402 30 Minutes [2]
After leaving the Elf Queen with that frightening revelation, he was in no mood to continue explaining. After saying a few more words and getting her guarantee that she would follow his order, he flashed away, appearing outside of Taesi.
‘White Dragon Grotto, Fire Phoenix Clan, and Ice Phoenix Clan. These are the three forces I need to save first. Senior Bai’s forces and the Ice Phoenixes are both in Endless Snow Mountain so I’ll go there first. Then, I’ll go to Endless Flame Mountain where Qing’er’s clan lives and circle back to Taesi. I don’t know if I can do any more than that.’
If he was going to save anyone else, it’d be people he met on his way back to Taesi, if he had the free time to do so. At least with these three forces, he could guarantee they were trustworthy enough to take under his wing.
His figure was almost wholly incorporeal. The movements of everything around him had been halved in speed as if they were living in slow motion.
It was the effects of the pseudo-domain that surrounded him. At his current level, he could only double the flow of time around him, which in turn made the outside world flow at half his own speed.
When accompanied by his rapid movements through the folds of space, his speed was incredible, to the point where only an experienced 4th class like the Elf Queen would be able to follow it.
Taesi stood at the direct center of the mountain range, while the Endless Snow Mountain was close to the outskirts. Even with the White Dragon King’s top speed, it’d take at least an hour to travel between them.
‘But, I have a pretty convenient skill for this occasion, don’t I?’
[Warp]
Space shattered in front of Damien as a portal formed. When he stepped through it, he could see the familiar scenery of the White Dragon Grotto’s Snake Level around him.
His awareness spread to encompass the Grotto. In the same way that he found the Elf Queen, he located the White Dragon King.
His figure flashed away, appearing in an unadorned stone cave that he had been to once before.
“Senior.” He called out to the white-haired man that sat in the center of the cave.
The White Dragon King looked up in surprise. “Kid, it seems you’ve grown a lot since the last time I saw you. In more ways than one.”
“Although I appreciate the compliments, now isn’t the time for idle talk. Senior, didn’t you say that your son was living in the outside world? Don’t you want to go meet him?”
The White Dragon King’s eyes narrowed. “Brat, explain yourself.”
“I can’t explain everything, but I can tell you this much. The mountain range will be destroyed soon and the Myriad Illusion Veil will fall along with it. Even your power isn’t enough to survive the coming calamity. So Senior, please gather your forces within the next 10 minutes.”
The White Dragon King stared into Damien’s eyes. Seeing the seriousness they carried, he couldn’t treat the latter’s words as the ramblings of a child.
“How certain are you?”
“Of the destruction? 100%. As for escaping, as long as you can entrust the lives of you and your people to me, that’s also 100%.”
“Can you swear it on the Heavens?”
“I can.”
Without hesitation, Damien swore an oath to the system. With this kind of guarantee, there was no way the White Dragon King could continue to doubt him.
“10 minutes, right? Very well. All of my forces shall be gathered within that time. Since we were never a large clan to begin with, it should be relatively easy.”
“Many thanks, Senior. Can you point me in the direction of the Ice Phoenix Clan? I must visit them next.”
The White Dragon King nodded without asking questions and gave Damien the location he needed. After giving one final thanks, Damien vanished again.
‘Using my Time element without pause is really putting a strain on my body…I need to get used to this power before I can abuse it the same way I do with space.’
He could already feel the fatigue setting in from keeping his pseudo-domain active. And that wasn’t even counting the rapid drain on his mana.
‘But my mana capacity has grown so much that I can’t even feel its end right now. I should check my status soon and see it quantified to get a better understanding.’
But just like everything else, now wasn’t the time.
Although he had somewhat overcome the spatial restrictions within the mountain range, he still wasn’t completely free from its effects. Only because of this did it take 10 minutes for him to reach the Ice Phoenix Clan’s palace.
But he was a little glad for the time he gained, since he was able to use that time to communicate the current situation to both Feng Qing’er and Lunaria.
Without their help, convincing their respective clans would take far too long.
With Damien’s current ability, he was able to intrude upon the Ice Phoenix Palace without being detected by anyone except the Matriarch.
And the second he stepped into the palace, he summoned Lunaria from the Sanctuary.
The Ice Phoenix Matriarch appeared not even a second after he had done so.
“Luna? Why are you here? And so suddenly…”
“Mother, time is of the essence. Please trust my words as your daughter and the future Matriarch of our clan. Gather all personnel within 10 minutes.”
“Very well. However, you must explain the situation while I do so.”
The Matriarch glanced at Damien. Lunaria turned to him as well.
“I will stay with my mother and explain the situation. When you return, everything will be prepared.”
Damien nodded solemnly. “Then, I’ll head to the Endless Flame Mountain now. Do you know the location of the Fire Phoenix Clan?”
“I do, but for me to explain is arbitrary. You have Qing’er with you, don’t you? Just ask her to guide you once you reach the mountain.”
Damien almost smacked himself. It was truly idiotic of him to not think of it. But, he didn’t waste time on being embarrassed. After giving a short greeting to the Ice Phoenix Matriarch, he once again began his teleporting frenzy.
‘My affairs in Taesi and the Endless Snow Mountain have been wrapped up. As long as I can keep the pseudo-domain running, I should have another 45 minutes. But traveling to the Endless Flame Mountain and convincing the Fire Phoenix Clan will take around half an hour…’
If he didn’t have the Warp skill to move between locations, it’d be impossible for him to complete things in 30 minutes. But since he did, things were simpler.
‘Taking everyone into the Sanctuary at once…the elves’ numbers will be in the millions, but I don’t know about the two clans of the Endless Snow Mountain Range. Although it’ll exhaust my mental power at a terrible rate, it should still be possible.’
Teleporting millions of people was impossible for him, but if it was teleporting them into the Sanctuary, it was many degrees easier. That is, if he was fine with leaving himself on the verge of death by the time he was finished.
‘Haa…this is why I don’t like burdensome things.’
Even as he complained, he made his way over to the Endless Flame Mountain.
He had 20 minutes remaining before everything would end.