Chapter 129: The Journey Back

The torches had long since gone out, leaving the tunnel in complete darkness.

Only hurried footsteps echoed through the passage, accompanied by the constant sound of crumbling stone.

Nolan, the most familiar with the terrain, ran at the very front.

The first half of this journey into the Gap of Ages had gone relatively smoothly, but the second half had twisted and turned through one crisis after another. At one point, he had nearly buried himself in the place for good.

Still, the rewards had far exceeded even his original expectations.

An absolute blood profit.

Vivi, Little Donnie, and Renee, the three companions who had followed him from the very beginning, had all undergone growth and tempering in this high-intensity battle that could not be measured with mere numbers.

As for his faction, it had received a massive leap in strength.

Not only had he established ties with the Wood Elves and gained the friendship of Romina, the future legendary ranger, he had also opened an entirely new path for his future plans in the Borderlands.

The development of his territory now had another possible direction, and if some irresistible disaster ever struck, he had secured an additional route of retreat.

More importantly, he had successfully “brought out” Ailindel, one of the heroes of the Heavenly War from ten thousand years ago. Although her strength had somewhat deteriorated, the significance she represented and the potential influence she carried were immeasurable.

Nolan’s unique Dragonkin identity had also caused the Heavenly Judgment Knight to treat him with greater closeness than expected. In the future, this hero of the War of Heaven might very well provide assistance beyond imagination.

As for Nolan himself, he had completed a critical strategic strengthening.

Immovable Bulwark and Fountain of Potential were now in his possession. The former was arguably the strongest defensive divine equipment currently obtainable, while the latter was a core strategic resource for territorial development.

Most importantly of all, he had obtained his third class: Demon Tamer.

Glory Guardian.

Paladin.

Demon Tamer.

All three of his classes were either hidden classes or exceptionally rare special classes.

Nolan could clearly feel the power within his body surging at an unprecedented speed. Although his overall power level had not yet broken into Gold Rank, he was absolutely confident that his current combat strength could firmly suppress ordinary early-stage Gold Rank opponents.

If he unleashed all his trump cards and activated Half-Demonization, he would even dare challenge late-stage Gold Rank powerhouses head-on. If the enemy failed to react properly to his sudden explosive burst, he might even be able to defeat them outright.

The higher the power level, the greater the resources and abilities one could command, and the more obvious the gap in actual combat strength became.

Even a mid-stage Gold Rank possessed overwhelming suppression against an early-stage Gold Rank, which showed just how terrifying Nolan’s arsenal of hidden cards had become.

Of course, battle was never a simple matter of comparing raw numbers. Otherwise, the weaker side might as well surrender immediately.

Real combat was infinitely more complicated. Fighting style, experience, equipment, class compatibility, and countless other factors created endless variables. That was why so many examples of the weak defeating the strong existed.

Hadn’t Nolan himself walked this path all along?

In this era, overall power levels across the world were still relatively low. Most regular armies consisted primarily of Black Iron to Silver Rank soldiers, with Silver Rank forming the backbone of military forces.

Gold Rank already stood as an absolutely dominant presence on the battlefield.

As for higher-level Origin experts, the entire Elfin Kingdom publicly possessed only six of them. Two guarded the north, two guarded the south, and the remaining two belonged to neutral factions that rarely involved themselves in conflict.

Right now, Nolan still could not sweep across battlefields alone like an army unto himself.

But as the sharpest blade thrust directly into the enemy’s heart, capable of assassinating high-level enemy combatants, he was already powerful enough to decisively alter the course of any war.

From here onward, as long as he properly handled the Fountain of Potential and the Wood Elves, then calmly navigated the coming punitive campaign, everything would finally begin moving onto the right track.

As Nolan rapidly organized his plans in his mind while sprinting through the darkness, he completely forgot that he was still tightly holding Ailindel’s hand.

Pulled along by him, Ailindel’s steps were slightly unsteady, but what she felt more than anything else was an unfamiliar sense of novelty.

As a noble Moon Elf, though not a royal princess herself, the daughter of Saint Rollins held nearly the same status. On top of that, she had been the Heavenly Judgment Knight, champion and commander-lord of the Fifth Legion of the Allied Forces. Throughout her long yet fleeting life, every person she had ever encountered treated her with utmost respect. Even the proudest dragons spoke to her as equals. No one had ever dared drag her along by the hand as rudely as Nolan was doing now.

She could feel the warmth and strength from his broad palm. There was a trace of forcefulness in it, a trace of stubbornness, yet somehow it was strangely reassuring.

Ten thousand years of guardianship and the destruction of Qroshu seemed to have completely freed her from a heavy set of chains. For the first time, she realized that in this new era, all the identities, etiquette, rules, and responsibilities that had once bound her no longer existed.

She had been given a second name.

Dragged forward into an unknown new age.

It almost felt as though she had been granted a second life.

War hero.

Daughter of a saint.

Once those halos were stripped away, she was merely… a girl.

The experience of being pulled along by a man like this felt both unfamiliar and strangely thrilling.

Several times, Ailindel wanted to tell Nolan to let go. But every time the words reached her lips, she swallowed them back down.

Forget it.

Silently, she allowed Nolan to keep dragging her forward, quietly savoring this freedom that belonged only to ordinary people. It was somewhat clumsy, even inelegant, yet so pure and spontaneous.

And she found herself captivated by the feeling.

“Hurry! I can already sense the earth element binding the seal entrance starting to collapse!” Nolan’s voice rang out from ahead, muffled slightly by the helmet.

Thanks to the dark vision granted by the Keen Sight Ring, the darkness posed no obstacle to him at all. Combined with his familiarity with the terrain, he remained firmly at the front of the group.

Holding his sword in his left hand, he smashed apart every obstacle blocking the way, forcibly carving out the fastest possible path for his companions behind him.

***

Outside the seal entrance, the atmosphere in the forest had grown tense.

The members of the Wood Elf ranger squad waited anxiously, their eyes repeatedly drifting toward the distorted patch of space ahead.

“Vice-Captain Finley, the captain and the others have been inside for almost two hours without any movement at all. Should we go in and check?”

A young female Wood Elf approached the vice-captain, worry written all over her face.

Among the already traditionalist Wood Elves, Finley belonged to an even more extreme conservative faction. He had always distrusted every race outside the forest.

Watching the captain he had secretly admired for so long willingly enter such a mysterious and dangerous place alongside those humans had left resentment nearly overflowing in his heart.

He slowly clenched his fists before loosening them again. Meanwhile, his other hand never once left the hilt of the vine-carved dagger at his waist.

If anything happened to Captain Romina… He absolutely—

Suddenly, the gradually shrinking spatial rift entrance began violently twisting and shaking.

Finley reacted instantly, yanking the longbow from his back in one smooth motion. The bowstring was drawn taut in an instant, releasing a deep vibrating hum.

“Something’s coming out! Stay alert!”

Every Wood Elf immediately entered combat stance. Dozens of arrows flashing with cold light aimed simultaneously toward the violently fluctuating entrance.

The moment his words fell, a tall figure burst out from the distorted space.

It was a knight completely encased in black heavy armor. A longsword was gripped tightly in his left hand, while two frightening red glows shone through the narrow slits of his helmet visor. Dust and shattered stone still clung to his armor, as though he had only just escaped a brutal battlefield. With a low roar, he charged out ferociously. As he landed, bladed spikes extended from the elbows and boots of his armor, giving him an incomparably savage and aggressive appearance.

“Enemy attack!” Finley roared.