Chapter 344

"Waaaaaaaaah!"

"What's going on, what happened? An earthquake?!"

"Has it come? Another world…"

……

Rumble rumble—!

An intense tremor spread outward, and everyone present could feel that powerful shaking.

As time went on, the tremor grew more and more obvious, the area it affected kept expanding, and the shaking grew ever more violent, with mountains, rivers, and streams all trembling fiercely.

"Has it already come? Is another world really about to overlap?"

Crouching half-way, Lucy stared at the swaying world before her, her eyes filled with shock!

Gray said, "Wait a moment, isn't this tremor a bit too strong?!"

"No good, it's too strong, the ground is cracking open!"

Erza, gripping her knight's longsword, sliced through a falling boulder and at the same time turned to look at the excited Natsu, who was acting like a kid on Christmas morning.

"Natsu, retreat first so we don't waste magic unnecessarily right now!"

……

"All hands on alert, the first piece of another world is about to descend, and this fragment seems somewhat unusual."

The instant the strange phenomenon occurred, Shinigami Aizen spoke up at once.

In fact, Aizen's reminder was unnecessary—everyone present had already sensed that this tremor was unusually massive, and one after another they activated their own magical defenses or flew up into the sky.

"Look over there, quick!"

At that moment, Happy, who had flown into the sky carrying Wendy, cried out in alarm.

"This… how… is it possible!"

Following Happy's gaze, everyone's eyes swiveled over in unison, yet the instant they looked, every single one of them froze.

Within their field of vision, mountains and rivers shattered.

A towering mountain several kilometers away collapsed outright, and not long after its collapse, a somewhat frenzied roar suddenly rang out across the heavens and earth.

Within everyone's field of vision, they saw that at the spot where the mountain had shattered, a white radiance suddenly shot up into the sky, pierced through the clouds, and connected with the heavens.

Rumble rumble!

The earth trembled violently, yet with the appearance of the white radiance, the shaking did not come to a gloomy end—on the contrary, it grew even more intense!!

The white radiance kept expanding, the curtain of light like a colossal wall, as it spread and advanced.

In an instant, everything within tens of thousands of meters—trees, boulders, city walls, even mountain peaks—all began to move, as if by some unseen hand, all shoved apart and pulled away!

The white radiance expanded quickly, but at the same time everyone could clearly sense that the distance between the curtain of light and themselves had not changed at all!

This could be seen from Happy and Carla, who were flying in the sky.

Everyone on the ground was retreating, yet they alone, flying in the air, kept advancing, rapidly pulling a long distance away from Natsu and the others.

"Wait a moment, ……"

Watching her companions drift ever farther away, Wendy, truly suspended in midair, cried out in alarm.

"Mr. Natsu! Young Lady Erza!"

"Wendy, get close to me!"

Erza cried out sharply, at the same time switching into her Heaven's Wheel armor, grabbing Wendy and flying down to the ground, only then continuing to pull away from her other companions no further.

……

The bizarre scene threw everyone present into a panic.

Not only they, but the people living in the northern lands of Ishgar clearly saw that pillar of light thrusting straight into the clouds! The people of the entire Ishgar continent could feel this strange tremor even more.

At this moment, the people of the entire continent fell into an unprecedented panic.

"An… an earthquake?"

"I don't know, why do I feel like I'm retreating backward?"

"Yeah, what's going on!"

………………

…………

"How is it possible—the curtain of light keeps expanding, so why do I still feel like I'm standing right where I was?"

Staring at the ever-expanding curtain of light before them, Dimaria and Wahl were somewhat at a loss.

At this moment, even though their strength was as great as theirs, before this curtain of light they still felt their own insignificance.

"It's space—space is constantly expanding. This piece of another world isn't descending directly, it's fusing!"

At this moment, Ogswell stepped forward and said.

Through magical perception, he could sense that although the curtain of light was pushing everything aside, in reality it was moving the space of this continent, expanding out a new space for the otherworld's descent and fusion.

Although he had already determined that another world would inevitably descend and had prepared himself in his heart, the instant he saw the curtain of light, he still could not help but let out a gasp of admiration.

In the blink of an eye, tens of thousands of meters of space expanded outward directly, and judging from this speed, this number would double again........

Gazing at the world before him, Ogswell's expression grew slightly solemn.

"A piece of another world, is it… it seems the new era has truly arrived."

If the previous otherworld war symbolized the turning point of the new era, the world had already entered a new rank.

Then this descent of another world thoroughly declared the opening of the Great Transfer era, informing everyone in the world that other worlds truly exist.

Although it had only just begun, Ogswell could already faintly foresee that in the near future, one piece of another world after another would descend upon this world.

At the same time, the appearance of another world would inevitably spark conflict with them of the original world, and when that time came, an unprecedented storm of blood and carnage would erupt.

Rumble rumble.

The light screen continued to expand, and only after its range had doubled once more did it slowly come to a halt.

At this moment, the entire northern land of Ishugar was still trembling violently.

Then, under the gaze of everyone, the light screen dissolved into specks of starlight and gradually scattered, and a stretch of primeval forest shrouded in white mist was thus revealed before everyone's eyes.

Through the mist within the forest, a long, mournful sound drifted out.

And with the appearance of the other world, the tremors ceased along with it.

"The other world has finally appeared!"

At this moment, whether across the mountains and plains, or watching through magic crystals, or gazing from afar, the people of the entire Ishugar continent stared with burning eyes at that primeval forest.

All manner of clamorous voices likewise swelled to their peak at this moment.

Lin Cheng, who was controlling Aizen, cast a glance at the excited gazes all around; even the auras several thousand meters away could not escape his perception.

Clearly, under the temptation of the overlapping otherworld fragments and the 'Great Will' fragments, no one could keep their heart as still as water.

"So this is… the other world?"

Far in the distance, Natsu and his group were likewise staring at the primeval forest shrouded in smoke, a hint of shock flickering in their eyes.

Although they had not yet stepped inside, those present could sense an extremely peculiar fluctuation from the thick fog within the forest.

That fluctuation was so heavy that it made even their spirits wilt.