Chapter 1238 - Taming the Old World - Lead Keeping - 2

Chapter 1238: Chapter 1238 - Taming the Old World - Lead Keeping - 2

"We possess exactly four days... That is where the current calculation stands," Ren continued, his mind rapidly mapping the board.

"Even if I expend more than half of my total reserves completely healing myself tomorrow, I can still use a fraction of energy to reinforce the dome. The overall countdown would technically drop to approximately three days and a fraction, roughly six or eight hours, largely offset by the fact that my internal pathways would finally be operating at peak, flawless condition. That remains true even if I still have shards of crystal clinging to my body and I am left with a mere quarter of my total mana pool."

"And exactly what maneuver do you intend to execute after that?" Arturo asked, his eyes narrowing as he analyzed the projected timeline.

"The day after tomorrow, I will wake up with an entirely fully restored energy pool. And we can immediately launch a full-scale offensive against the Darkness dragon." Ren let the heavy implication of that statement settle over the room. "That is the absolute fastest route available."

"Are you genuinely willing to allow the containment timer to plummet below the two-day threshold?"

"That specific drop is the inherent tactical disadvantage of acting swiftly, but we do possess alternative options... We could theoretically prioritize reclaiming vastly more subterranean territory on the dome first. The day after tomorrow, I could dedicate my full output to repairing the bedrock for three consecutive days, artificially inflating the countdown to four days and perhaps eight to twelve hours, creating a significantly larger safety cushion."

Ren slowly shook his head, instantly disliking his own hypothetical scenario. "But the lateral walls of the prison are already approaching a critical state of stress. Stretching the hyper-compressed material much further possesses a hard ceiling, and we are rapidly colliding with it. Every single hour we forcibly steal back by packing the primary tunnel is a tax aggressively levied against the structural integrity of the flanks."

♢♢♢♢

A heavy, contemplative silence settled over the room as the commanders meticulously weighed the grim options.

And there was one final, terrifying variable on the board; the specific element Ren had deliberately saved for last because it was the one causing him the most profound anxiety.

"Furthermore, we must account for Selthia," he stated grimly. "Every single day we choose to wait, she continues to relentlessly consume Platinum-tier beasts, aggressively hoarding endless biomass for whatever catastrophic operation she is currently orchestrating in the shadows. We personally witnessed her execute a flawless, clean retreat from the ancient sanctuaries, deliberately conserving her elite resources. I possess absolutely no concrete intelligence regarding her ultimate scheme. But I know with absolute certainty that time empowers her forces just as much, if not exponentially more, than it benefits us; perhaps to a degree we are severely underestimating."

He locked eyes with the Qilin princes. "Waiting is absolutely not free. While we are busy meticulously salvaging hours on a crumbling dome, she is systematically breeding a stronger army."

The private chamber fell entirely silent once again.

Four days of fragile advantage that could either be stretched thin or aggressively spent in blood. A sovereign Darkness dragon patiently waiting in the Diamond ring. A terrifying corruption relentlessly accumulating power in the unseen shadows. And resting quietly in the corner of the room, a frozen, crystalline statue bearing the tragic face of Selphira’s lost daughter; placed entirely on hold, with all the astonishing discipline in the world, purely for the continued survival of everyone else.

"We must calculate this decision flawlessly," Selphira declared, stepping fully back into her role as the unyielding mentor, completely whole and formidable once more. "Because either operational path we select commits us to a specific endgame. And we absolutely will not be granted a third opportunity to choose... Our primary objective right now is accurately calculating exactly how long it will take our Vanguard to slaughter that shadow dragon."

♢♢♢♢

The very next morning brought a complete restoration...

With his intricate system finally purged of the jagged blockages, Ren meticulously dissolved the absolute last microscopic shards obstructing his internal ethereal flow. He immediately went and channeled the remaining quarter of his mana reserves directly into the star dome. That final fraction of energy yielded a staggering eight hours of reclaimed time. It was a metric hovering at the absolute highest end of his projections; an unobstructed network simply manipulated the exact same volume of ether with vastly superior efficiency.

Not seven, but eight solid hours. The mathematical difference was glaringly obvious on the tactical board.

Previously, pushing his core to its absolute limit provided a twenty-four-hour margin, perhaps slightly more depending on the number of Vanguard elites assisting the runic array. Currently, that exact same total expenditure generated a massive thirty-six-hour buffer. This was not because his overall capacity had miraculously expanded. His baseline reserves remained entirely unchanged. The staggering improvement stemmed purely from the fact that every single drop of his power now flowed without a hint of resistance.

♢♢♢♢

The following day, Ren aggressively dumped his entire ethereal capacity into generating more time.

The underlying motivation was pure tactical prudence... Their overarching combat projections regarding exactly how long it would take to slaughter the sovereign Shadow dragon were heavily steeped in uncertainty. The Light and Darkness guardians represented the absolute apex predators of the continent, and the unpredictable variables were stacking up dangerously fast.

Consequently, securing a temporal cushion was infinitely more valuable than arriving at the battlefield lacking vital reserves despite letting Selthia get a bit stronger. But now that Ren had successfully achieved his optimal runic efficiency it made sense, and that safety net was expanding at an astonishing rate. They were no longer grinding out a meager 1 to 6 hours per cycle, but securing a full 12 hours from the day and a half output.

The overarching arithmetic aligned perfectly to give this priority.

The initial day dedicated to his internal regeneration had left the continent with a countdown of exactly 3 days and 8 hours. This grueling session would push the margin up to 4 days and 16 hours. Tomorrow, even factoring in the relentless subterranean scratching that would inherently bleed 24 hours from the clock again, his subsequent repair cycle would inflate the total back up, leaving them with exactly five full days of breathing room.

Ren decisively altered the operational blueprint based on that.

Instead of executing the initially proposed 3-day structural reinforcement phase, he would successfully hit the absolute 5-day threshold in merely 2 days.

Furthermore, he intended to march the strike force directly toward the corrupted guardian immediately afterward, entirely skipping the local recovery phase to drastically optimize their travel time. By the time the planet completed its rotation and the travel logistics were finalized, the countdown would organically drop back to 4 days, yet Ren would have already arrived at the battlefield operating at absolute peak capacity.

It was a remarkably tight, highly demanding schedule, yet it flawlessly accounted for every single moving piece on the board.