Chapter 83 -83-Leviathan as a Mount?

Chapter 83: Chapter83-Leviathan as a Mount?

There was still some time before they officially set out.

John left the military camp and stopped by to deal with the SS-rank Mount Egg.

It was one of the rewards dropped from the first kill of Legionbreaker Tier BOSS Selena, and now that he had reached Lv35, it could finally be appraised.

He returned to the familiar incubation shop. The moment the owner saw the egg, his expression changed drastically. He admitted outright that he couldn’t appraise it and had no choice but to call in his mentor.

After the old man arrived, he examined the egg repeatedly before finally reaching a conclusion—Leviathan, possibly carrying the bloodline of an ancient Divine Beast.

A system notification appeared at the same time: the information was incomplete and might contain errors.

John didn’t dwell on it and simply placed the egg into the incubator.

[Incubation Time: 24 hours]

He nodded in confirmation.

"Perfect."

"I’ll make a trip to the Dark Realm first."

With that, he turned and left.

...

After dealing with the Mount Egg.

John returned to the Dawnstar City military camp.

By the time he entered Loki’s tent.

Ali had already changed into a set of equipment clearly better suited for stealth, with several bulging waist pouches hanging from his belt.

John’s gaze lingered on those pouches for a moment.

He had no idea how much of what was inside actually belonged to Ali.

Loki was already waiting in front of the map.

When he saw John return.

He skipped the pleasantries.

And pointed directly at the map.

"Before you leave."

"There’s one more thing I need to tell you."

Loki reached out.

And tapped a location behind Dawnstar City.

"Do you remember, on your way to Dawnstar City..."

"That Dark Realm legion that suddenly appeared behind you?"

John nodded. Of course he remembered.

He and Rudy had encountered Nightstalker Selena on the way here.

If it hadn’t been for that battle.

He wouldn’t have the SS-rank Void Staff he possessed now.

Loki spoke in a grave voice.

"That wasn’t the first time."

"Over the past few years, similar incidents have occurred repeatedly behind Dawnstar City."

"The scale varies. Sometimes it’s only a few dozen. At most, as many as two thousand Dark Realm soldiers have appeared directly thirty kilometers outside the city."

"And that’s the problem."

Loki tapped the map with his finger.

"We searched every district. Dawnstar City was never breached, so there was no way they came through the front."

For once, Ali dropped his usual joking expression.

"Underground passage?"

Loki shook his head.

"We checked."

"Nothing."

"Spatial magic?"

"We suspected that too."

"But ordinary spatial magic simply can’t transport an army of that size all at once."

"Until two years ago."

"We captured a Dark Realm prisoner."

Loki’s expression gradually became more serious.

"From him."

"We learned about a certain technology for the first time."

"A Temporary Inter-Realm Portal."

John narrowed his eyes.

Loki continued.

"This kind of portal is different from the [Eternal Night Gate]."

"The Eternal Night Gate is a permanent passage. It’s stable, massive, and capable of allowing entire legions and war machines to pass through on a large scale."

"A Temporary Inter-Realm Portal, on the other hand, only lasts for a short period of time and can carry a limited number of people. After being used several times, its spatial structure collapses."

Loki paused.

"But it has one extremely troublesome advantage."

"It’s two-way."

John immediately understood.

If the Dark Realm could use it to come here.

Then the Human Realm...

Could naturally use it to go there as well.

"So what we’re using now..."

"Is one of those temporary portals?"

"Exactly."

Loki nodded.

"After discovering this technology."

"Dawnstar City kept trying to capture an intact temporary passage."

"But after the Dark Realm forces completed their transfer through most of them."

"The portals would collapse on their own within a few minutes."

"Some even had self-destruct mechanisms."

"We failed many times."

"Until—"

He looked at John.

"The attack you and Rudy encountered."

John looked slightly surprised.

"That one survived?"

"More precisely."

"We managed to capture its spatial coordinates and part of its core structure before it closed."

Loki continued.

"Dawnstar City’s spatial mages paid an enormous price."

"To stabilize that passage again."

"But even now, it can’t be maintained for very long."

"And to prevent the Dark Realm from discovering the coordinates."

"We’ve never activated it ourselves."

John understood.

This mission.

Would be the first time they used the Dark Realm’s own surprise-attack route against them.

Interesting.

Loki glanced at the mechanical clock on the wall.

"It’s getting late."

"Let’s go."

...

The three of them left the military camp and headed toward the rear of Dawnstar City.

After passing through two garrison zones.

They entered an utterly ordinary stretch of mountain forest.

There were no roads.

No buildings either.

After continuing deeper for roughly ten minutes.

A cave hidden behind thick vegetation appeared before them.

At the entrance.

Two soldiers in dark mage robes stood guard.

The moment they saw Loki.

Both immediately stood at attention.

"Supreme Commander!"

John gave them his usual quick glance.

[Lv37]

[Ten-Thousand-Player Tier BOSS]

[Class: Spatial Mage]

...

[Lv39]

[Ten-Thousand-Player Tier BOSS]

[Class: Spatial Mage]

Two more Ten-Thousand-Player Tier BOSSes.

And both of them had the extremely rare spatial-type class.

Judging by the guards alone.

This place was clearly of enormous importance.

Loki asked.

"Is everything ready?"

The mage on the left immediately replied.

"The Spatial Anchor has been secured."

"Passage stability is at 91%."

"It can be activated at any time."

Loki nodded.

"Good."

Then he turned toward John and Ali.

"The teleportation array is inside."

"I won’t be going any farther with you."

"This operation is top secret."

"In the entire Dawnstar City army."

"Aside from me."

"Only a handful of the highest-ranking commanders know about it."

"Once you go through."

"Don’t expect any support."

Loki’s expression was more serious than ever before.

"And one more thing."

"Eight hours."

"That’s the absolute limit for how long we can forcibly maintain the passage."

"Once that time is up."

"Whether you’ve returned or not."

"The portal must be closed."

"Otherwise, the Dark Realm may be able to trace the coordinates back to Dawnstar City."

At that point.

He paused for a moment.

"Good luck."

John nodded.

"Eight hours."

"That’s enough."

Ali stood behind him.

The corner of his mouth twitched.

Where the hell does all that confidence come from?!

Loki, however, clearly loved hearing that kind of answer.

He gave John a heavy pat on the shoulder.

"I’ll be waiting for you to come back."

The two of them officially entered the cave.

...

The cave was deeper than expected.

A glowing crystal was embedded into the walls every dozen meters or so.

The light was dim.

And the surroundings were deathly quiet.

John walked in front.

Ali followed behind him.

Always keeping roughly a meter of distance between them.

Ever since entering the cave.

Ali had barely said a few words.

He looked completely different from the grinning, shameless thief who had casually stolen something from John earlier.

He was clearly getting more and more nervous.

After walking for several minutes.

A green glow finally appeared ahead.

At the deepest part of the cave.

A small magic array only five or six meters across floated silently in midair.

It could barely even be called a "gate."

It looked more like a vertical pool of green water suspended in the air, its surface constantly rippling.

John walked until he was only a few meters away from the teleportation array.

Then suddenly stopped.

Ali nearly ran straight into him from behind.

He hurriedly stopped himself.

"W-What is it?"

John turned around and suddenly asked.

"Do you know why I chose you?"