dark energy completely surrounded her body.

The terrifying aura leaking from within continued growing stronger every minute.

Her breakthrough had entered its final stage.

Without opening her eyes, she answered calmly.

"Silence."

"A primitive race will always struggle before its extinction."

"They believe resistance will save them."

"They are mistaken."

Her voice echoed throughout the enormous chamber.

"When my breakthrough is complete..."

"Their efforts will become meaningless."

"No one leaves this dungeon until I rise."

"That is my order."

The vice captain immediately lowered his head.

"As you command."

Although frustration burned within every Demonic Dragon present, none dared question her authority.

They could only watch humanity’s frantic movements from within the dungeon.

...

Outside...

Ethereum had transformed into one enormous battlefield.

Victor’s avatar crossed forests, oceans, mountain ranges, deserts, and ruined cities with incredible speed.

Wherever it appeared, monsters vanished.

Some were frozen before shattering into countless fragments.

Others were swallowed by collapsing space.

Entire hordes disappeared beneath storms of golden flames.

System notifications echoed continuously.

[Ding! You have killed an S Rank Monster.]

[You gained 160 Evolution Points.]

[Ding! You have killed 53 monsters of various ranks.]

[You gained 2,655 Evolution Points.]

[Ding!]

[Ding!]

[Ding!]

The notifications flowed endlessly like rain.

At the same time, reports poured into Aurora City from every corner of the world.

Each time human forces successfully surrounded another monster horde, Victor immediately responded.

Space twisted.

A gigantic portal opened high above the battlefield.

From within descended unimaginable destruction.

Sometimes it was an endless pillar of blazing golden fire.

Sometimes millions of razor-sharp spatial blades rained from the heavens.

Other times, the very fabric of space collapsed, crushing every monster within the designated area into nothingness.

Entire monster armies disappeared in moments.

To ordinary humans witnessing the spectacle...

It felt as though the heavens themselves had descended to protect mankind.

Hope, which had nearly vanished, slowly returned.

Hour after hour passed.

The earth became soaked with monster blood.

Ash darkened the skies.

Smoke rose from battlefields stretching across entire continents.

Victor remained perfectly still.

His expression never changed.

His Evolution Points climbed higher and higher with every passing second.

Every monster that died brought him one step closer to becoming an Elemental Lord.

One step closer to surviving the disaster that awaited them all.

...

At last...

Twelve hours passed.

The moment arrived.

The sky above Aurora City suddenly turned a deep bruised purple.

A terrifying pressure descended upon the entire planet.

Then...

The earth split apart.

Countless glowing cracks spread across the land like enormous spiderwebs, reaching toward every horizon.

An ancient aura surged from beneath the planet’s crust.

It carried endless decay.

Wherever the energy passed, plants withered instantly.

The air itself seemed to rot.

Victor slowly opened his eyes.

[Ding!]

[Total Evolution Points gained over the last twelve hours: 2 billion.]

Adding them to everything he had accumulated beforehand...

Victor now possessed approximately three billion Evolution Points.

Without the slightest hesitation, he looked toward the system.

"It is time to become an Elemental Lord."