The Runic Alchemist

Worldscribe was given a room after meeting the king. She was the first one there. She stayed in the castle for a few weeks, and one by one, all those who were coming gathered there. At last, without waiting for Silverspell and Sesha, they decided to start the meeting, share information, and decide who would be returning this time around.

However, just as they were about to begin, a few soldiers arrived with urgent news for the king of the pigmen. Heather was also present, along with the other two pigmen transcendents, as well as some elders and court officials.

The king listened before saying, "Guide him here."

Once the soldiers left, he turned to the gathered individuals and added, "Your companion is here, it seems. Looks like he has finally seen reason."

Worldscribe's eyebrows raised slightly. Silverspell had not returned for over 30 years now. He had always been selfish, just like Sesha, who had been single-mindedly focused on growing stronger for her revenge. Both had abandoned their goal long ago, blinded by their pursuit of power.

At this point, their search had become something of an obsession. There was only one place they had yet to reach, and Worldscribe held onto the hope that the Sun God had to be there. It was the place where the river of lava originated. The temperature ranged from 70 to 90 degrees Celsius—so extreme that even monsters could not survive there. They couldn't stay for long either; even their transcendent bodies required rest after enduring such high heat for more than a day. Even the cooling potions they had received did not help as much against such heat.

Worldscribe had planned to return this time and inform Damian of their situation truthfully. They had hidden the fact that some of them had abandoned the search, and even those who still pursued it had divided their time between training and occasional searching. Worldscribe herself had been doing the same. She intended to ask Damian to create something that would allow them to survive in the extreme heat.

Soon, an old man, clad in numerous layers of clothing with a robe over the top, walked in, flanked by two soldiers. His appearance somewhat resembled Silverspell's, though he now had a much longer silver beard and hair, and his face bore more signs of age.

Everyone greeted him and offered him a seat.

Silverspell's mana reserves were alarmingly low, as if he had exhausted a significant portion of his strength. At last, after drinking some alcohol, he opened his mouth and left the entire room speechless.

"They are here.."

"Who are you talking about?" Heather asked, his expression already serious, anticipating the worst.

"Bloodedge is leading them.. A Million—no, much more than that. Millions of black ones charging straight in this direction."

The room instantly fell into chaos as everyone bombarded Silverspell with questions. He answered them all, and with each response, the atmosphere grew heavier until an eerie silence filled the room.

They had always known this day would come. They had saved entire towns right under the enemy's noses, so retaliation was only a matter of time. Even the king, Heather, and their people had prepared from the beginning—crafting armor, weapons, and defenses, even constructing walls. As long as the Demon Lord himself did not appear, they still had a chance.

The black pigmen were no longer alive in the true sense of the world. Along with their souls, the Demon Lord had stripped them of their humanity. Instead of ascending through the system, they only underwent natural evolutions, similar to lesser beasts and monsters.

This was the reason the city had never expanded to the north—that was where the Demon Lord had established his black domain.

Even as no one asked further questions, Silverspell continued.

"I was too close to their territory, inside a dungeon. When I emerged, the entire region was swarming with them. Bloodedge noticed my presence and came for me—along with those monsters. I fought, and in the end, I used the last of my liquid mana to escape here. I didn't expect to find all of you.. I didn't realize it was that time once again."

Silverspell had once stolen the steel mana cube when his turn came. Tracking him had been useless, so they had never tried. They told Damian it was broken, and he simply sent a new one. But Worldscribe knew Damian wasn't so easily fooled—he likely had plans in place to find them all, which was probably why he never seemed worried about his missing tools.

"So they're only just starting their march?" one of the elderly pigmen asked.

Silverspell nodded. "It took me years to cover that distance. With such a massive force, I assume it will take them double or triple that time to reach here."

One of the transcendent pigmen spoke up. "How long?"

Silverspell looked at him. The last time he had been here, the man had only been a transcendent seed.

After a brief moment of thought, he answered, "Around 5 to 7 years. I was searching for and conquering dungeons along the way.."

The king muttered, "At best, it would be around 15 years. Less if they have other means of advancing faster."

"Do we leave?" one of the elders asked.

Worldscribe shook her head. "There's not much beyond this place—just a vast ocean. After that, the lava region begins." She had gone in that direction the first time they had separated and knew every bit of it.

"Then we fight." The first pigmen prince declared with the eagerness of youth.

No one responded. If it came to that, fighting was inevitable, but they all knew their numbers were nowhere near enough. The black ones had evolved into Terror and even King ranks, with numerous Emperor ranks as well. The highswords had reported their findings over the years, so everyone had at least a rough idea of the threat they faced.

"We can go back.. I don't think the boy would have a problem with that," Lifewarden suggested.

"Gaiz le Kasha.." Many pigmen in the room muttered in unison. It meant the Brightest Light or The Most Powerful Divine Human—a title referring to Damian.

"No." The chief—turned to king—rose to his feet, his voice firm. "The Shrine will be protected at all costs. Without it, we and our future will be forever lost. This is bigger than just survival now. The divine gave us power, and it is time we use it."