Crimson dirt, ablaze with bloody flames, clung to the tattered deck.
From the massive, mouth-like portal emerged their old friend.
Dressed in a gentleman's suit, the Devouring Mouth appeared courteous.
It was another clone, and Alka recognized it immediately.
As he spoke, he bowed slightly to Alka and the others, politely saying, "Long time no see, everyone."
"I knew it was you, after all. I thought you'd given up," Alka said calmly, looking at the demon before him.
During the interrogation just now, the cultists hadn't answered his questions, instead immolating themselves as part of the ritual. He had vaguely sensed that this ship might be coming towards them, guided by the Devouring Mouth.
His eyes saw more.
Devourer's Mouth straightened his clothes, looking at the crowd, then at Alka.
"So you've already reached the seventh stage. No wonder you left the World Scar. You know how worried I was when I discovered you were gone.
I was so worried you'd died somewhere else, and it wasn't me who killed you. Seeing you alive and well, I'm finally relieved."
Hearing Devourer's Mouth's words, Alka frowned in disgust and said bluntly, "Alright, stop annoying me here. If you don't, you'll never get another chance."
"Hahahaha," Devourer's Mouth laughed.
"Why leave the World Scar? Why not wait a little longer and watch your world sink into the abyss?"
"Or..." The Devouring Mouth suddenly looked at Arka, smiled, and continued, "Are you trying to find some way to stop us?"
"Stop struggling. Just wait quietly for death."
The Devouring Mouth opened his arms again and said, "Go, tell your god. In a year, we will begin dragging this world into the abyss. Prepare all your strength to resist."
The Devouring Mouth smiled impudently, and the power that sustained him began to dissipate.
His entire body faded slightly. This was, after all, just a false form, brought here through a ritual.
The ritual that had guided him here also began to break down.
The entire ship began to truly engulf the flames and burn.
Watching this unfold, Jason and the others floated from the clouds to the deck of the Voice of Dawn.
Watching the burning ship slowly sink to the bottom of the sea.
Arka stretched out his hand for a moment, and a burst of magic extinguished a ball of soul energy on the surface.
"What a sinister thing."
But everyone's expressions were not pleasant at this moment.
Although they had long known about the demons' impending counterattack, being taunted by a demon at this moment was still irritating.
Especially when the difficulty of resisting was extremely high and they were likely to pay a heavy price.
"Do you believe what he said?" Sofia asked, looking at Arka.
Arka nodded. "Whether he launches a major counterattack in half a year or right now, it doesn't matter.
Because we can't stop it, right? And we're already preparing to resist."
Hearing Arka's words, everyone nodded in agreement. It was indeed true.
No matter what, the matter had come to this.
For now, they could only focus on finding the twelve Trial Towers; they had no other options.
"Speed up, Dawn's Voice."
With that, the Dawn's Voice streaked across the sea like a sharp arrow, galloping off into the distance.
Alka looked at the two treasures left among the ashes of the two cultists' self-immolation.
As expected of cultists, even the treasures they used were of poor quality.
Alka tossed them directly into the Smelting Tower, allowing the mist-like creatures controlling it to smelt them into divine essence.
They continued their voyage at a rapid pace.
After a long voyage, they encountered a drifting island.
It had been a long time since they had been to an island.
So, they slowly brought the Dawn's Voice to a stop beside the island.
Mainly because the island isn't very large—you can see the end of it at a glance—but it's covered in plenty of greenery.
Rest here for half a day.
Gather some fresh food from the island and let the Voice of Dawn settle down there.
A nighttime starry sky.
Alka and the others sat on the edge of the island, where a small campfire had been set up.
"Why is the Endless Sea so large?" Jason poked the campfire in front of him with a small wooden stick and couldn't help but wonder.
The entire time spent collecting the twelve Trial Towers was spent sailing.
If the Endless Sea were smaller, perhaps they could reach their goal more quickly.
Hearing this, the people around him simply smiled helplessly.
What else could they do?
"Okay, pack up and let's move on."
Alka said, standing up. Everyone cleared the bonfire and returned to the Voice of Dawn.
The Voice of Dawn's extended roots quickly retracted, leaving rows of tree pits along the edge of the island.
"How long until our next destination?" Simon asked.
Alka turned to look at Sofia.
Sofia thought for a moment and said, "According to calculations, it will take at least two months to arrive."
Hearing this, everyone could only nod helplessly.
Then, the Voice of Dawn began to move forward under the moonlight.
Just as everyone was about to return to their rooms to rest,
Everyone froze in their tracks.
Because the voice of the gods echoed in their minds.
"My people, the world is in imminent danger. The demons that scar the world are gathering more enemies. Please take up arms.
To protect the world, to resist the demons, everyone, all those who are capable, all those willing to sacrifice for the world. Please offer your assistance to the best of your ability, in the name of the Four Gods."
This was the voice in Alka's mind, coming from the Mother Mother.
The voices that echoed in the minds of the others depended on which god they preferred.
Each god's words varied, but the general meaning remained the same.
I hope they will offer their assistance to the best of their ability and fight to protect the world.
The voice faded, but they all heard it, including Juanlu, who didn't have much faith in the gods.
Because he came from the Home Sea, the voice he heard, like Alka, was the Mother Mother's.
From this, it was clear that the Four Gods' message was intended for everyone in the world.
When the voice faded, everyone on the deck fell silent. Only two and a half months had passed since the Devouring Mouth met them, and it was clear something had happened in that time.
The Four Gods Church's power was no longer enough to resist these demons.
The critical situation on the front was almost obvious.
"Voice of the Dawn, accelerate."
This was the only thing they could do now.
Then Alka looked at the crowd and said, "I might have to sink into a dream for a while. Wake me up if anything goes wrong or we reach our destination."
Everyone nodded, and Alka returned to his room, lying flat on the bed, quickly sinking into a dream.
When he opened his eyes again, he was already in his dream bubble.
He quickly left his dream bubble and arrived at the throne in the center.
Shadow Robe, Phantom, and even several powerful mist creatures, who Alka had tasked with controlling the entire kingdom, were all around.
They paused in front of the throne, awaiting Alka's arrival.
Alka appeared on the throne.
"Tell me, what's happening in reality?"
Alka could already see that the entire Dream Realm's buildings were almost fully operational.
The Dream Realm was no longer the bizarre scene it had been before, but now filled with a vast expanse of white mist.
This meant that the entire realm was constantly using its power to influence the real world, suppressing its chaotic fluctuations and bringing it back on track.
Shadow Robe took two steps forward and said to Alka, "The chaos within the World Scar has intensified today. We can sense its expansion. A vast amount of Abyssal aura has forcibly begun invading.
Using pure brute force, we've broken through a certain level of suppression. Using vast quantities of Abyssal aura, we've forcibly minimized the demonic influence."
Hearing this, Alka's expression grimaced. He silently asked, "Does this mean my kingdom's influence on reality is now completely ineffective?"
"No, Your Majesty. Without the kingdom's support within the dream, reality has become a gateway to the Abyss."
Hearing this, Alka nodded.
"Do your best to maintain it. Build more buildings to stabilize the chaos in reality."
The dream creatures below nodded and dispersed.
Alka sat on the throne, lost in thought.
Then he silently closed his eyes and sat there, completely still.
A crown appeared above his head.
Then, the surrounding power slowly began to converge on him.
The dream creatures that had left in the distance couldn't help but smile with joy upon seeing this.
This meant that Alka had begun to autonomously increase his strength in his dreams, rather than passively.
Clearly, he had figured something out.
In the eyes of these dream creatures, their king should have been increasing his strength naturally, rather than resorting to other tactics to slow down the resistance as he had previously.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be in the situation he was in now, ruling such a vast kingdom but lacking the strength to match it.
At this point, Alka had truly figured something out. With the world in dire straits, he no longer had the energy to suppress his dreamlike strength, as he had before, fearing the connection between reality and dreams.
He now had to forcefully increase his dreamlike strength, even if the gap widened.
As long as he could maintain a simple connection, it would be fine, because his strength and status in the dream world would be his greatest trump card and would play a greater role in his future actions.
The main reason was that he was only at the seventh level in reality. It would take him twenty to thirty years to truly reach the same level of strength as in the dream world.
Twenty to thirty years.
The World Scar had already been torn to shreds.
Time was running out, and he could no longer wait.
…
When the Voice of Dawn passed by a nearby island.
They saw several ships, intersecting and crossing with them.
From afar, they could see large amounts of supplies and some beings at the third level or above on the ships.
"Another team heading for the World Scar?" Julia, watching the scene from the deck, muttered silently.
Next to him, Sofia nodded.
If nothing unexpected happened, it should be.
During this period, whenever they approached certain islands, they could see this scene.
Apparently, the gods' proclamation had spread throughout the world.
"We're almost at our destination... Do we need to wake Alka?" Juanlu asked, approaching.
They still had half a day to go.
Sofia thought for a moment, then nodded, "I'll go."
With that, he headed for Alka's room.
Upon entering, he saw Alka lying flat on the bed.
He walked over, sat beside him, and patted him gently.
After a while, Alka opened his eyes and awoke from his bed.
"Are we almost there?"
Sofia nodded, then simply stared at Alka. Lucilia also slipped through the wall from outside and watched Alka.
"The connection between the soul and the body is growing increasingly distant."
At Lusilia's words, Alka nodded. He had long been prepared for this.
This was Alka's decision. Sofia and Lusilia looked at each other, unsure how to persuade him.
This was the only way.
Alka rose from the bed, dressed, and joined the two on deck.
As soon as they emerged, they saw the ship sailing away in the distance.
Blinking, Alka observed the ship's situation and began to understand.
"This is the third Trial Tower, and it's not under the control of the Church.
This is because there's no powerful force nearby, mostly medium-sized or weaker ones.
This Trial Tower is controlled by a community of marine races.
It's said that this community is a part-time pirate group.
Because they're marine races, the forces here don't have much to do with them.
Now, with most of the powerful ones having gone to World Scar, there's even less we can do to eliminate them."
After hearing Alka's words, Jason looked at him and said, "So, if they don't hand us over, we can just use force and eliminate a nuisance in the area?"
Hearing this, Alka nodded. "That's true, but we must proceed with caution. Intelligence suggests these deep-sea pirates are more than they appear. Otherwise, they wouldn't have persisted here for so long, remaining unannihilated."
Hearing this, everyone nodded, their understanding clear.
This time, the Trial Tower wasn't located within a chain of islands, but rather on an isolated island offshore.
After all, every island with a Trial Tower could be considered a landmark island.
Just like the Trial Island Alka and his companions had encountered before.
This was why the pirates had occupied the island this time.
A landmark island like this was large enough, had a Trial Tower, possessed sufficient magical power, and had no surrounding islands connected to it. Isolated in the open sea, it was the perfect location for pirates to occupy.
Soon, they sighted the island where the Trial Tower was located from afar.
They also seemed to have discovered Alka and his companions' location.
Pororo stood on the deck and looked down at the water. "They've already reached the bottom. Are they going to attack?"
Hearing this, Alka thought for a moment and said, "No rush, Dawn Voice. If they show any signs of attacking, just tie them up underwater."
The bird on the branch nodded.
Soon, they sensed movement underwater.
Silence. The sea creatures that were about to break through the bottom of the ship from the water were tightly entangled by the tree roots that emerged from under the bed.
Six pirates in total were carried up through the vines, one by one.
Everyone was stunned by the appearance of these sea creatures.
They had never imagined that these so-called sea creatures would be the deep-sea naga of the same species as Matresha.
Matresha herself was stunned.
Then a thought flashed in her eyes; she clearly had something on her mind. Her brow furrowed, her expression gradually darkening.
"It's you... So it's you, you shameless traitors! Die!"
Matresha suddenly erupted in rage.
She controlled the vines to shoot out one by one, completely binding the sea creatures.
The naga continued to speak to Matresha. "You're actually teaming up with aliens to target your own people? Have you betrayed them?"
"Let me go! Kill all these humans."
Although the two races had some physical differences, they were clearly the same overall.
This led the other party to believe that Matresha was one of their own kind.
"Betrayal? Your cowardly ancestors betrayed the gods, betrayed us, and even betrayed the world."
Through their exchange, Alka and the others instantly understood.
Because their first thought was the place where they had first met Matresha.
Matresha's race had been punished by the sea god for a grave transgression, and they were forced to remain there.
Unless they made amends.