Chapter 1020: Return

Chapter 1020: Return

The last outburst of Imperium.
Various gods across the world sensed the great change. They knew something significant was about to happen in the near future.
Sanaamon looked at Athena and said, "I want to kill you right now, but I'm afraid I need to go. After all, I've already completed my objective, so there's no point in staying here any longer. The other gods in Olympus are already moving."
Destroying the Walpurgis Night had been his goal for hundreds of years. Now that it was gone, he needed to return.
Sanaamon turned around and waved his hand. He added, "Dream Lords, don't worry. I will avoid causing trouble for now. I won't stay in your territory any longer."
With those words, he stepped forward into the spatial fissure and vanished.
The Dream Lords. They were gods that oversaw the Dream Realm. Born within the dream, they had attained godhood there. The moment Sanaamon broke through the boundary between dreams and reality, the Dream Lords began paying attention to his movements. Still, no one tried to stop Sanaamon from leaving. They knew that the Commandment of Purity was powerful, and if a battle broke out, there would undoubtedly be casualties. Athena stared at the fissure where Sanaamon had vanished and muttered, "Just what was hidden in the Walpurgis Night that made him so determined to ensure its destruction?"
She wouldn't find an answer now, as Sanaamon had personally obliterated the land of the witches. He couldn't do it before since the gods of the witches were still present, but now that they were gone, it took him only one attack to destroy it.
The battle at that time was quite chaotic, reminding her of the chaos that occurred in the Hall of Power. The chaos in the Hall of Power was much greater, as only two Commandments appeared to fight the Walpurgis Night. Moreover, the Hall of Power under No God Emperor's rule had only one god-level being, yet it managed to force several Commandments to appear and even fought the Administrators before being sealed.
No God Emperor was sealed because they couldn't kill him.
The man who was born free. Without any shackles in his mortal body.
"Also, Purity learned about the [Cosmic Body]. It seems he didn't care about it. After all, the Cosmic Authority isn't present, but if the Zodiacs learned about it, the outcome would probably be different."
It's understandable since most god-level beings in the Three Bringers of Calamity didn't care about mortals, even if the said mortals had huge potential. They simply moved without care, not minding if they killed millions of people, just like how Sanaamon moved to destroy the Walpurgis Night. He didn't care if there were innocent people or not. The only thing that mattered to him was destroying the Walpurgis Night.
"I made the right choice by simply returning the people to reality. If I had blocked the attack, Purity would have launched a more powerful attack that could shatter the fabric of dreams."
Athena waved her sword at the fissure, and it disappeared in an instant. Then, she also left the Dream Realm.
...
In the Obsidian Desert, Souta and the rest found themselves back at the place where they had entered the Dream Realm.
It was a formation of rocks that resembled a magic circle. They stood in the middle of it. Souta looked left and right before saying, "We're back in reality."
Athena had managed to return all the living beings in the Walpurgis Night to reality just in time.
Hmm?
Souta looked up and noticed rain pouring down heavily. He opened his hand and observed that the droplets were pure mana.
This feels just like back then.
He noticed his fatigue was disappearing, and everything in Imperium was experiencing a great change.
Ding!
[You've leveled up!]
[You've leveled up!]
[You've leveled up!]
[You've leveled up!]
Souta looked at the system notifications, seeing that he had immediately reached level 74. He was close to reaching level 75.
"What happened?!" a voice sounded behind him.
Souta turned and saw that Amanda had woken up. Eilish and Alice were also standing, their fatigue gone.
Eilish immediately went to her brother's side. It seemed that Eilan had been returned with them and wasn't transported back with Layla. Perhaps it was due to the absence of the elemental being, or maybe Goddess Athena didn't want them to be separated.
"Amanda, we've been looking for you," Alice said, looking at Amanda.
"I don't know. A lot of things happened. Luckily, I've been with Princess Iris and Captain Sarguan," Amanda narrated her experience in the Walpurgis Night.
She had been in another region while Souta, Eilish, and Alice were in the region where the Dream Palace was located. The distance between them had been vast, as Amanda was closer to the edge of the barrier.
"Wait! Did you say Bryan?!" Alice exclaimed.
Amanda nodded and asked, "Why?"
"Can you describe his appearance?" Alice asked urgently.
Amanda described what she remembered. Souta and Alice confirmed that she was talking about their classmate, Bryan Dagruel, a member of the Dark Oculus Adventurer Legion that Souta had founded in the Hebrei Kingdom.
"I'll ask Lumilia what happened later when I call her," Souta said to Alice.
"Still, I didn't expect Bryan to be in the Walpurgis Night. And two of the six elders are
traitors," Alice muttered.
"It seems Bryan has grown a bit stronger if he could exchange blows with an elder," Souta commented with a smile.
Having personally fought two elders at the same time, he knew how strong an elder was. It seemed that Bryan had reached the minimum strength of a normal Sixth Shackle.
Alice looked at him and said, "It's not just a little bit, you know. I saw your fight against the elders, so I know I wouldn't be able to exchange blows with one of them, as I'm still at the Fourth Shackle. But Bryan was able to do that? Does that mean he's vastly stronger than me?" "You don't need to be frustrated. Just move at your own pace. Also, the spear you acquired is really something. You'll understand what I mean once you reach the Fifth Shackle," Souta
reassured her.
Alice raised her eyebrows and asked, "Why the Fifth Shackle?"
"Because you'll forget it. It's a powerful technique embedded in that spear, and there's a
curse that makes people forget about that level of technique. I wanted to see it when I held the spear before, but it rejected me. The King of Knights made sure that others wouldn't be able to see the technique unless they passed the test," Souta explained to her.
"Fifth Shackle... I think I can reach it in less than two weeks due to the phenomenon just now.
I'll find out what you're talking about then," Alice said.
Suddenly, Souta turned his head and said, "It seems they are here too."
"Who?" Alice asked.
"Princess Iris, Princess Servon, and Captain Sarguan," Souta replied. He had detected their
blood and presence just now.
"Let's go. I have to thank them," Amanda said.
The group left the area and went to meet the group from the Palleo Kingdom. They greeted
each other warmly as Souta thanked them for not abandoning Amanda. They were good people, and he wouldn't forget their kindness.
Prince Servon invited them to their place. Souta didn't have a reason to decline, so he accepted the invitation. Also, with Eilan still unconscious, it was good that they could stay in the Palleo
Kingdom for a while.
On their way, Prince Servon recounted his experiences in the Walpurgis Night. He had been
separated from Princess Iris and Captain Sarguan when the Witch Hunt Game began. He endured a brutal fight as the human-like golems chased him nonstop, but he was lucky to have survived in the end.
Alice and Eilish didn't mention anything about Souta using the six holy stakes for other purposes that freed the avatar of Purity. In the end, even though the Walpurgis Night was collapsing, it was Purity who completely obliterated it.
Soon, the group arrived in the Palleo Kingdom. There was a commotion in the kingdom due to the rain of energy, but when Prince Servon arrived, the commotion died down. He assured the people that everything was fine.
Many people experienced enhancements in their strength, especially those with lower power
levels.
Amanda asked Princess Iris if there was a place where she could train. She was confident she could break her Second Shackle now.
Eilish focused on caring for her brother, but she also felt her own strength had grown. She believed she would soon be able to break a major shackle.
In a room, Souta and Prince Servon chatted while looking out over the castle grounds. People were bustling in the streets, creating a peaceful scene.
"The current state of the Obsidian Desert isn't good. The Palleo Kingdom is still stable, but
you should remain cautious," Souta advised.
"Yeah, only forces in the Shackled Realm aren't affected by the current situation in the
Obsidian Desert," Prince Servon nodded.
"No, it will affect forces like the Palleo Kingdom sooner," Souta paused for a moment before further explaining, "Before we went to the Walpurgis Night, I sent a doppelganger to investigate, but it was destroyed. If you need help, just send me a message. It's my thanks for not abandoning Amanda in the Walpurgis Night."
"Don't thank me. You should thank my sister and the captain. They're the ones who were with Amanda," Prince Servon smiled and waved his hand.
Perhaps the greatest benefit he acquired in the Walpurgis Night was the connection with the Blood Lightning Monster, the Hero Candidate of Athen's Champion.