Chapter 81: The Mana Tide Arrives

After Li En mysteriously vanished for an entire day, the world did not stop its rhythm.

In fact, the opposite was true; the day of the investiture served as a landmark moment, and everything began at that instant.

Princess Dai Niya of the royal family made her formal debut, and at the same time, the entire City of Radiance had to consider the threat from underground. Regardless of where Her Highness obtained the information, when this intelligence was combined with the Beast Cult's activity (the Tail-Hunting Case), its credibility was quite high.

Once the royal family cast this crisis into the sunlight, pretending not to hear while covering one's own ears was no longer realistic; everyone and every organization had to confront this threat head-on.

"Compared to the same period last year, the concentrations of mana and elemental particles have risen by 7% to 11%, marking seven consecutive years of growth, while this year's growth has directly doubled." The spellcasters brought a rather subtle piece of good news.

When the Mana Tide arrives, the magic and elements in nature become more active, and spellcasters and magical creatures alike become stronger.

If this growth rate were extended over ten or twenty years, it might have already secretly increased by one or two times.

But higher concentrations of elemental nests also mean that more Sleepers and Hidden Races possess the possibility of taking action.

Previously, the spellcasters were only concerned with being happy, as their spell power had clearly become much stronger.

"The Observatory reports that the sighting rate of Super Beasts and Dragons this year has risen by 32%, showing an upward trend within the last decade."

Accompanying the activity of magic, all kinds of extraordinary lives become more active; observing their frequency of activity can indirectly observe the rise of the Mana Tide.

Especially some ancient gods and Ancients from previous eras might also emerge in this way.

"After communicating with the elders of the Elves' Manifestation Faction, it is confirmed that the arrival of the Mana Tide is already a fact."

And when the verified news was delivered, no one was so surprised or denied it; they seemed to have known of this moment's arrival long ago. This involves a classic continental joke.

"The Mana Tide is coming soon, and the entire continent is about to fall into a sea of fire!" This was a prophecy issued by Sigley, the highly esteemed Giant Sage of the entire continent.

Does the current situation seem to verify this prophecy?

"But this prophecy was issued more than two hundred years ago; this 'soon' is far too slow!" Back then, because of this prophecy, the Sage almost ruined his reputation.

Many nations and races truly prepared for war, but the decision-makers all died of old age, and the damn Mana Tide still had not come.

"There is no way; long-lived races are just like that, having no sense of time." Even this prophecy became a classic joke for short-lived races to mock long-lived races.

"Coming soon? How come it hasn't come in two hundred years? Is this prophecy prepared for my grandson?"

"Looking back now, the rise of the elemental tide should have started from that time, rising faster and faster. They experienced several Mana Tides and might have detected the omens in advance."

Now, the Mana Tide has finally arrived as scheduled; a new era has come.

"It is too slow; the fortresses set up back then have been abandoned, and the legions trained back then have all died of old age."

When reality was placed before them, the short-lived races were left weeping without tears.

In these hundred-plus years, anyone who mentioned the Mana Tide was treated as a fool, and anyone who truly demanded preparation for war was treated as a joke.

But now that the storm has struck, the various nations of the Beast-Transformed People seem to have no preparation.

A prophecy that is too early is not only equivalent to no prophecy at all, but it also inevitably caused the short-lived races, who waited in vain for so long, to slacken.

"... Do not trust these Ancients too much; they might be doing it on purpose."

And Dai Niya, the host of the conference, made no secret of her vigilance toward the alien races.

The more one knows, the less one will trust those big fellows and pointed ears; how could they, who were once the rulers of the continent, give up the possibility of returning to the center of the world?

Perhaps they are trustworthy in times of peace and are long-term stable commercial allies and friends, but a qualified Beastman royal and high noble will not forget their actions during the Mana Tide period.

Confirming that the Mana Tide is approaching also means that the intelligence regarding the revival of the "Evil Gods" underground should be true.

Considering the long-term impact of the Mana Tide is one aspect; if they cannot survive the current crisis, the kingdom might be gone.

"The kingdom can no longer do without the City of Radiance." Now the kingdom's finances are quite terrible, and among the few remaining cities, the City of Radiance has vaguely become the pillar.

This is not just about the extraordinary materials from underground ruins; with the development of these materials, too much commerce, deep processing, magic, and new industry have moved here.

As the party involved, the royal family bears an inescapable responsibility.

After the royal family's announcement, Dai Niya also gathered the local church and various transnational organizations to deal with the problem of underground ruins.

The priority was naturally to exchange various intelligence regarding the underground ruins, but the result was quite discouraging.

"It is very bad; we basically only have records of hunting in the shallow layers." This is partly due to the activity range of the hunting teams, but more so because safe deep routes are themselves the wealth of various exploration teams.

"There are lone strong individuals and small teams conducting deep hunts, but they did not leave systematic records." Those hunts targeting specific materials were also not systematic.

"Why is our map of the underground world so vague? Did no one go to manage it specifically before?"

"Who would manage it? More than ten years ago, this was just a fourth-tier city of the kingdom." This is the key to everything; previously, the exploration actions, which were not highly valued, were a feral mechanism of the common people.

The City of Radiance is a new city of the kingdom; more than ten years ago, it was just an ordinary city.

It became the pillar of the kingdom today mainly because the kingdom no longer has many cities.

For an "unstable factor" in a remote region, great powers usually suppress it whenever possible.

Dispatching the current Earl of Radiance to serve as the city lord back then, in a sense, was to block this cluster of underground ruins, with no intention of further development.

The kingdom back then was not short of these extraordinary materials; therefore, in past schemes, they never thought of attacking.

In their plans, the worst-case scenario was simply to abandon this city.

"For the kingdom of the past, this city was not worth stationing a legion, let alone worth several legions fighting and sacrificing blood for it." The kingdom declined too quickly; the plan from back then has not even been revised.

But the kingdom of now cannot do without this city.

"... The intelligence on the underground ruins is only from these few years; we mostly just block the outside to collect taxes and ticket fees, waiting for those adventurers to bring out the materials."

The more the underground intelligence was summarized, the more helpless the decision-makers became.

Most maps are of the shallow layers, where safety is highest, and ninety percent of adventurers stop here.

Once stepping into the depths, not only are the roads complex and easy to get lost in, but with the strengthening of monsters, the danger level also increases significantly.

"We need to build logistics for the adventurers." This is the biggest problem currently.

What always hinders deep exploration is logistical support; self-financing adventurers will not venture too deep into the underground ruins, as that is almost equivalent to seeking death.

"Actually, we could ask the Gray Dwarves and Dark Elves; they all came out of underground ruins. I highly suspect they have tribes down there." Someone proposed another line of thought.

"I actually asked them about this; they said there is a passage to the underground world within the underground ruins, and they came through it."

"Uh, you actually believe them?" These two races are notorious throughout the entire multiverse.

The underground ruins contain not only various demons and monsters, but also alien races, cultists, exiles, and slave traders.

On the contrary, the "Beast Cult" and the "Beast Kin," who are enemies, are virtually unknown to anyone.

"I heard there is also a swarm of Manticore inside, likely coming from the Underworld." Such monsters are quite famous; every single one requires a Grand Knight-level warrior to deal with.

"Heh, I also heard there are Black Dragons inside." Reports of True Dragon sightings are currently just rumors.

When numerous high-ranking officials spoke up and began exchanging eyewitness information from within their respective organizations, the results made people's scalps prickle.

The troubles outside exist inside; the dragons and high-level beast swarms, as well as cultists, which do not exist outside, also seem to be quite numerous inside.

In fact, over a decade ago, this underground ruin was not so outrageous; the monsters wandering the surface layers were not particularly strong.

But in recent years, accompanied by the resurgence of the Magic Tide phase, more areas seem to have "awakened," and more underground passages and beast swarms have appeared.

"We need intelligence." Against such a backdrop, forcibly dispatching a massive army to descend and conquer is truly too foolish.

Either it would be Bai Mang, finding no target, or they would be annihilated for no apparent reason.

"Let's offer a bounty." This is the most practical approach; as long as the money is sufficient, adventurers would even dare to go to the Bottomless Abyss and the Devil's Hell.

"We can deploy the Paladin Order to establish a forward base." The high-ranking officials of the various churches reached a consensus; it is time to deploy the Paladin Order.

The True God Churches will not retreat easily when facing the threat of the Beasts.

"Adventurers should bring more intelligence. I will issue an invitation and ask some renowned dungeon explorers from the continent to come." The Explorers' Association made its decision.

This time, the various families rarely shirked responsibility.

After all, this is their territory, their long-term livelihood; if they really ruin it, the consequences will be endless.

In fact, in recent years, accompanied by the rise in the quality of "materials," they have all enjoyed the dividends of the times. Looking back now, it should be the Magic Tide phase that awakened part of the Beasts, bringing more demons and materials.

It was not easy to finally eat well in these past few years; going back to eating chaff and swallowing vegetables would not be easy.

Watching the major organizations cooperate so rarely, Dai Niya felt a hint of unease amidst her joy.

After all, they do not actually need to show much respect to the Royal Family; what truly drives them has always been only profit.

"To them, the Beasts might just be a new opportunity, a resource point..." Dai Niya's Dragon Eyes could see that although these fellows spoke very seriously, they all had a hint of joy and expectation.

To them, more demons mean more resources; opening up more underground ruins means more wealth.

For the Kingdom and the city residents, this is a crisis.

For these transnational organizations and churches, this is a joint activity of "gaining profit."

"... The safety of the city must absolutely not be entrusted to them." Who knows what they might do once they have seized the profits.

They are truly capable of it: establishing their own hunting forward bases in the underground ruins and driving hunters to die continuously.

If the war against the Beasts would bring lasting profits, they would not expect the war to stop... And at this time, the Kingdom must rely on them.

For some reason, at this moment, Dai Niya thought of that smelly man who did not give her face.

If it were him, or the inheritors of the Heroic Souls, they would surely fight solely for this city and for life.

"I hope the next inheritance of the Heroic Souls opens soon; let them act quickly. Time is running out."

(End of this chapter)