Chapter 574: Council's Attack: Entering the Imperium I
"So this is the famed Imperium... The Divine World of legends..." Eilish muttered as she stared at the huge planet with a mesmerizing look.
She dreamed of seeing this legend in the past and now, it was before her eyes. She could hardly believe it.
"The home planet of our leader..."
Eztein stared at the white planet as he felt a strange sensation flowing inside his body.
Everyone was staring at the famed World of Gods.
A world where gods and myths exist.
A world that is filled with unknown resources that they haven't seen before.
A world that they only know in books.
Most of them thought that the Divine World was just a myth.
And now, it was lying before their very eyes. The sensation was real so there's no doubt that this was really the Great World.
"We're finally here. It's been a long time since I felt the natural energy of Imperium." Alice said in a low voice as she narrowed her eyes.
She recalled what's happening in Imperium right now. The barrier has partially opened and the demons have arrived in the two continents, the God's and Giza Continent. War was happening at this moment and countless people have lost their lives.
She knew that the demons were brutal to their enemies so she had an idea about the things that happened to the people that got captured alive.
'According to what I know the Great Barrier will disappear soon and people from other continents will be able to travel throughout the entire Imperium.'
Alice said inwardly as she silently glanced at Souta.
Souta covered his eyes with both of his hands. He felt extreme pain assault his eyes the moment he looked at Imperium.
"Souta! What's wrong?"
Alice hurriedly went to his side and asked him in a concerned tone.
"I-I'm fine..."
Souta was breathing heavily and he was drenched in sweat. He recalled what he did see when he looked at Imperium when his eyes adjusted trying to see the truth.
A gigantic ball of dense energy. It felt like he was looking straight at the sun when he was still weak. The ball of energy had energy veins around it and those veins spread out in the entire outer space. It was connected to the sun, moons, and the planets around it giving off a strange feeling as if it was alive.
Some of the veins disappeared in outer space as they traveled through dimensions. It was as if it was holding everything in place.
But some of the veins were slowly retreating, removing their connection with the planet, galaxies, and other celestial bodies. It was cracking, moving in an unorthodox manner as the veins started to fade in outer space.
The gigantic ball of energy, which was Imperium, was beating wildly. There were stains in its pure white blue color. The dark purple energy dot on its surface was slowly spreading as if it was corrupting the entire world. Deep within it, a huge eye opened and looked back at Souta.
It was at that moment that Souta felt a stinging pain in his eyes.
'W-What is that?'
Souta was shocked as he kept recalling the things that he saw with his [Galaxy Eyes].
'Saya?'
'What's wrong, Souta?' Saya asked.
'Is Imperium a living being? Or who the one named Imperium?' Souta asked her as he glanced at the sword in his waist.
'Imperium? A living being? I don't think so but I think that our universe is a living being. After all, there are administrators that seem immortals. No matter how many of them that you killed, they will simply respawn in different places. But no one can prove that there's a higher being. Even gods didn't know who or why the administrator was created.' Saya said to him.
Then, what did I see in Imperium? Just what is that eye?
Souta pinched the bridge of his nose. Maybe, this was the reason why they said that the Imperium is the focal point of the universe.
After all, he could see those energy veins holding everything. If the Imperium disappeared then everything would fall apart including those dimensions. It will be the end of everything.
Boom! Boom!
He snapped out of his thoughts when several explosions occurred around him.
"Damn! The Council?! They really are persistent!"
Souta gritted his teeth as he turned his head sideways looking at the army of the council that just arrived.
"Everyone! Prepare yourself! This will be the last battle! After we enter the Imperium, they will not be able to chase after us!"
Everyone was exhausted.
Torkez hurriedly controlled the Guardian Fortress to flew through the Imperium. The two fortresses moved and the army of the council quickly chased after them.
The battle started once again just like that.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Hmm? They even sent an Extinction Realm expert this time..." Eilish narrowed her eyes as she sensed the aura of four Extinction Realm experts.
"There's only three of us so are we going to fight them?" Elder Guan asked.
"No, we are not going to fight them. We are just going to hold them until everyone enters the atmosphere of that planet." Elder Hanmi replied.
"The two of you don't want to let the other witches fight an Extinction Realm. The casualties will be higher if we let one of them pass us so there's no other choice." Eilish shrugged her shoulder as she looked at the two elders.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
The three of them flew at high speed and they collided with the Extinction Realm experts of the council.
BOOM!!
Souta glanced at their battle with a serious expression. It seems that it was a good idea not to drop Eilish when they were traveling. She really helped him a lot this time and he would pay her back.
He wouldn't forget her help.
Ohm!
"Souta, a group of people is blocking us on the front!" Torkez's voice sounded.
Souta quickly turned his head and saw the soldiers of the council on the other side too.
'They are attacking us from the front and behind! This is going to get tricky!'
The enemies behind were being held by the three shackled realms along with their subordinates. What about the front? Souta and the others had to do something about it so that they could safely enter the Imperium.
He wiped the sweat on his forehead before he said, "Torkez, launch the Mana Convergent Bomb. Just destroy them and used everything."
"I understand." Torkez nodded and he commanded his subordinates to prepare.
In the next moment, they launched several Mana Convergent Bomb in front of them. The bomb exploded at the same time causing a powerful wave of energy in the entire field.
The blinding light erupted and everyone couldn't help but covered their eyes with their hands. The heat waves traveled through the space like a tidal wave in the sea.
BOOM!
Even the two fortresses were pushed back as the explosion caused by several Mana Convergent Bombs was too powerful.
"No matter how much I see it, those bombs are really powerful," Eztein commented.
"We still have something to do, you know? We have to fight the people that survive the explosions and only strong people could survive that. Expect that it will be a hard battle." Souta said to him.
"I know." Eztein nodded.
"But don't worry, the others are going to arrive soon. Doranjan and Yuko will be able to help us." Souta said.
"Confirm. I've got a visual of our enemies. Half of them died and they are currently organizing themselves. We could use this chance to kill a few of them." Torkez said.
"Okay. Let's go, Alice, Eztein, Franklin and some of you follow me. We're going for the kill." Souta said as he flew towards the enemies.
"Good. I'm waiting for this." Franklin smiled.
Eztein, Alice, and the rest nodded at him.
The group charged at the enemies with an imposing aura around them. They were ready to fight and kill the people that got in their way.
...
Torkez, who was inside the fortress, was watching the battles. He sighed and said, "It still isn't enough. The witches couldn't hold the enemies on the back anymore. We have to pass through before that happens or else we would suffer heavy casualties."
'Just a little bit more and the reinforcement will arrive.' He said to himself as he stood up and picked up his weapon.
He took a deep breath and said, "Call the rest of the people that can fight. We need to provide backup to Souta."
"Yes, sir." One of the people that were controlling the fortress nodded at him.
"I will fight too. I don't think that forging weapons at this moment will help us resolve our current situation." Gragas said as he entered the control room with a huge hammer on his shoulder.
"Sure, I will not reject people who wanted to fight at this moment. Just a little bit more and we will be able to enter the atmosphere of Imperium." Torkez nodded. Gragas was an S-rank expert so his help was welcome.
The army of the council was overwhelming. It has four SS-rank experts and more than thirty S-rank experts. The number of A-rank was over one hundred.
...
"I'm going all out. Alice, Eztein, support me." Souta said before his body inflated turning him into a three-meter tall monster.
"Alright." Alice turned into her demon form.
"Got it, boss." Eztein coated his whole body with a huge amount of mana.