The Most Arbitrary Wizard

Chapter 180: Chapter 105: World’s End

Sean frowned at the endless mountain range before them. "This should be the right way, shouldn’t it?"

Elvire confirmed for him, "That’s right. This is the direction."

Because every other direction led further inland.

Although Elvire also found the area unfamiliar, seeing none of the characteristics associated with the "New World," they had no other choice.

"Just keep driving forward," Sopea said from the back seat.

They hadn’t even reached World’s End yet. The "New World" could very well lie beyond it.

Logically, a special "attraction" like World’s End should have drawn plenty of visitors. However, the road to get there was treacherous, the altitude was high, and the air was thin. Many people couldn’t handle it before they even arrived. As a result, the number of visitors dwindled year by year until eventually, only a few extreme sports enthusiasts would come.

"Is the teacher saying it’s a good thing the road is difficult?" Koni asked.

Sopea shook his head. "No. I’m saying that World’s End is on a high peak. As long as we get to the top, we’ll naturally be able to see the way."

The higher you stand, the farther you see. A city as large as Kovri couldn’t be that easy to hide. If it existed, they would definitely be able to find it, or at least see its silhouette.

"Let’s go, then." Kate said, starting the car again and gunning the engine.

Behind them, Yisha, Lante, Adelf, and the others stepped on the gas and followed.

The two cars drove one after the other through the mountain roads, visibly getting farther and farther from the Inland.

White traces had already appeared on many of the mountain tops.

It was snow that never melted.

"This is the worst road I’ve ever driven on," Kate said, annoyed.

The car had stalled several times along the way.

Koni blinked. "Aren’t all rural mountain roads like this?"

Near Alola Town, besides the one highway leading to Kendili City, the other roads were pretty much the same.

Kate replied, "But I don’t usually drive."

’No matter how bad the road, the chauffeur was the one driving. What did it have to do with him?’

Koni was speechless.

’Oh, I’m so sorry, I forgot you were the big boss.’

Sean and Elvire, however, were in no mood for idle chatter. They were constantly observing the scenery outside the windows, at one point feeling as if they were lost.

There was nothing but mountains all around.

The entire region felt like a labyrinth built from mountain ranges, one they couldn’t seem to escape no matter which way they went.

’Could the direction really be wrong?’ Sean frowned in thought.

If it was wrong, it wasn’t a recent mistake, but one made from the very beginning. In theory, there were two locations where the time difference matched their expectations: World’s End to the southeast of the continent, and the land’s edge to the northwest. It was a choice between the two. The reason Sean had chosen World’s End was because of its name; it held the symbolic meaning of "a new world awaits beyond the end."

"You don’t have to worry about that," Kate said. "The Chairman has already sent people to check the northwest."

When Kate had spoken with Adelf and revealed that the Kovri Ruins still existed and had a time difference with Siracle State, Adelf had already thought of this possibility. Before setting out, he had arranged for a team to head to the Extreme North Region. Calculating the time, they should have arrived by now.

Sean was momentarily stunned, then sighed in sincere admiration. "As expected of the Chairman."

Aside from meeting on the night they boarded the ship, he and Adelf had barely spoken. Adelf hadn’t asked anything about Kovri, yet in private, he had considered things more carefully than anyone. No wonder people always said an elder in the family is like a treasure.

With this, Sean had no more lingering worries.

With searches progressing in both polar extremes simultaneously, he refused to believe they wouldn’t find it.

The car drove on for a while longer.

The sky began to darken, and a cold wind seeped in through the cracks in the windows. The temperature was noticeably much lower than before.

"We might have to walk the last stretch ourselves," Kate said.

After a grueling ten-hour journey, they had arrived at the base of the peak of World’s End.

Forget whether the path was smooth or not; the sheer incline alone was impossible for their beat-up off-road vehicles to climb.

"It’s fine. If we have to walk, we’ll walk."

Yisha and the others in the car behind also got out one by one.

Adelf gazed at the peak of World’s End, its summit hidden from view, and sighed with emotion. "In the face of nature, we humans are so insignificant."

"If only I were a Grand Mage."

"Then I could just punch a hole through the mountain and see how it tries to block our path."

Everyone was speechless.

’Looks like their Chairman isn’t as benevolent as he appears on the surface, huh?’

"Let’s go. It’s been a while since I’ve climbed a mountain. Let’s see if it conquers us today, or if we conquer it," Adelf said with a laugh. He then recited a Spell, and a ball of Magic Power instantly lifted him up, carrying him straight toward the snowy peak.

Everyone: "?"

’So that’s what you call "climbing"?’

They also wanted to ascend directly like they were in an elevator, but their bodies wouldn’t allow it.

The lack of oxygen caused a significant decline in the physical functions of those who had lived their whole lives in the Inland. This was especially true for "pampered" young women like Yisha and Koni, who were already gasping for breath after just a few steps. If they pushed their bodies further to use Magic, they would probably pass out halfway up.

Sean wasn’t much better off.

He could only watch as Adelf flew higher and higher, then said helplessly, "Come on. We’ll climb slowly."

And so, under the deepening night sky, the group began to climb the snow-covered mountain.

The one in the most pain was, without a doubt, Sabeck.

As the "key person" who had helped them infiltrate the Florist Family, he had been brought along. With his hands and feet bound by ropes, he was also forced to climb the mountain, which he could only manage by "hopping" the entire way. It was practically killing him...

However, despite the exhaustion, they were all Wizards. Their physical conditioning was superior to most ordinary people, so their performance was naturally "not bad." They didn’t need oxygen tanks, and no one fell behind from lack of stamina.

Especially when they were about a third of the way up, Adelf shared a piece of good news with everyone.

"No ruins were found in the Far North Region."

This might have been bad news for the Wizards who went to explore there, a wild goose chase, but to Sean and the others, it was incredibly exciting.

If the Kovri Ruins weren’t in the Far North Region, then they could only be here.

"Let’s push on, everyone! Victory is just ahead!" Sean shouted to rally the group.

Yisha also clenched her fists and yelled, "Let’s go! Find the Kovri Ruins and restore the glory of my Holy Sanctuary!"

Hopping at the back of the group, Sabeck finally understood the purpose of Sean’s party’s journey. ’So they’re looking for the Holy Temple Ruins? But isn’t that a bit ridiculous?’

’The Hall of Truth vanished into the river of time long ago, buried by the dust of history. Hundreds of years have passed. How could there still be a Holy Sanctuary? How could there still be a Kovri?’

’Even if it did exist, why would it be in a godforsaken hellhole like this?’

’And what about the supposed true headquarters of the Florist Family?’

’There wasn’t a living soul here besides them. It made Sabeck feel deeply that he’d been tricked by this gang of Wizards.’

But he was already here, and as a "captive," Sabeck had no choice but to keep climbing the mountain with them.

He had tried to escape along the way.

But before he could even act on it, Elise at his side saw right through him. The beautiful woman, who looked like a kind girl-next-door, spoke to him in an exceedingly gentle tone, "Mr. Sea Witch, if you get any more funny ideas, I just might have to kick you off this mountain."

’From a height of several thousand meters, with his hands and feet tied, and after being forced by the Witch to drink a Withered Leaf Grass potion that suppressed Magic Power... if he fell from here, who knows how many pieces he’d shatter into.’

Sabeck immediately behaved. "Coming, coming!" he said hurriedly. "I was just tired of hopping and wanted to change my posture."

As he spoke, he had no choice but to actually change his posture, now hopping on a single foot.

He hopped like that for several hours.

By the time it was late at night, they had finally climbed to the summit of World’s End.

The summit was a vast expanse of white, covered in wind-battered frost and snow, its cold light piercing even the darkness of night. Numerous flags were planted in the ground, markers left by Explorers who had once conquered this peak. Among them, Sean spotted the emblem of the Krobel Club, which reminded him of his old friend, Chris.

At this moment, however, his attention was focused more on the Kovri Ruins. He temporarily pushed his old friend to the back of his mind, pulled Elvire along, exchanged a look with the young woman, and together they hurried toward the edge of the summit.

Yisha and the others followed excitedly.

"Quick, quick, we’re here!"

The most satisfying part of climbing a high peak is the moment you reach the top, especially when they were about to see the silhouette of the Holy Sanctuary.

As long as they could find Kovri, find the Hall of Truth, no amount of suffering would be in vain!

However, reality was like a bucket of cold water poured ruthlessly over their heads.

The summit of World’s End was less a "summit" and more of a cliff.

The mountain was so immense that its relatively flat top could be considered an ice plain.

And beyond the ice plain, Sean and the others stood at the cliff’s edge and looked down.

There was no Holy Sanctuary.

No Kovri.

No Florist Family and no Selona City.

There weren’t even any more mountains. They couldn’t see the silhouette of any object at all.

There was only endless blackness.

It was a blackness that could be distinguished by the naked eye, deeper and more profound than the night sky, like a boundless void.

...