Chapter 86: Gap of Ages

“There’s… nothing here.” Little Donnie scratched his head, utterly confused.

Vivi and Renee looked equally baffled. They carefully searched every corner of the clearing, but aside from thick grass and a few ordinary stones, there was absolutely nothing that resembled a ruin.

Looking at the three of them standing there in confusion, Nolan found them oddly adorable.

For a brief moment, memories of leading clueless new players through dungeon raids in his previous life overlapped with the present. But things were no longer the same.

Gap of Ages was a high-level hidden dungeon. If its entrance could be found casually by anyone wandering through the forest, it would hardly deserve the title.

Back in the game, even discovering the dungeon’s questline had been an absurdly complicated epic quest. Players first needed to locate a fragmented diary hidden in the library of an ancient city. Then they had to travel across most of the kingdom collecting three fragments engraved with astral runes. Finally, they needed to seek out a secluded astrologer and decipher the runes together to calculate the precise method and timing required to break the seal. The entire process took no less than ten days to half a month.

But now, with Nolan serving as a walking strategy guide, all those tedious prerequisites could naturally be skipped.

He did not explain immediately. Instead, he looked up toward the position of the sun.

The sunlight was at its fiercest. It was exactly noon.

Perfect timing.

“Relax. Trust me.” Nolan lowered his gaze and smiled confidently.

“Renee, prepare two first-circle elemental resonance spells, Crystal Shield. Place one at my six o’clock and one at my twelve o’clock. South and north. They don’t need to be large, half a person tall is enough, but make them thick and stable. Vivi, climb the tallest tree on the eastern side and wait where you have the clearest view. When I give the signal, cut the thickest branch to your left with your dagger. The instant the branch falls, fire your crossbow at the northern ice shield. Little Donnie, stand at my two o’clock position and face the space between those two ancient trees. When I give the order, don’t think about anything. Swing your sword forward with everything you’ve got.”

The series of instructions sounded completely unrelated, leaving all three of them staring blankly. What exactly was this supposed to accomplish? The entire setup looked bizarre beyond belief.

Still, Nolan obviously had not brought them all this way just to perform tricks in the woods. They immediately followed his directions and moved into position.

Renee took a deep breath and focused her spiritual energy. 

“Spirits of the tranquil sea, essence of raging tides, heed my call. Karl’s Crystal Shield!”

Two translucent walls of ice rapidly formed in the designated locations.

Vivi climbed the towering tree like a wildcat, silently disappearing into the canopy. Hidden among the leaves, she aimed her crossbow toward the distant ice shield.

Little Donnie also moved into position. Gripping his sword with both hands, he lowered his stance and prepared himself, eyes fixed on the empty clearing before him.

Standing in the center of the clearing, Nolan closed his eyes and silently counted the seconds.

He was waiting. Waiting for the angle of the sunlight, the position of the ice shields, and the shifting shadow of the branch to align at a perfect equilibrium.

Now.

Nolan’s eyes snapped open. “Move!”

The instant the command rang out, the Crystal Shields maintained by Renee shone brightly, becoming even more solid.

High in the treetop, Vivi’s black dagger flashed like lightning as it sliced cleanly through the thick branch beside her. The branch snapped with a crack and came crashing downward through the air.

At the exact moment the falling branch opened a gap in the canopy and allowed unobstructed sunlight to pour through, Vivi flicked her wrist.

The mechanism of the crossbow released with a sharp hum.

A steel bolt shot forward and struck the northern Crystal Shield with perfect accuracy. Crack! The bolt embedded itself directly into the shield, splintering the surface with jagged fractures.

The blazing midday sunlight passed through the shattered ice crystal and refracted into countless fragmented rays, scattering like falling stars across the space between twelve o’clock and four o’clock.

The moment those rays swept across the area in front of Little Donnie, he let out a full-throated roar.

“Haaah!”

Gripping his sword with both hands, he unleashed a full-power slash into the seemingly empty air before him.

And then something impossible happened.

Where Little Donnie’s blade passed, the empty air split apart like cloth cut open by a knife. A jagged black line appeared out of nowhere, crooked and sharp like a bolt of dark lightning.

It looked as though space itself had been cut open.

“My turn!”

Nolan had already been waiting for this exact instant.

Mountain’s Resonance had shifted into its greatsword form. The moment the black fissure appeared, Nolan clearly felt the earth-element energy stabilizing the surrounding space erupt into violent turbulence like boiling water.

Without hesitation, he launched himself forward, Radiant Sun Charge activated. This time, however, the target was Little Donnie. Not for healing or defense, but simply to close the distance as fast as possible.

Assault activated. The heavy greatsword crashed directly into the black fissure with overwhelming force. There was no explosion, no clash of energy. Nolan felt as though the blade had plunged into thick jelly. Half the sword disappeared directly into the air itself, as if swallowed by another dimension.

“Open!”

With a furious roar, Nolan poured all his strength into the weapon and wrenched it sideways with all his might. Gravitational Crush activated instantly. Massive earth-element energy burst from the blade, stabilizing the collapsing fissure.

Under Nolan’s immense strength and the reinforcement of the earth element, the black line slowly began to widen. Then, with a sharp tearing sound like cloth being ripped apart, the fissure split fully open into a black portal large enough for two people to walk through side by side. Its edges twisted and rippled constantly.

Nolan withdrew the greatsword and planted it against the ground, breathing slightly heavier than before.

Satisfied, he examined the portal. 

Through his connection to the earth element, he could tell that with Gravitational Crush stabilizing it, the forcibly opened entrance would remain intact for at least two hours.

More than enough.

Behind him, however, Little Donnie, Vivi, and Renee stood frozen in complete shock. Everything they had just witnessed was utterly beyond their understanding. It was like watching an elaborate stage illusion in which every step connected perfectly to the next with terrifying precision.

But magic tricks were fake. This black portal swirling before them was undeniably real. They had literally torn open a dimensional rift in the fabric of reality itself.

“I… I split space open?” Little Donnie stared at his sword, then at the portal, his entire worldview collapsing around him. “Wait… am I actually this strong now?”

“Idiot! Of course not!”

Vivi had already leapt gracefully down from the tree. Walking toward the portal, she felt the unsettling spatial fluctuations radiating from it before smacking the back of Little Donnie’s head.

“This was obviously Nolan’s setup!”

Then she turned toward Nolan, curiosity burning in her eyes.

“So what exactly is going on here?”

Nolan nodded. “It was my setup, yes. But I also took advantage of a loophole. I once heard from that Tyrian shaman that this place is covered by an ancient Starlight Seal. The strength of the seal fluctuates periodically according to the positions of celestial bodies. At noon each day, when sunlight is strongest, the seal reaches its weakest point. Everything we just did was meant to interfere with that weak point using refracted sunlight and a carefully applied physical disturbance, creating a chain reaction within the seal itself. Normally, even if we succeeded in opening the crack, it would close instantly before anyone could enter. But conveniently enough…” He raised Mountain’s Resonance slightly. “This sword carries the power of earth, which stabilizes space. We just happened to benefit from that.”

Nolan laughed quietly to himself inwardly.

Coincidence?

There was no such thing.

Everything had been part of his plan from the very beginning. One of the major reasons he had gone to such lengths to obtain Mountain’s Resonance in the first place was specifically to open the seal of Gap of Ages. Every action along the way had been deliberately planned in advance.

“All right, stop staring.” Nolan clapped his hands and snapped the others out of their daze. “We only have two hours. If we miss this window, the fastest way out will be waiting until noon tomorrow. And I assume none of you wants to starve in there for a full day.”

The moment they heard the words “go hungry,” both Little Donnie and Vivi visibly shuddered.

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s get in there already!” Little Donnie was practically vibrating with excitement.

“Careful!”

Nolan suddenly heard something. His expression changed instantly as he grabbed Little Donnie’s arm with explosive force.