Chapter 505 - Age After Ending (19)

If they could not prevent the wormhole from opening, they had no other choice but to respond only after they checked what was coming out of it. That would be the only way for them to find out the truth of this mystery.

"Oh, you are here!"

Sitting in his office chair, Sangoon waved at Sungwoo.

Sungwoo asked, "Did you get a response when I wasn't here?"

Sangoon nodded, then said, "It was nothing. They just pushed me to bring you over here as soon as possible because there were only 5 hours left."

I didn't know who they were, but it was clear that they wanted to meet Sungwoo.

Why?

"Oh, I think I heard a meaningful message from them that we should prepare for war, but since I heard it between sleep and wake, I was not sure if they would fight against us, or join hands with us together."

Fighting?

Sungwoo and his allies were always prepared for a battle, so their problem was who would be their opponent.

Sungwoo said, "Order the entire World Tree camp to prepare for disaster. And release the restrictions on the 'army' on standby."

They had no other choice but to wait for the next 5 hours.

***

The World Tree camp conducted disaster evacuation drills once a month. Just like civil defense drills, they conducted evacuation and defense drills just in case of a disaster situation.

But the situation was real now.

Speakers installed throughout the city of Asadal were blaring out the announcement that this was a real situation, so they should follow the controls and act according to the given guidelines.

Beep-

Hundreds of Hippogriff squadrons moved from one place to another to supervise their evacuation.

"Southern residents, please follow the guidance of the evacuation officer, and move to area B4!"

As the commander of the Hippogriff squadron, Heyon flew in Griffin and controlled the evacuation site.

"Let's go down carefully!"

The residents entered the underground evacuation facility through the 'underground stairs' installed throughout Asadal.

"Great. Move slowly as you do now."

The underground staircase led to a dark, long hallway. And there were hundreds of corridors like this in the underground of Asadal, but all of them led to a single place.

"We are almost there."

A signpost on the ceiling of the hallway showed the destination.

- No. 1 air defense shelter (250m)

Under the roots of the World Tree was a huge air-raid shelter that Heyon's father, Muyon, had built with great care. It was designed by over a thousand architects over three months to the effect that it would not be destroyed by any normal attack.

And there were supplies in stock that could sustain them for a year, and those items connected to various subspaces, such as the smithy of Hephaestus, were also supplied, so they could overcome the limits of their physical space.

"Come on, let's all sit down and make our shields! Focus twice as much as usual! Let's get started!"

Hanho's father, Jungho, was in charge of creating additional shields for the defense shelter as the manager of the 'First Air Defense Shelter Center.'

Wooooooooo-

The large-scale "safe zone" built up by 25 "pioneers" was like a second shelter in this huge shelter.

It was unmistakably true that Asadal was a safer place than any other place, given the outer wall, the Shade of the Divine Tree, the defense shelter, and the large-scale safety zone.

"Let's go into it in four rows! Everyone, please follow the control officer!"

The residents of the World Tree camp were coming to that place in a formation.

Since they had a monthly drill for a long time, they didn't go through it without a lot of confusion.

On the other hand, the elderly, who were the first to evacuate, could enter the 'special passage'.

"Come on, we're going this way! Captain, make sure everyone goes in!"

A group of children appeared in front of that special passage.

"Guys, you're going to meet your parents in the air-raid shelter later. So don't worry for now and just follow the teachers! Come on, let's go forward."

These children were young students of the World Tree Academy, but they had to be evacuated while they were having class.

"Don't play with each other! Don't take your eyes off your friends!"

There were some guys among them who led them, standing at the back.

"Stop talking and just move!"

Since they had to prepare for a battle as long as the game was maintained, the leader of the class had a certain degree of 'authority' to control the children within the class.

"Hey! Don't fall behind the line!"

Among them was a boy with green epaulets, who, standing in the back, harassed the children from time to time. He was like a shepherd dog controlling a flock of sheep.

"Hey! Didn't you hear what I said before you came here? You're in trouble if you fall behind the line!"

"Ah, got it!"

"Sorry for being angry with you. But we're not in a drill, are we? Be patient!"

"Alright."

That guy was Heron's cousin and younger brother, Youngin, an avid fan of Hanho.

Since he had more experiences than other children, he was enterprising and tough-minded. And now he was the head of the 'beginner class' composed of children under the age of 13.

At that moment someone stopped Youngin.

"Wow, you are serving as the captain? I'm glad to know you're getting stronger day by day!"

When he said that, other children stopped walking. Then they opened their eyes wide and looked up at him because he was very famous.

"Wow! Brother Hanho!"

"It's been a while since I saw you. How have you been?"

As the commander of the Tree Guard, Hanho stayed in Asadal to control the people in the evacuation site.

"Wow! Look at him! He's Hyunmoo!"

The children were stunned at his sudden appearance.

"Oh my God! You're right! He's Hyunmoo!"

"Man, isn't it true that Youngin is close to him?"

The commanders of the World Tree camp were treated as heroes among the children, and especially the Necromancer, Valkyrie, and Hyunmoo were the objects of their intense envy.

With their eyes glowing brightly, Youngin approached Hanho with a very serious expression.

Hanho said, "Oh, your epaulets are cool. I think I'm going to hire you as a member of the Tree Guard when you graduate."

But Youngin didn't look happy.

"Another battle happened, right?" he asked.

Youngin was always strong-minded, but as was the case with children who went through the game, he recalled his terrible memories in the past, which made him weak.

In particular, Youngin lost his father in the chaos and suffered a terrible battle in person several times, so it was no wonder that he was fearful of this kind of situation.

Hanho tapped him on the shoulder gently, and said, "It's not a big problem. We are much stronger than we were back then. And you are also much stronger than before, right?"

Despite Hanho's encouragement, Youngin couldn't smile brightly...

"Really? Are you sure they are okay?"

Hanho stroked the green epaulets on his shoulder.

"Yeah, No matter what happened, we would have no problem. We can win again as we did before. Can you recall we have ever been defeated? No, right?"

Only then did he smile brightly.

"Yes, you're right."

Hanho smiled at him, then turned.

"If something happens, I'll come back after defeating the enemy. So do your job well, so your friends won't get hurt."

The scheduled 5 hours before the opening of the wormhole passed.