Chapter 37: Chapter Thirty-Seven: Witnessing the Abyss

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Witnessing the Abyss

In storybooks, Day Walkers were a nightmare for humanity. Their lifespans could easily extend beyond ten thousand years, and with experience came intelligence.

Like other beasts, Day Walkers were driven by their instincts. They possessed intelligence, but it was more akin to an instinct-driven intelligence born from countless struggles for survival in the Abyss.

However, after living for over twenty thousand years, the first truly intelligent Day Walker was born. With power far surpassing any cannon humanity possessed, it blasted open a path leading from the Abyss to the surface world.

Valen had always heard about how unrivalled Day Walkers were at the same level, and he had heard even more tales about the mysterious Abyss.

So when the low hum beneath his feet intensified, he silently followed the crowd from the trading hub back to the Central Plaza, where they could witness everything happening outside the Void Ship.

After storing the items in his hands, he arrived at the plaza, where close to a thousand people pressed toward the massive holographic orb at the centre.

The view of the colossal plaza outside gradually became distant as the Void Ship rose into the air. The energy barrier surrounding the city had long since been removed, so the ship at the centre flew directly out, with the other two following closely behind.

Everyone’s faces were illuminated by the shifting views of Greenfield Planet outside. The Void Ships didn’t tilt upward and pierce the atmosphere as most might have imagined, but did something entirely unexpected.

They levelled out, and began to travel across the planet in a straight arc.

"Wait, we’re not entering outer space?" a hesitant voice whispered from the crowd, echoing Valen’s own confusion.

The Astral Veil was on the other side of the planet, so it could theoretically be entered from outer space. However, he had heard from others that, from the outside, the Astral Veil appeared to be nothing more than a fog bank spanning several dozen kilometres, whereas in reality, it was larger than Greenfield itself.

This was why it was called the Astral Veil. It was a wonder of creation.

Still, with the signal towers humanity had planted within the Astral Veil, the Void Ships would not get lost in the fog and could easily locate their bases.

Unless... they intended to fly directly over the Abyss.

’They are crazy.’

Valen’s expression changed, but he wasn’t given the liberty to think further.

Through the orb’s projections, the lush forests and guarded cities of Greenfield vanished, replaced by a barren wasteland.

Beneath the ship, countless creatures lurked within the grey dust, their figures barely visible. Soon, the land itself seemed to split apart as a devastating, darkness-filled pit stretching as far as the eye could see came into view.

The Abyss!

An uncountable number of creatures surged outward from its depths in an endless tide. Even from the ship’s altitude, the visual sensors zoomed in on several shapes that made everyone’s hearts race. Some were dragons; others were phoenixes.

The entire plaza fell silent as the Evolvers stared at the scene. The Void Ship didn’t stop, and after travelling farther, a thick fog that stretched high into the clouds obscured everything.

This was the entrance to the Astral Veil — the land beyond the Abyss.

For several minutes, the plaza remained silent as the Void Ship travelled through the endless white fog. Valen didn’t know how the pilots navigated in such conditions.

In a place like this, one wouldn’t even know whether they were falling, rising, or still moving straight ahead.

Then, as abruptly as they had entered, they suddenly burst through the other side, colours flooding their visions once more. The Abyss still stretched below them, but the geography had changed completely.

Before them sprawled a landmass which seemed endless. The ship’s engines then roared, echoing throughout the ship as the vessel accelerated rapidly — its speed quickly reaching the speed of light.

The world outside became a blur of streaking colours, yet even at such velocity, it still took time to cross the land below.

As the ship eventually slowed, the true nature of the Astral Veil was revealed. The land below was no longer ’land’ in the conventional sense, for it resembled an impossibly vast cliff.

Several kilometres beneath the cliff flowed a black river. As the ship crossed one cliff, then a second, and then a third, Valen finally understood why airships were necessary for traversing the Astral Veil.

In such a place where colossal landmasses remained suspended above rivers of darkness, crossing such lands without proper defensive measure was nothing but plain suicide.

Valen had a feeling that if he fell into one of those rivers, he would also be as good as dead.

While these thoughts crossed his mind, a massive technological metropolis appeared on the horizon. It was an impossibly vast sea of lights, where flying trains zipped between skyscrapers that stretched high into the sky.

The Void Ship, despite being several kilometres long, looked like a mere toy compared to the scale of the city.

Valen’s mouth twitched at this sight. Before these buildings, he even looked less than an ant now. As the ship docked, and the boarding platforms extended, a voice boomed through the intercom, instructing everyone to descend in an orderly manner.

The Evolvers moved almost mechanically, their minds still reeling from the sights they had just witnessed.

Valen was no different. He stepped onto the platform, his sharp senses immediately noticing the change in the environment.

For one, the gravity seemed several times stronger. And second... He looked up and was shocked.

In the purple-hued sky, two moons hung side by side., causing Valen to sigh.

’The Astral Veil is truly a wonder of creation. From outside the planet, one would only see a fog-covered region spanning a few dozen kilometres. Yet inside, it is an endless expanse that no one can truly fathom. If I want to conquer the Abyss, I still have a long way to go. I first need to understand the countless mysteries surrounding this world.’

After witnessing the despair-inducing sight of the Abyss, Valen realised that, to others, his dream of conquering it might seem like a joke. It was no wonder humanity remained on the passive end of the apocalypse.

Unless humanity somehow gave birth to a Rank 6 Sage, they were doomed to lose the battle for dominion sooner or later.

Now, the question was... who possessed the potential to reach such a level?