Chapter 506 - Age After Ending (20)

It was about 30 minutes before the wormhole opened.

The entire island, including the wormhole lab, was affected by their Unlimited Shutdown Operation.

A whopping 50 airships surrounded the entire island, and warships were lined up in the sea to watch out for the enemy in all directions.

"We have little time! Come on, move!"

A temporary wall was built along the coast. They installed it to block nothing from coming out of the island. Thousands of troops were waiting for information nearby.

No one knew what would come out of the wormhole.

But the core and the ultimate goal of the 'Unlimited Shutdown Operation' was to not allow anything to get out of the island.

"Block the entry and exit of everybody as of now!"

And the underground research facility in the center of the island was completely closed, so no one could enter it. There were no exceptions.

So Isabella and Mir had to wait outside the building.

"Gosh, your daddy has called us like this, but why doesn't he show up? Man, he is stubborn!" Isabella complained about Sungwoo.

She was lying in the shade of a tree at the moment.

"Man, I knew it when he left you with me! Humans are dumb and stubborn!"

She was stronger than anybody in the World Tree camp, but she couldn't take on any important role because she was not a player. Above all, she was still not very sociable, so it was very difficult for her to get along with humans.

"Hey, why are you staring at me like that?" she asked somebody.

A boy with black hair and red eyes, who was crouching at the edge of the shade of a tree, was looking at the players lined up on the shore.

Rattle! Rattle!

And four burning chicken skeletons were building a sandcastle in front of the boy's feet.

The boy was Mir.

"What are you looking at?" she asked again.

"Well, I just feel people are a bit weird."

She tilted her head at that, and said, "Why? Is it so much fun to see them working? If you are free now, why don't you go out to sea and practice letting out fire breath?"

"No, that's not what I mean…"

At that moment Mir's pupils widened. He began to scan the players more closely.

"Can't you see them? They've changed."

Mir wasn't just watching the players carrying out the operation.

He was using some power inherent in his body through the dragon's eyes.

He continued, "I guess people have changed. I feel as if they are much like us."

"Oh? Well, I felt it, too. I heard the other day that they were becoming a dragon race, and it looks like they have succeeded in it."

Mir noticed that the players became the 'Dragon race.'

"Then will they have wings someday?"

"Gosh, they are humans! How can they have wings?"

At that moment someone walked towards them.

"Hi? I hear you are working as a nanny for him these days?"

It was Li Wei.

"What did you say? Nanny?"

Isabella raised herself to hear that, then stared at her sharply as if she would charge at her right away to grab her hair.

"What did you say? Tell me once again. Nanny?"

But Li Wei ignored Isabella and waved at Mir.

"Hi, Mir! You've grown a lot! Did you learn a lot from that aunt?"

When she asked, Mir checked Isabella's expression, then murmured with a shrug.

"I don't think it's the right time for me to learn anything yet. I don't know yet."

Li Wei giggled at his reaction, and said, "Well, the fact that you don't know anything means you haven't learned at all. That's why selecting a teacher is important…"

At that moment, Isabella let out powerful energy to hit her.

"Argh!"

- 'Dragon Fear' has been activated.

* Stiffens is a low-level and low-intelligence creature.

It was Dragon Fear. Startled, Li Wei stepped back right away.

Then she opened her eyes wide and shouted.

"You gave me a scare! What did you do to me?"

In the past she wouldn't have been able to resist, overwhelmed by that energy, but Isabella's attack didn't work anymore because she had resistance to fear after she became a dragon race.

"Oh, are you resisting? Are you kidding me? How can you call me a nanny? I'm going to kill you if you call me a nanny again!"

Steam rose from Isabella's mouth. Without getting cold feet, Li Wei summoned her water spirits on her shoulders. The former's heat and the latter's cold collided.

"What's wrong with the nanny? There is a saying that all occupations are honorable! If you get upset with me like this, you will have to go a long way to become a human!"

"Shut up! I've never said I would be a human! Whatever my original identity is, I like myself as I'm!"

Mir clicked his tongue, watching them squabbling like that. Their quibble was familiar to him. Every time they met, they picked a fight like that.

But they had to end their childish quibble quickly.

Thud!

Some vibration came up from the ground.

Thud!

There was another vibration. Four chicken skeletons lined up. When Mir was nervous, they reacted spontaneously.

"Can you hear it? It looks like something has begun. Has the wormhole opened?"

Isabella and Li Wei didn't know what was going on either.

Sharing an anxious gaze, they looked down at the ground.

It was true that something began in the underground facility. But the wormhole wasn't open yet.

At that moment a cloud of purple smoke rose from a dark warehouse. It was a warehouse for equipment that few people visited.

Puck!

"Argh…"

The warehouse door opened, and Z's agent, Jason, staggered out.

But his left arm was missing. For some reason, it was completely crumbled by black smoke with a sticky texture.

"Ahhhhhh…"

Then something like lawless footsteps was heard from the warehouse.

Rattle! Rattle!

Enduring his pain, Jason adjusted his posture.

Puck!

The door swung open, and Z, a large man wearing a purple iron mask, appeared.

Behind him were about a dozen players.

"Sir Z, you are here."

Z's large hand rested on Jason's shoulder.

"Jason, you did a great job."

While he was talking to Jason, his severed arm kept burning black.

He sacrificed Jason's arm to open the portal. It was a kind of black magic.

"Oh, you're welcome, sir."

'Forbidden Magic', one of the black magic, required sacrifices such as one's life or body parts instead of mana. And they were subject to the 'Priority Judgment' that surpassed other magics.

As evidenced in Jason's case, Jason sacrificed his arm to open a 'disguised portal,' so Z could escape surveillance by the World Tree camp.

Of course, there must have been someone who felt the vibration a little while ago, so he could be chased, but it was the most secretive way Z could use.

"Is your arm okay?"

"It's okay, Sir. Never mind."

When he asked superficially, Jason replied, groaning in pain.

Z turned his head right away.

"The wormhole is going to open soon. I will escort you."

Jason moved first.

Entering a dark hallway, Z opened his mouth.

"Today all will be over."