In the distant sky, a massive pitch-black rift appeared.
Louis squinted his eyes: "A demi-plane has shattered."
The Sword Master instructed the coachman to stop the carriage and go out to check the situation.
But the scene that followed made both of their brows twitch violently.
A thunderous roar emanated from the gigantic fissure, and then a towering figure, as majestic as a mountain, surged out from within.
It was a bizarre creature resembling a gigantic serpent. As its immense body flew across the sky, the shadow it cast turned the surrounding area into instant night.
Massive, unbelievably massive!
The Sword Master had never seen a creature of such colossal size before.
Its very existence was a symbol of destruction.
Wherever it passed, hurricanes arose, and when it touched the ground, mountains collapsed.
With a pained expression, Louis covered his eyes.
What you fear most always happens.
He had seen this thing before, but only in a dream, within the demi-plane governed by the Jade Phoenix Alliance.
At that time, he went to investigate in Mayer's guise and had seen the true form of that worldly giant serpent.
Although it seemed to lack some body fragments at the time, resulting in it being incomplete.
Even then, he had thought this thing was excessively large, but now, seeing it freed from its seal in reality, he was even considering how to escape.
The Sword Master's expression was no better than Louis', and he hoarsely spoke:
"The Cosmic Serpent? Hasn't it been sealed for many years? Why is it…"
Louis gazed at the giant serpent spanning across the sky, frowning:
"It's heading toward the direction of the Monet Kingdom. This is bad...!"
He used a communication crystal to contact the high officials of the East and West Monet Kingdoms directly.
Before he had time to explain much about the situation here, a deafening explosion came through the communication crystal.
The terrifying impact instantly severed the connection on the other side of the communication crystal.
His face darkened as he turned to the Sword Master and said:
"Contact our top ranks first, this is really going to be a big problem now."
Both the first and second calamities successively encountered issues, and a deep gloom enveloped the two of them.
Louis first explained the situation to Beatrice, contemplated for a moment, and then summoned Swan:
"Contact the Jade Phoenix Alliance, see what exactly happened over there."
Swan also realized the seriousness of the problem. They quickly entered the demi-plane through the channel exclusive to the Jade Phoenix Mages.
But just upon entering, they witnessed an incredibly horrific scene.
Tom Karysis, the Grand Speaker of the Wise Council, and the elder who had once helped Louis unleashed an endless magical storm, completely tearing apart the pitch-black shadows encompassing the demi-plane.
The robust body beneath his mage robe was already half gone.
Chains drawn from his body pulled a portion of the Cosmic Serpent back into the seal.
A head fell from the sky at the Grand Speaker's feet.
The emerald flame still burning above it reflected the mage's incredulous expression.
He was a Legendary Jade Phoenix Mage who had always hidden his true identity.
Louis recognized him.
Because that man was Ense's legend.
"Foolish children, run quickly, don't get marked by It!"
Tom's roar reached them, causing a bout of dizziness, and they were directly ejected from the demi-plane.
In the carriage, Louis opened his eyes, looking ashen as he gazed at the back of his hand.
An intertwined blue serpent pattern was imprinted there, and even though he hadn't come into contact with the worldly giant serpent, he smelled the scent of death and threat approaching from a thousand miles away.
