A different world game? A different world game!

Chapter 1088 The End of the World is Coming

"Temporary strategic contraction."

Leilia corrected, "Transfer control of Blood Pit Fortress to 'Blood War Fortress'."

"We cooperate with them very closely. They are familiar with the rules of the Abyss and are the main force in the Blood War."

"If we hand over the fortresses, stockpiled equipment, and some permanent facilities that are not easy to move free of charge, and leave behind a few hidden teleportation coordinates... they can hold the current front line for at least thirty years without any problem."

A brief silence fell over the observatory.

The evening breeze blew from the east, bringing with it the faint rumble of construction work in the new urban area and the distant whistles of ships in the port.

Kana turned and looked west.

The sun had completely sunk below the horizon, the sky transitioned from dark gold to deep purple, and the first star lit up above the spire of the Tower of Trials.

On the distant horizon, the signal lights on the masts of the fleet could still be faintly seen flashing as they returned to port.

"Go do it."

Kana concluded, "I'll give you two months to complete all the evacuation and handover work. If you need any resources, just request the highest level of authority from Aliris."

“No problem, leave it to me.” Lelia nodded and patted her chest.

Two months is more than enough time to evacuate.

As she stood up to leave, Kana added, "Remember to compile a separate file on all the Night Watchers who participated in the Abyss campaign. After the apocalypse ends... they will be the first pioneers to return to the Abyss."

Leilia's eyes lit up. "Yes!"

Her figure transformed into a black and red streak of light and disappeared in the direction of the stairs.

Kana turned his gaze back to the city below, where thousands of lights now stretched out like a sea of ​​stars.

Further away, the borders of the earthly divine kingdom continued to advance slowly but steadily eastward, the silvery light in the night like a gentle tide.

Kana raised his hand, and a 3D projection of the world of Aegira appeared above his palm.

On the outline of the continent, hundreds of red dots are slowly pulsating—those are the detected void rifts.

In the heart of the Lebia continent, at the location of the Tower of Trials, a silvery-white light pulsates like a heart, its edges spreading outwards at a steady pace.

“There’s still time,” Kana said softly, as if both a declaration and a soliloquy.

He clenched his fist, and the projection dissipated.

Above the night sky, the stars gradually denser, like countless silent eyes watching over the world's last peaceful night.

…………

The Frost Ridge Outpost on the Northeastern Defense Line of the Tahrir Continent

At the northeasternmost tip of the continent of Taliel, where the once desolate ice plains once stretched out, a steel spine now spans the horizon and cuts off the continent.

The massive alloy city wall, over twenty meters high and eight meters wide, lies like a silent steel dragon, sprawling across the vast white frozen earth, separating the world of Aigera from the abyss that was prophesied to erupt and destroy it.

Above the city wall, huge rhomboid watchtowers protrude like fangs, and above that, several floating towers float silently, emitting a stable energy halo.

Most striking are the three slowly rotating colossal structures behind the city walls—shaped like inverted silver iron flowers, the pinnacle creation of the Night's Watch's technology department: the Light of Descent.

A pale silver halo emanated from the flower's stamen, covering the city walls and vast camps below. At the edge of this chosen final battlefield, it forcefully anchored the order of space, resisting the erosion of the void.

Beneath and behind the city walls stretched a continuous stretch of temporary tents, resembling a white carpet of mushrooms.

This is one of the core nodes of the "Wall of Sighs" built by the World Alliance on the continent of Taril, where more than 600,000 soldiers from different races and nations have gathered.

Human voices, the sound of metal scraping, and the roar of engines mingled in the howling cold wind, creating a peculiar, pre-battle low hum.

Four years had passed since the World Alliance was founded.

The gaze is focused on the platform atop one of the giant watchtowers, numbered "Frost Ridge-7".

A six-person team is carrying out a routine duty.

The cold wind swirled fine ice crystals, lashing against the alloy walls and their armor, making a soft rustling sound.

Elano, the elven mage in the group, was kneeling beside a triple-mounted "Frost Nova" spell turret.

His slender fingers shimmered with a faint arcane light as he carefully examined the structural integrity of the complex energy conduction runes and cooling circuits on the turret base, muttering a self-check incantation under his breath.

After confirming that the last rune node was stable, he nodded in satisfaction and ticked it off on his personal alchemy logbook.

Beside him, the human ranger Kyle closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment, then raised his hand and uttered a low shout: "Eagle Eye - Share!"

A phantom of an eagle, made of pure emerald energy, instantly materialized above his head, flapped its wings, and soared to the top of the watchtower.

The next moment, a clear, magnified view of the ice field appeared simultaneously at the edge of everyone's vision inside the watchtower—a vast expanse of white, so silent it was almost deathly still.

"Tsk, it's those two old nemesis again."

Bron Stonefist, carrying a huge dwarven musket, spoke in a deep voice, pointing his thick finger to a point in the shared field of view.

Everyone looked intently and, sure enough, saw two enormous figures locked in fierce combat beside an ice hill in the far distance.

A "Frost-Armored Crocodile Bear," clad in heavy ice crystal armor and resembling a hybrid of a giant crocodile and a polar bear, is slamming its massive paws, covered in ice spikes, against a "Giant Rock Monster" made of countless frozen rocks and solid ice.

Each collision sent up large amounts of ice shards and gravel, and the dull rumble seemed to echo faintly from a great distance.

"It's been going on for almost two years now, hasn't it? It's never stopped since we were stationed here."

Tommy, the youngest human shieldbearer in the team, curled his lip, his tone tinged with boredom.

"I've never actually seen anyone take anyone down; all I hear is noise every day."

“Be content, Tommy,” said Lina, a half-elf warrior who was wiping her twin swords, without looking up. “At least we can watch some ‘living things’ fight here to pass the time.”

“I heard that the guys over at ‘Silent Bay’ are almost hallucinating from staring at the empty sea and the increasingly purple sky every day.”

Hawk, the middle-aged human warrior who had been leaning against the wall, glanced sharply at Tommy upon hearing this: "What? Feeling too idle? Hoping the apocalypse will come sooner so you can have some excitement?"

Tommy immediately shrank his neck and waved his hands repeatedly.

"Captain, how could I dare!"

"It's just... it's just this day-to-day training and duty, going back and forth between the ice field and the barracks, for two and a half years now. My bones are numb from the cold. It's a bit... um, monotonous." He sighed and said self-deprecatingly, "But thinking about it, if the apocalypse hadn't come, would we still be stuck here in this freezing cold, drinking the wind?"

At this moment, Elano finished his inspection, walked to the small stove in the center of the platform, and picked up his metal teacup.

The hot tea in the cup had long since gone cold.

With a slight movement of his fingertips, a wisp of gentle flame magic flowed into the bottom of the cup, and the tea instantly began to steam again.

This skillful use of a small spell immediately attracted the attention of his teammates.

"Elano, please help me!"

Bloom grinned and pushed his large marching cup over, while Tommy and Lina also chuckled and moved closer.

Kyle didn't move, but his eyes glanced over.

The elven mage sighed helplessly, but still skillfully heated his teammates' cups to the perfect temperature, complaining as he did so.

“You guys know how to manipulate basic elements.”

"I can do it, but I can never get the temperature just right like you do."

Tommy held the warm cup, exhaling a satisfied puff of white air. "In this godforsaken place, with the cold wind blowing, being able to drink a sip of your heated tea is simply a treat."

Elano shook his head, sat down, took a sip of hot tea, and asked, "Did anyone bring up this morning's World Observer? Mine is in the barracks."

"It hasn't been issued yet, has it? The newsstand wasn't even open when we came up," Lina said.

Captain Hawke pointed to the dimly lit screen projected on his tactical wristband: "Isn't there an electronic briefing in the channel? It's updated in real time."

“That’s different,” Elano waved his hand gracefully, with the persistence unique to elves, “The feel of ink, the rustling of paper, that’s the ‘ambiance’ of reading.”

As he spoke, he quickly traced a simple natural rune in the air with his finger.

A tiny bird familiar made of emerald green vines and leaves appeared out of thin air and affectionately rubbed against his fingers.

Elano whispered a few instructions, and the birds nimbly flew through the firing ports of the watchtower down to the camp below.

A short while later, it flew back carrying two neatly folded newspapers that still smelled of fresh ink.

Elano took one copy, while Brønd quickly "borrowed" the other.

The six sat around the fireplace. Some were engrossed in reading newspapers, some were sipping hot tea, and some were enthusiastically "watching" the struggle between two giant beasts in the distance through their shared view. Hawk and Kyle remained vigilant, occasionally scanning the ice field and the sky.

Elano's gaze lingered on the front page of the newspaper, and he read the headline aloud in a low voice: "The last batch of civilians on the continent of Taliel has been evacuated, and the first phase of the evacuation plan has been successfully completed... That was quick."

“Of course,” Hawke replied, his voice steady. “Tarril is a pioneering land with a small population. Moreover, it is the first place to be ‘swallowed’, so there is little attachment to one’s homeland. The Alliance’s relocation order will be carried out with the least resistance.”

Lena turned a page of the newspaper and added without looking up, "It's not so smooth in other places. Back in my hometown, I heard there are still quite a few die-hard nobles clinging to their ancestral castles and refusing to move, saying they'll live and die with their territories."

Tommy shrugged: "There's nothing we can do about it. The policy says that those who don't want to leave must either undergo mandatory military training and become part of the defense force."

"Either you wait to be 'invited' away. Anyway, now that we have the 'blessing,' men, women, young and old, as long as they are willing to train, can quickly develop combat power."

"I heard that the Alliance's total military strength is now an astronomical number, and the Night's Watch is under tremendous logistical pressure."

"Even if the pressure is great, you have to persevere."

Elano put down his newspaper and remarked with emotion, "Fortunately, there's the 'Blessing' system and the profession system, as well as a steady stream of people migrating from various continents to supplement logistics and production."

"Otherwise, how could the Leviathan continent alone possibly support such a massive war machine..."

The group chatted idly, enjoying the brief, chilly calm before the storm.

The crackling of the stove, the wafting aroma of tea, the rustling of newspapers turning, and the distant, faint sounds of giant beasts fighting all blend together to create a peculiar, tense everyday scene.

Suddenly, Elano, who was looking down at the newspaper, seemed to sense something and abruptly raised his head, his sharp gaze shooting like an arrow towards the core area of ​​the camp behind the city wall—near a large [Light of Descent].

The space there rippled with unusual energy.

A stable spatial portal, radiating a soft starlight glow, silently unfolded.

Immediately afterwards, several figures calmly stepped out from within.

Their appearance immediately attracted the attention of all the soldiers on duty nearby.

The leader was tall and slender, wearing a deep blue robe adorned with countless tiny stars, as if draped over the night sky. His long silver hair remained motionless in the cold wind.

His face was so handsome that it seemed otherworldly, yet it also carried a sense of detachment and antiquity, as if he were looking down upon the stars. What was particularly striking were his eyes—deep as the boundless universe, with the Milky Way slowly rotating and stars appearing and disappearing within his pupils.

Behind him were several figures with equally extraordinary bearing, dressed in exquisite elven armor or robes, their bodies surging with powerful legendary auras, like stars surrounding the moon.

“That is…” Elano’s voice was filled with an incredulous excitement and awe. As an elf, he was all too familiar with that iconic image.

"Who? Who's here?" Tommy craned his neck curiously, but the distance was too far and there was energy interference, so he could only see a few blurry silhouettes.

“Lord Ilúvatar the Stargazer!” Elano’s voice was low but filled with shock. “And… several legendary elders of the Elven Royal Court! What are they doing here?”

The atmosphere on the watchtower instantly became heavy and filled with doubt. The Elven Overlord himself had come to this frigid, icy front?

This is no ordinary inspection!

Captain Hawke frowned, his usually composed gaze revealing an unprecedented seriousness.

He gazed at the distinguished figures in the distance, seemingly out of place amidst the ice, snow, and steel defenses, and slowly, deliberately, spoke each word:

"It seems... the time is almost up."

His words were like a block of ice thrown into hot tea, instantly freezing all the idle chatter and ease on the watchtower.

Bronn put down his musket, Lina sheathed her twin swords, Kyle interrupted the sharing of Eagle Eye, and Tommy also put away his playful expression.

All eyes were fixed on the elves heading toward the command center of the defense line. An invisible, suffocating tension, accompanied by the biting cold wind, quietly enveloped the entire Frostridge outpost.

The sounds of giant beasts battling on the ice plains seemed distant and insignificant.

The prophesied purple tidal wave seems about to descend upon this place.

end.

It's coming soon. (End of Chapter)