3 hours later, when I returned to my worried Companions, Alwyn's message arrived.
And even though I was somewhat expecting some mishaps to happen in her journey because of how she asked me for advice on where to land her Space Vessel, I didn't expect to hear her weakened voice.
"Dai-kun, what's wrong?"
? Perhaps noticing the frown that I unintentionally showed when we're just laughing around while I was telling them my experience of absorbing half a Chaosworld's worth of Chaotic Energy, Yuko worriedly asked.
"It's Alwyn. I just received her message. She's in trouble." I honestly answered.
They're all aware who Alwyn was and among all the girls here, there's someone who knew her personally as well.
"Alwyn? What happened to her?" Irja stood up and approached me.
Although the two didn't have a prolonged interaction, they got a little close when Alwyn tried to speak reason with her about her decision to come with me back to my world.
"I didn't have the full details but… considering she asked me whether to land on a Chaosworld or a Transcendent World, she found herself in trouble on either of the two."
Just like me, because of the Shared Growth, Irja was now a full-fledged Rank 3 Transcendent as well as Sofiel, Yuko, Nysia, Fleur and Yumiko. As for the other girls, they're not that far off from it.
Surely, if Alwyn met her or us again, she would be so shocked that we're now at the same Rank as her.
It hadn't been three months since I returned from the Dark World.
Although I couldn't say I would be able to handle a Rank 4 Transcendent, I could probably escape against an early Rank 4 Transcendent.
"… You should've made her your Companion before. That way you could be summoned by her and get her out of trouble."
"Irja… you've been influenced by Yuko and Nysia, huh?"
"No. You idiot guy. Looking at you suddenly frowning like that. You're worried about her, am I right. Then let's go and save her."
If it was that easy, I would've long sprinted towards where that woman is.
"I am worried, true. However, it's still out of my or our abilities to rush where she is currently. In the first place, I have no idea at which World Zone we will look for her."
The only thing I know about that journey of hers is that she was sent by Illiana to get something in a distant World Zone and Alwyn stopped somewhere to refill the fuel of her Space Vessel.
What I have to do now is to… check by contacting Illiana.
However, I would surely be instantly detected by whoever's watching over that World. Moreover, it wasn't wrong to say that someone was always waiting for Illiana to make a wrong move.
Whether it was that Overlord Serpent or a different Sage World, my current strength even though I jumped up to 900 UPL, it was still lacking against a Rank 5 Transcendent or a Great One that was surely near or at the peak of it.
If I contacted Worldy instead, the result would turn out the same.
That's why… after talking with my Companions about our future plans now that we're done with what we needed to do here on Earth, I excused myself for a while to contact someone.
With her crystal carefully kept inside my Necklace, I took it out and filled it with my Flux Energy.
"Remilia… If you can hear this, please respond to me. I have a favor to ask."
Sending that message to the girl, I waited for almost an hour before her annoyed voice sent a response.
"I don't think you have the right to ask me for a favor."
That's true. In the first place, I was the one helped by her and not the other way around.
However, I had no other choice but to rely on her.
"That's true. But this concerns the Great One Illiana."
"Huh? Why can a Rank 1 Transcendent pervert like you decide what concerns the Great One?!"
As expected, like Alwyn, this woman was also a devout follower of the Great One even if she was sent to serve the opposing Great One.
"You can be mad at me anytime and I can let you beat me up or even give up on pursuing you once we meet again but this… is of the utmost importance. If you have a way to contact the Great One Illiana, tell her this…"
As I relayed my message for Illiana, I said it in a cryptic way that only Illiana would be able to decode. And despite Remilia's angry comments, I continued and reminded her to tell Illiana my message word for word.
"You're unbelievable. You're using my crystal only to make me a messenger?"
"Can I take it that you're jealous?"
"No! Never! Tsk… I should've cut you down when I got the chance... I received your crystal, stop contacting me using mine and wait for my news, I am going to use that. It's not easy for me to contact the Great One but I have my ways… You will owe me for this."
"Un. I will owe you big time… Cut me down if you want but this is urgent. You're the only one I can rely on this time, Remilia."
"Stop calling me by my whole name. It feels weird."
"Then Remi."
"Tsk. Wait for it."
Ending her message along with her annoyed clicking of her tongue, the connection with Remilia was then cut off.
I relayed my message and now… I had no choice but to wait for feedback from her.
In the meantime… I would continue contacting Alwyn. She's not dead yet, that's for sure.
-
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"You returned… And you're now a Rank 3 Transcendent! This is… unbelievable."
The old gentleman at the Underground Mansion inside the Ancient Ruins exclaimed upon seeing me for the second time. Even for an Incarnation of a high leveled expert, he was still surprised upon witnessing how the Mortal Ranks he let go before had grown this much after less than half a year.
Behind me, there were Yumiko, Jayna, Rei, Ren, Jagu and Chee.
Everyone was a member of the exploration group back then, except for Chee who wasn't present when we stumbled into this place.
Back then I felt too weak against this Incarnation. If willed it, he could massacre all of us without even wasting so much effort.
However, at this moment, I could finally see the extent of this Incarnation's strength.
Rank 4 Transcendent…
An Incarnation with the strength of a Rank 4 Transcendent… That's kind of absurd, right?
He's an Incarnation of a Sage Realm expert at the very least.
"Even I cannot believe that we will reach this far in this short time." I humbly answered which earned a smirk and teasing smiles from Yumiko and Jayna.
As for Ren, Rei and the couple, they're all Rank 1 Transcendents. And at this point, their UPL had already dropped down to lower that 150 because of the expiration of the Baptism they received. Nonetheless, it's just a matter of time before they stabilize their state and begin their Transcendent Pathway. Moreover, I added them on my Allies list, giving them 20% of my Support Bonus.
Although I don't think we can take them with us when we leave the Earth, I already asked my father and the sly old man to look after them and give them tasks that would train them.
"… I see. I guess I cannot pry for an answer now by scaring you. Tell me, what's the purpose of your visit this time?"
"Tell us. Tell us about the 'War'."
The war that the World's Will mentioned. If someone was privy to information about it… it should be this old gentleman.
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