Chapter 660: The Start Of A Nightmare

The building that was thoroughly hidden like a black ops site was nowhere to be seen, as if the portal teleported them somewhere else.

However, rather than something so magical, it just seemed that the entire area had been remodeled, and the whole building was taken down.

Considering that while it felt like it took forever, Leo and the others hadn’t spent too much time inside, this was a really astonishing transformation.

However, no longer blocked by the roof, what was truly astonishing was how the sky itself had changed. Announcing the coming of something major.

{ The Final Encroachment Trial has been cleared! }

{ Congratulations! The Trial’s clearance rate is exceptional! Hope is not lost! }

{ As stellar performance has been recorded, the additional grace for growth period is revoked. }

{ The slotted invader shall descend on this world for the True Encroachment Battle in 168 local hours. }

{ Preparing for the True Battle is recommended. As a reminder, a countdown timer will be put in place to be viewed by all inhabitants. }

Synonymous with the voice’s report straight to Leo’s ears, the message it carried was also visually transmitted in clear blood-red letters, scribbled down on the clear morning sky for all to see.

Leo even suspected that the voice message had been relayed to all the people on this planet, if not more.

The words corresponding to the voice message itself rose higher in the sky, growing too small to see after just 10 seconds.

However...

{ 167: 59: 49 }

The timer they mentioned persisted, plastered all over in the message’s place, dropping down a shadow of terror around the crowd observing this unexpected change.

’Now that’s the real unexpected part.’

The surprise that Leo got from his Personal Book couldn’t compare with the shock that he was experiencing at the moment!

In the City of Villains, the period of time allotted between the second major event and the finale was exactly 1 year!

Although a timer did appear back then, it appeared only when just one week was left.

Now that one week was all that Leo and the others had!

’So flunking the Trial was the prerequisite for obtaining more time?’

Obviously, this was yet another mechanic that had been omitted in the novel.

Just like the hidden special reward, there was no need to mention it since none of the characters had managed to satisfy its revoking conditions.

Perhaps even the ’author’ was just as ignorant when it came to these details.

The causation of such a massive change was also likely why the Trial of Defense’s epic event gave so many points.

In fact, 9999 points seemed more like the limit of obtainable points for Epic Events. Perhaps what Leo changed was worth more.

’He is more of a recounter rather than an author, if that’s indeed the case.’

Although the change fired off all the cylinders in Leo’s head to consider all the necessary preparations he would have to compact within this overly shrunken period of time, he didn’t feel the least bit regretful.

There was simply nothing to regret. Having more time for preparation was great, but its worth was relative.

If having more time was equivalent to facing a much harder opponent once that period of time was over, then it would never be worth it!

If he did possess a method that would grow his power exponentially using solely extra time, only then would Leo choose to sabotage himself in that manner.

Alas, no such convenient method was available, so Leo was confident that he had picked the right choices all the way through.

’I do wonder if this much time would be enough to figure out these mystic eyes of mine.’

If there was one thing that Leo regretted. It was the fact that he failed to grasp the intricacies of his might-be key to salvation.

That being said, as someone who had a brief understanding of fate, Leo knew that things often couldn’t be forced.

Effort and determination could only take one so far; sometimes, things were just aligned to work with the least bit of effort, and other times, exhausting oneself to reach a target you are obsessed with would have a null yield.

’They really are taking their time.’

Now that such a key variable had been changed, Leo’s plan of leaving had already been scrapped.

What came first on the list now was seeing how the decision-makers reacted to this change, and their reaction was only bound to start once the protagonists of this little adventure made their appearance.

At this point, Leo had to ask himself if Aurora was intentionally giving him a head start so he could avoid being caught up in this mess. It seemed plausible considering the way Leo rejected her suggestion.

Unfortunately, however, she wasn’t aware that her attempt had already been foiled by the messages broadcast in the sky. Further waiting only made things more awkward.

So far, a minute had already passed, but the crowd was mostly still busy staring into the sky as if they were still reading a very confusing text message.

They had yet to digest the message, let alone produce the shock that would follow.

’Is it possible that the message only disappears in the eyes of those who read and acknowledge it?’

Considering the level of technology that the administrators were dealing with, a targeted text message that was cleared by focused reading was totally feasible.

Understanding the message wasn’t a prerequisite; they simply had to have managed to read it properly enough to remember it at the attempt of a recall.

"This..."

At that point, a foot had stepped past the glowing portal, announcing the return of the Heroes from their final campaign.

However, everyone was still in shock. No one clapped, whistled, or yelled their Hero’s name in fascination.

The crowd that was told to come to this location was told that they were here to celebrate yet another cleared Special Gate, but after being warned about their future in such an alarming manner...

"Aurora...?"

With Aurora stepping out of the portal with Kara in tow, the portal closed in on itself, leaving behind the collapsed bodies of the remaining Thorn duo in its place.

"What happened inside? What did you do?"

With how vague the messages were to those who weren’t involved, the only thing that these normal people understood from it was that the warning they were issued was pulled forward due to Aurora clearing the Gate too well.

They had no understanding of the danger presented by this True Encroachment Battle, but the visual effect of the blood red countdown timer ticking away as well as Aurora’s collapsed comrades painted the situation in a totally different color.

There was no longer anyone who thought about celebrating anything. All the people felt was extreme alarm and tension.

Anyone who looked up to the sky felt like the world was going to end in less than one week! And it was all because of Aurora!

"We just cleared-"

Just as Aurora was about to reply in confusion, the global message entered her ear and covered her view of the sky, quickly grasping the reason behind the crowd’s apprehension.

"Everyone, stay away."

Just then, a familiar suited man wearing his signature sunglasses made his way through the crowd, gesturing at them to step back as he stayed in the center.

"Hero- pardon me, previous Hero Aurora is no longer safe to approach. We have just confirmed that she was the one to assault Yvonne, also known as the Thorn Queen, and it seems she had done the same to the rest of the Thorny Rose Trio. Not to mention committing an even bigger felony that will be relayed very soon..."

From the looks of it, Aurora’s nightmare was just at its beginning.