Return of the Mythic Bloodline

Chapter 515: International Conference III

The moment she made the revelation, a huge wave of gasps rippled through the audience. The composure of professional high rankers loosened, their eyes widening and mouths hanging open. The tension that had been simmering beneath the surface now exploded into full blown panic.

"Only one dungeon break wiped out a team of S-Rankers. How are we supposed to fight countless of them?"

"We absolutely cannot! This is the end of the world!"

"Has the Association come up with any method to stop the rifts from appearing?"

The Awakeners demanded, their questions mingling with each other, voices overlapping in a cacophony of fear and frustration, causing the conference to turn into absolute chaos. The hall, once filled with disciplined silence, now buzzed with desperate energy.

"The rifts are inevitable. There is no known way to stop them," Saya declared, her voice carrying across the hall with unwavering authority, cutting through the noise. "That is why humanity’s strongest Awakeners have been gathered here today. Protecting only our own nations is meaningless. If we wish to survive, we must stand together as one people and leave the borders that divide us behind."

She paused, her gaze sweeping across the assembly, meeting each pair of eyes with a plea that words alone could not convey. "This operation is called Operation: Last Stand. Humanity will either perish or flourish, depending on how we tackle this calamity."

A thud echoed as she slammed her head on the podium in a deep bow, her voice cracking with emotion. "I request you to aid humanity in this battle."

Her words barely convinced anyone. The live stream that had shown Theodore, Aryan, and other famous S-Rankers falling one after another at the hands of the anomaly monster had left a deep fear in their hearts. Most of them were at the same level as Theodore, with some might have a slight advantage over him, yet none were neither confident nor strong enough to fight countless monsters of the same calibre as the Death Knight from San Francisco.

"There will not be any monster of the same level as the Death Knight emerging from the upcoming rifts," a heavy voice cut through the hall, turning everyone silent.

Heads moved back, toward the last second row where I stood, my hands resting in my pockets. My posture was relaxed, but my eyes carried the weight of certainty.

"You might see ten to fifteen monsters of a level close to the Death Knight, but there will not be any of the same level, let alone surpass it," I explained, my voice low yet reaching through every corner of the hall as I laced it in my Soulforce.

"Mr. Raj, do you have any evidence to back up what you are saying?" Saya asked, voicing what everyone meant to but lacked the courage to do so.

I moved out from the row and walked toward the stage, every eye fixed on me, tracking my every step. The silence was absolute, broken only by the soft echo of my footsteps on the polished floor. As I climbed the stage, I continued, "You must have already seen me commanding shadow like monsters when I fought against the Death Knight. I possess the power of necromancy. It allows me to control the souls of the dead and peek into their memories."

My revelation left the Awakeners with shocking expressions. Someone actually possessed such an absurd and frightening power, their faces screamed, a mixture of awe and revulsion flickering across their features.

"When I killed the Death Knight, I peeked into its memories," I explained, ignoring their gaping mouths. "What I learned was that it was the strongest monster from the world these monsters are coming from. There are a few monsters closer to its level, but their number is below twenty."

It was a white lie. In truth, when I asked this question to Celestia about beings that might be stronger than her in Rukadvatta, she revealed that a few nations had some knights that managed to learn Sword Aura but they were not at the same level as her. Similarly, there was no monster that was as strong as Grendel.

"What is the guarantee that the world through which the anomaly monster came and the world through which the monsters are coming will be the same?" Someone from the audience asked, their voice trembling.

"They are all from the same world," I replied, my tone absolute. "As for the sources, I cannot reveal it."

"Do you know the reason why these monsters are targeting us?" Another one asked, their voice cutting through the heavy silence.

"To destroy our world and absorb the energy we leave behind."

"Is this an instinctive attack from the monsters, sensing our planet possesses mana, or is there a mastermind behind all of this?"

Now this was a question I needed to answer carefully. Whether to reveal the existence of Doom or not. And if yes, how much should I actually reveal. The weight of the decision pressed on my shoulders.

I closed my eyes for a moment before opening them again as I revealed, "Yes. There is a mastermind behind the attacks. It is a being from another world that wants to devour the mana of Earth."

Before the conference could erupt into chaos again, I continued, my voice carrying an edge of finality, "But I will take care of it. And refrain yourselves from asking any questions about that mastermind. You only need to focus on the calamity that is currently approaching."

An absolute silence fell on the conference. They obviously wanted to learn more about the creature who was the reason behind all the gates and monsters they had faced so far, but the absolute authority I carried in my words caused them to refrain from their curiosity. No one dared to press further.

"Mr. Raj, thank you for the invaluable information you have provided us," Saya said, her face carrying a warm smile, her eyes narrowed with delight and gratitude. The Awakeners clearly noticed the shift in her cold expression and her voice turning soft as she talked to me, with two of them noticing it a way too closely.

"If there are truly no monsters similar to the level of the one that appeared in San Francisco, could you tell us the reason why we are getting the error readings from the satellite?"

"You are understanding the readings incorrectly, Shadow Monarch," I replied, keeping my tone professional, which flickered an emotion of surprise on her face. The title, spoken so casually, seemed to catch her off guard. "The readings don’t show the level of the monsters coming from the rift. They only measure the mana frequency it emits, and that frequency can increase as the rift expands."

This was what I had learned when I activated the gate scanning feature of Vivi, which allowed me to check the upcoming gates. What I saw were numerous red and purple marks scattered across the map. Unlike the small dots that I had seen previously, these were large marks, some of them even covering a whole state of the country. The red marks indicated S-Rank rifts while the purple indicated SS-Rank rifts. Just as Celestia had revealed, there were only fourteen purple marks across the world.

"The greater the size, the higher readings you will receive. Naturally, it is common to be mistaken about the monster levels, because the gates with higher level monsters usually are larger in size as well."

Now that this major doubt of everyone was cleared, I turned to the audience again and declared, my voice carrying across the hall with unwavering authority, "I will deal with all the higher ranked monsters that are closer to Death Knight level, no matter the country they appear in. My priority will be according to the appearance of the said monster, not my personal relation to any country."

My declaration and the information I revealed finally boosted the morale of the Awakeners. A flicker of hope was ignited within them now that they knew they would not be facing certain death in this war. The tension that had gripped their shoulders began to ease, replaced by a renewed sense of purpose.

The conference continued for a few more hours, deciding on the strategy and team divisions to face the monsters. Each nation was allotted high rankers according to its size and the readings of the rifts it was receiving, irrespective of the actual nationality of the rankers. In normal circumstances, the rankers would have prioritised protecting their own nations, but they dared not voice those thoughts out loud, afraid that I might refuse to come to their country during the time of need.

I remained at the stage alongside Saya, making sure the rest of the conference went smoothly.

---

"I saw you fighting in San Francisco," Saya said, her voice warm. We were standing at the backstage of the hall after the conference had ended. The Awakeners were leaving the hall one by one, some staying for a moment longer, discussing matters with each other in hushed tones. The backstage was quieter, a pocket of calm after the storm of the meeting. "You have changed a lot from how you used to be in college."

"Same goes for you," I answered with a chuckle. "The cheerful girl that used to sit behind me during exams has become a lot colder... no, mature is the right word to put it."

"The situation forced me to become one," she replied, her gaze dropping to the ground. Her voice turned lower as she murmured, "The sacrifice you made for us during that day on the hill is the major reason for the change. I pushed myself to become stronger because I wished my friend would never have to sacrifice themselves for my sake."

"Haha, I only did that in the heat of the moment," I chuckled, rubbing the back of my head. "I am not sure if I would make the same decision if the situation arose again."

"I am sure you would," Saya replied instantly, her eyes locking onto mine with unwavering certainty. "But this time, I will not let you do it."

I only released a light laugh to her words as she continued looking at me with a warm smile, her eyes holding something deeper than mere gratitude.

"Raj," she called, tightening her fists at her sides. "Would you like to come to dinner with me?"