Chapter 290: The Calm Before the Chaos

This is really bad...from everything I knew of this world's history, the other races would almost definitely be holding grudges against humans. What's more, they've got a lot of room for expansion...the Rustlands had all but abandoned the Goldlands, and while I was having my monsters investigate what had changed, I also saw that Bronztan had been reduced to a smoking crater.

Was it the other races that did it? No, that seems unlikely, from the looks of things, that crater had already been there before the rumbling started. Was it Belia or someone from her camp? That was the most likely explanation, but if one of them has such destructive power at their disposal, that poses a huge problem. 

Wait, unless it was a Divine Magic spell cast by Belia...what's more, she might be behind the floating island being reintegrated into the planet. Yeah, her primary, and only real, motivation is chaos...so it checks out, she has the motive, and likely the power, to have pulled off both these incidents. Did she destroy Bronztan and then decide to bring down the floating island, or did she plan it all along? 

No, that doesn't matter right now...I need to stay calm and focus, make objective decisions. Right, I'll have Az speed up on his preparations of fortifying the defenses of Abyss...all he needs to do is finish registering the Mana or Dark Magic signatures of everyone in Abyss and then activate the barrier spell that insta-kills anyone who enters it without having previously registered their Mana signature. 

That's the only defensive measure that's yet to go up, though the Demons are helping him with gathering the magical energy signatures of both monster and human alike, and dinosaur too. As for the underground dino cavern, we'd placed a barrier around it as well, so that no one would be able to break into it from outside and sneak in Abyss that way. 

Anyway, I'll need Az to speed up his work...which means that testing out his new powers will have to wait. It had taken a lot of trial and error, but Diablo eventually managed to create a Chaos Magic spell that worked, granting Az control over the Water Spirit's full power, though he could only do so for a limited amount of time...we hadn't tested it out properly yet, but in light of the incidents that've come up, that'll have to wait. 

Alright, what else do I need to do...should I visit the other races and try to broker a truce or something? No, at least, not yet...I'll leave them be for a little while, though I will have to confront them eventually. I'll keep track of them using my monsters for now, and I'll have to make a decision if they show any signs of aggression. 

I need to stay on the side of caution though, I have no idea what they may be capable of, rushing into a fight against them would be stupid. Yeah, Diablo and Lazarus had some idea of the power levels of the other races...but that was from like a thousand years ago...and just look how much stronger humans have gotten over just the last three years...I mean, yeah, none of that was naturally acquired power, but still. 

Oh, wait, hold on a sec...the other races have a grudge against humans, and the humans in Abyss are either Vampire cattle, Demon assistants or so enhanced by monster powers that they couldn't really be considered humans anymore. They were more likely to target the Rustlands or Silvland if they want revenge. 

The ideal scenario would be if they just ignored us and left us alone, but that's probably just wishful thinking. So, I guess I should do nothing for now, and just stay cautious and observe...

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Point-of-View: Lidui Uensh

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I hate this...seriously, why did things have turn out this way? With the exception of Miss Elina, every single X and S-Rank deflected from the Rustlands...and since I was the only remaining one with Demonic powers, I was the strongest person in the Rustlands right now, and subsequently, the highest ranked. 

It was currently the 8th of May, and about a week ago, a massive earthquake shook the Rustlands, which was highly unusual. It was the first earthquake that the Rustlands had felt in over forty years, and easily the biggest earthquake we've ever recorded. And a few days later, several hundred thousand refugees from Bronztan, which apparently no longer exists, came here. 

The king decided not to refuse them, since we had enough space due to the many deaths we'd suffered lately. That, and the fact that we were severely lacking in manpower and some of their S-Ranks and A-Ranks, along with a handful of lower ranking Adventurers, had survived, so it would actually be beneficial to take them in. 

They also had a brainwashed Demon that would power people up using Corruption Magic upon command, 'gifted' to them by Belia Lasmodeus, before she destroyed their nation. I could also use Corruption Magic, but I had very poor control over the healing and powering up aspect of it, I was fine with controlling the corruption aspect though.

With the former Bronztan citizens taking refuge here in the Rustlands, the population here was now around three million...which is less than half of what the combined Bronztan and the Rustlands populations used to be a couple of years ago. 

Anyway, it had been a rather hectic few days of late, and today, many Adventurers had been called up to gather at the castle grounds, which is where I currently was. And outside the castle grounds, a small crowd of curious civilians had gathered to watch the proceedings. 

Before long, the front doors of the castle swung open and King Ocroed Rustlands stepped out, along with Agatha Silvland and the former Queen of Bronztan, Cusana Bronztan. 

"Greetings, all, I thank you for responding to my summons. As you all know, a lot has changed of late, and we must adapt to those changes. We face formidable foes, not just Silvland and the monsters leading it, but also Platin-...or rather, Abyss, The Dark Nation...-we must consider them our enemies as well! However, we do not have the power to do so...which is why, we will focus on strength in numbers! Yes, I declare that we will form an army, the largest seen in centuries!" Exclaimed King Rustlands. 

I suppose that is the only real solution available to us, but I don't seeing it being a very effective solution...opting for a numbers advantage is unlikely to work, Abyss has enough power to effortlessly brush aside our numbers, while Silvland have a balance of both numbers and power...but I am not going to say anything, there would be no point in doing so. 

"Indeed, we have already powered up all of our combined Adventurers fairly significantly, and we are encouraging and looking for more Volunteers as well, the more we have, the better...we shall form an army numbering in the hundreds of thousands!" Declared Cusana Bronztan. 

"Right, what she said...and now, Guildmaster Raedal Yiserir will announce the new rankings for the Rustlands' Adventurers," Added Agatha Silvland with an awkward smile, who looked like she did not really want to be here. 

My father then stepped forward and pulled out a scroll, before opening it and reading it out... 

"We have decided that currently, no one in the Rustlands is worthy of the status of X-Rank...therefore, our highest Adventurer rank is now, once again, S-Rank," He remarked, before announcing the positions, "The number one S-Rank is...Lidui Uensh. Followed by, in order, Cusnai Bronztan, Zave Inreck, Minise Mefvis, Marti Touw, Lonfi Nemowd, Niski Torfa, Oreg Dinwiy and Kalbowdi Payse...next, the A-Ranks..."

A few unfamiliar names in there, they must be the surviving Bronztan S-Ranks, just the five of them. Before the Vampire attack, I believe that they had about sixteen S-Ranks, and now that is down to less that a third of that amount. Hm, that last name...it was familiar but I couldn't quite place it-...the realization hit me as I saw her...now I remember. 

She was a refugee from Goldway, she'd briefly taken a stint as an instructor at the Academy...until she was fired and confined to her house with a barrier spell after a failed attempt to kill Kuro Black. They've made her into an S-Rank? I suppose that only emphasizes how desperate the situation really is... 

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