After the sun collided with the earth, the whole world went dark. After all, what had been called down was not a manifestation of the sun, but the actual celestial body, though it was minimized to damage only this continent.
After completing its job, the sun leisurely rose back into the sky, lighting the world once more as if it had never left.
Holy shit!
The core members of Umbra were flabbergasted and left speechless. They had tried to overestimate the active skill of a Divine weapon, but it turned out that they had still underestimated it.
Calling down the actual sun to smash the earth, spread searing fire over a whole Continent Zone, and still being able to choose who would be burned by it in the end…
They had to gulp. A Divine weapon was truly a game-changer.
This was exactly why in the previous timeline, no matter how many Sword Skills, no matter how much Control or whatever bloodline/Mana Sword Riveting Night or Draco had, they could not match those two fellows with Divine weapons.
The gap was so huge that it was impossible to cross. Especially at Rank 6, they couldn't even dare to fart in the direction of those two. But since those two had been foolish enough to opt for a Divine Foundation, they had unknowingly crippled themselves.
It was such that they were weaker when they were out of their territory, but once in their territory, even Richmond would perish. As a player, your duty is to explore and find quests as well as raid dungeons.
If you are stuck in a single area, how can you progress?
However, what baffled the core members of Umbra was the scenario itself. From the way the sun came down to how it rose back up, a certain scene played in their heads.
Why did it feel like the sun was an obese/chunky friend who was called by Rina to body slam an enemy? And after flattening their enemy into a pancake, that fat friend then released the most rancid fart in their face before getting up, shaking his bum, and strutting off?
Once they visualized this, they gasped. Damn, it really did seem like that! They gazed at the sun in the sky, and it was almost as if they could see that chubby friend munching on some chicken leg while waving.
Sublime Notion coughed and finally shook herself of her shock. "Time to skedaddle."
The others nodded and quickly left the Vareas Peninsula using a special Intercontinental Return Scroll. This scroll could not be farmed, only bought. And since the guild owned a Rank 7 Shop, it was natural that it could be found within.
Normal players and guilds would not even know such a thing existed, but Umbra had access to it and could even purchase it with relative ease.
The gap the number 1 guild of Boundless gave all other guilds was truly wide. If it weren't for Umbra's elitist approach and low numbers, many guilds would not dare to even fart in their presence.
Just as Sublime and co returned to Vita City-State, some powerful presences appeared here. They were various Rank 7 entities that resided and ruled over Vareas Peninsula.
They sensed that the origin of that catastrophic spell which ruined the whole continent was from here. As such, they rushed over to see what happened, but there was no one here.
A woman with aqua-blue hair and a very beautiful face clenched her teeth as hatred shone in her eyes. She had a narrow nose, sharp hawkish eyes with a black outline, and light blue lips.
On her neck were some gills and her skin was extremely fair. She wore a dark-blue ball dress that displayed her ample cleavage and her long, smooth legs.
However, one could notice that her legs were scaly at some points, unlike her upper body which was purely human.
Her name was Viola, and she was the mother of the current Sea King, Trysoil. She was a mermaid of legendary beauty and power, such that every resident of the sea knew her name.
She was one of the few sea beings that took interest in matters relating to land and had even set up her own base of power in the Vareas Peninsula. She was also the very same one that harshly reprimanded Zaine, as well as moved for smashing Umbra and seizing their things.
To her, she had fewer considerations than land-based beings. After all, even Titled Gods like Richmond and co did not dare to traverse too deeply into the sea, but she could easily enter their land and set up a base.
Even if she erred, she could just go back into the sea and hide there. What could they do to her?
Of course, this did not include the Church of Light or War Maniac Pavilion. Poseidon had heavily warned their ancestors never to cross those two organizations before he receded into heaven when the new era was born.
The words of Poseidon were the words of the law to all sea beings. Even Voila did not dare to cross them, so when they showed their support for Umbra, she knew to step back.
However, her base had been destroyed in this attack, thoroughly infuriating her to no end! Unlike the other Rank 7 entities here who were mostly humans or special land species, she and her kin were marked as monsters by the system when on land.
In the sea, they were marked as NPCs. So including her, every single one of her sea-based subordinates was hit by the -6,000,000 damage before whatever reductions for elemental differences, resistances, and rank suppression.
It had barely even tickled her, but more than 60% of her troops were slaughtered. Hence, unlike the other Rank 7 entities who were just curious or expectant, she was just plain enraged!
"WHO DID THIS?!" She screeched in anger, her voice causing the land to rupture.
The other Rank 7 powers just looked on with schadenfreude and mocking. They had long despised this arrogant walking fish who thought she was god's gift to man.
Seeing her so enraged over her loss made them feel refreshed, and they didn't hesitate to show it. They normally ignored her because of her background and her trump card, which was hiding in the sea, but that didn't mean they feared her.
Rank 7 entities would have a hard time killing each other unless it was a Titled God. Then, there was a 30% chance to kill a Rank 7 being in a one-on-one fight.
This was why no one f.u.c.k.i.e.d with Richmond. Even if they had a 70% chance to survive, who was willing to gamble on it? They had reached the pinnacle of the world, wouldn't it be the biggest joke to be killed because of a mere Draco?
Voila saw their expressions and her anger reached a boiling point. Losing so much but not having an enemy to vent it upon was the worst feeling. She couldn't harm these bastards here, as it would be counter-intuitive.
Voila forcibly calmed herself down and pondered. Who would even have the power to do such a thing? A continent-wide attack was only possible by the hands of three things.
A Divine weapon, a True God, or a Titled God. A True God had no need to bombard a Continent Zone, putting aside the fact that they staunchly refused to descend to this realm.
A Titled God also wouldn't waste so much precious energy for such a weak attack. To a Rank 1 person, this attack was OP, but to powerhouses like them, it was just a big show for little results.
As such, it was left with one option… a Divine weapon!
Once she realized this, so too did the other Rank 7 powers. Immediately, their greed was sparked. Even Titled Gods did not have Divine weapons, much less they normal Rank 7 beings.
They would do almost anything to seize that Divine weapon for sure. They also came to the same conclusion Fleetfoot and co did back when Draco opened the Legendary Chest.
If a person with such a weapon was truly powerful, why the need to run? Why the secrecy? A powerhouse would not fear their approach at all.
So, it meant that the one who used this skill had some reservations. This meant that they were fearful of the retaliation of certain people, which was most likely them, the Rank 7 powers!
Now, all they needed to do was find out who it was that caused this. While many might be clueless on how to go about this, they certainly had many ways and means to do this much.
Each of them cast their various tracking techniques in order to suss out who the perpetrator was, but they were shocked to find that nothing came back.
It was as if the sun had just decided on its own to smash into the planet, then go back like it was bored. This stunned these Rank 7 fellows, and they gazed at each other with confusion.
Even Voila was stumped, and she began to re-think her evaluation of the perpetrator. They were truly meticulous in clearing all traces, but no such method would ever be perfect.
With a snort, she left the area. She planned to make preparations to investigate exactly which fellow had the guts to ruin her base. The other Rank 7 powers also left, deciding to thoroughly search out their target, for the reward would truly be moving.
As for the perpetrators, they appeared in the Portal Center of Vita City-State with smiles on their faces. Vita City-State's Portal Center was pretty much the most powerful in the world currently thanks to the Mages Association.
Not to mention that Intercontinental travel was explained to be hard to trace. As for the return scrolls, they were Epic items that were almost Legendary. Trying to track them through their spatial travel? Waste of time.
But this wasn't their sole reliance.
What they also relied on was their guild! Umbra feared no Rank 7 power and had even offended so many of them that some mere bunch from Vareas Peninsula were nothing.
Wanting to seize Rina's weapon? Fine, she is in Vita City-State. If you have the balls, come here to cause trouble when the Church of Light and War Maniac Pavilion had shares here.
Wanting to destroy their properties in Sturgehaven kingdom to vent their anger? Hehe, if Rank 7 buildings were so easily destroyed, then they would not be the highest Rank achievable.
Wanting to make a plea that Umbra had caused egregious harm? Utter rubbish. They had only attacked monsters, so there was nothing wrong with that whatsoever.
Naturally, they had no idea about Voila and her faction/designation, but it changed nothing. They were harmed because they were monsters, and the Gods mandated Immortal Adventurers to kill all monsters.
As such whether it was Voila or whatever other Rank 7 power there, they would be stuck in the same situation as Rank 7 entities who wanted to deal with Draco.
They would have to send their subordinates of relatively equal strength to clash with them and seize Rina's weapon. The backlash of attacking Rina directly for her Divine weapon would not be something they could bear.
A Divine weapon would not make them invincible, as the Church of Light and War Maniac Pavilion probably had endless amounts of them.
Thinking like this, the core members of Umbra had disgustingly sinister smiles. In this world, what they feared least was having more foes to fight.
Riveting Night had already drilled them on their future, and how they would soon be bottlenecked if things kept up as they were. Her final verdict was to act like Draco, offending whoever they could offend - within reason - and using them as stepping stones.
It seemed like Umbra had decided to live life like their Guildmaster, not fearing the heavens or the earth and courting death at every step of the way.
With such a guild in this world, would these Rank 7 powers ever have a moment of peace from now on?