A different world game? A different world game!

Outside the town.

Old Jack, Bran, Ella, and Mogg stood back to back.

Standing at the edge of that apple orchard that emitted an ominous purple light.

The sense of emptiness in the air grew stronger and stronger, as if even sound and light were being slowly sucked away.

The surroundings were unusually quiet; even the chirping of autumn insects had ceased.

All the natural creatures living here fled from this place out of instinctive fear.

All that remained was the increasingly sharp and piercing high-frequency buzzing of the detector in Bran's hand, and the heavy pounding of their own hearts.

"The index...the index has exceeded the limit! The detector...is about to overload!"

Bran's voice was hoarse, sweat soaking his beard as he futilely tried to stabilize the wildly flickering instrument that was about to leap off the chassis.

Ella's bowstring was taut, the arrow trembling slightly, pointing towards the area where the purple light was most intense.

She felt waves of dizziness and nausea, a sign that her mind was fighting against an invisible erosion.

She forced herself to concentrate, staring intently ahead.

Old Jack gripped his standard-issue longsword tightly, his knuckles turning white.

"I must say, I've been through so many battles, but this is probably the first time I've faced the opening of a void rift head-on like this."

"Not many people have actually experienced it, so from that perspective, we might actually be quite lucky, right?"

A few dry laughs came from the side.

Although he did want to liven things up, people just couldn't get into the spirit of things right now.

That fear, stemming from the instinct for survival, coiled around my heart like cold vines.

Old Jack also shut his mouth and gripped the hilt of his sword even tighter.

His gaze swept over the young people around him.

Bran's focus, Ella's stubbornness, and the steady pulse emanating from the roots of Morgraine deep within the earth—they are his responsibility, and also his strength.

Compared to him, they are all too young.

Will their bodies be preserved?
Will their souls truly return to the Black and White Dragons, as the announcement stated?

Will they really return under the power of the Black and White Dragons?
Facing death, and facing a resurrection that seems achievable.

He had mixed feelings.

“Remember,” old Jack’s voice was deep and hoarse, yet unwaveringly firm, “our mission is not to destroy them, but to hold them here! Mark the position! Buy time for reinforcements! Buy every second for Hamton!”

Mog's heavy body emitted a deep hum, as if the earth were resonating.

His thick roots spread wildly underground, trying to sense the energy core that was about to break through space, and spreading a faint, soothing natural aura to barely resist the chilling void that was eroding life.

The world will offer some assistance, and the blessing of jade will also bring guidance of power.

But in the face of emptiness, in the face of absolute destruction.

All of this seemed futile.

at this time--

"Crack!"

A soft yet incredibly clear sound, like shattered glass or the groan of space itself, rang out.

Less than twenty meters in front of them, the air suddenly twisted and tore apart like a shattered prism!
A narrow crack, its edges flickering with unstable purple arcs of electricity, appeared out of nowhere.

The interior of the crack was not dark, but a chilling, profound emptiness, as if even the concept of "nothingness" itself was being swallowed up there.

That familiar chill and despair, felt in the depths of the soul, surged forth like a tangible tide, instantly engulfing the four.

Bran's detector let out a sharp, mournful cry, extinguishing all its light completely.

Ella groaned, enduring a severe headache and nausea, and aimed the arrow firmly at the crevice.

"coming!"

Old Jack roared, his voice trembling without him even realizing it.

Amidst the violent energy fluctuations, the crack expanded rapidly to both sides, as if torn apart by an invisible giant hand.

"Om-!"

An indescribable shriek, seemingly from beyond the world, did not travel through the air but reverberated directly in the depths of everyone's spirit.

The crack instantly expanded into an irregular opening large enough for a horse-drawn carriage to pass through.

At the edge of the cave entrance, purple energy flowed and dripped like a viscous liquid, landing on the grass blades on the ground and instantly eroding them into grayish-white crystalline dust.

Inside the cave, it was no longer pure "emptiness," but rather a churning, surging, and nauseating purple aura.

Within the halo, countless twisted and bizarre silhouettes wriggled and gathered, greedily peering at this vibrant world.

Immediately afterwards, a grotesque limb covered with thick, irregular purple crystals suddenly emerged from the churning purple light mist.

The shape of its limbs was somewhere between the sickle-like legs of an insect and the talons of a bird of prey, with sharp, crystalline spikes covering the joints, gleaming with a cold and malevolent purple light.

As if testing the waters, it gripped the edge of the crack in the real world with fierce determination.

"Zi la——!"

The space seemed to be scorched, emitting a piercing sound, and the purple arcs of electricity at the edge of the rift instantly became even more violent.
That crystal claw was firmly gripping the edge of the real world, like an anchor proclaiming the end of the world.

The void rift has opened!

The four members of the Night Watch outpost squad faced the entrance to the cave, which was filled with destruction and despair, and the terrifying claw that heralded the arrival of the vanguard.

Their faces appeared incredibly pale in the purple light, but they gripped their weapons even tighter.

There was no way out but to hold on until the iron torrent of reinforcements arrived, or... to perish along with the land they were protecting.

…………

The core hall of the Anomalous Energy Analysis Institute in the City Around the Tower.

Just moments before, they were still gripped by the tense aftershocks of the alarm in Hamton.

But at this moment, that single, glaring sign of crisis seems so insignificant.

Because that was just one hour after the report was marked "Confirmed - Priority 1" and uploaded to the main database.

The blinding, fiery red light, like spilled blood, instantly engulfed all the monitoring rune screens in the abnormal energy analysis hall.

The alarm blared throughout the hall.

"Warning! Warning! An abnormal data pulse has been detected in the town of Bex – coordinates L-47K-9!"

A young operator almost screamed, his fingers trembling as he pointed at another screen that was beeping wildly, his voice distorted with extreme shock.

He didn't finish his sentence.

"Repeated! North of Spiral Mountain, uninhabited area, coordinates M-22A-3! Anomalous energy peak of 900%! 97% match with Hamton's initial waveform!"

The half-elf analyst in charge of the area scan slammed his fist on the console, his voice hoarse.

"Damn it! The synchronization rate at coordinate point N-15F-1 has spiked! We only have one fluctuation explorer there, and it was only set up a month ago!"

Another bald, elderly human technician cursed involuntarily, the report scroll slipping from his hand and falling to the ground without him noticing. "This isn't a coincidence! This isn't a coincidence! This is...!"

“Anvien North! Coordinates P-…” A female mage’s voice, usually calm, trembled with panic for the first time. “Oh my god! Western Leviathan Continent… coordinates…” “Report—Lower Orbit Ocean… coordinates…” The urgent shouts were drowned out by the wailing of more alarms.

Chaos swept through the entire department like the shockwave of an explosion.

The piercing sirens were no longer a single note, but rather a symphony of death that rose and fell, driving people to the brink of madness.

On the walls, scarlet spots of light, symbolizing different regions and severity levels, flickered and overlapped one after another, eventually turning the entire hall into a sea of ​​despairing blood red.

The cold, mechanical voice repeatedly screamed "highest threat level," only to be instantly drowned out by even louder shouts.

"Stay calm! Report coordinates and key parameters! Filter redundant data! Prioritize reporting abnormal data from oil depots! Prioritize these areas!"

Chief analyst Leo's roar barely cut through the noise; his face, illuminated by the red light, resembled that of a demon, while his fingers moved steadily and frantically across the main control screen, categorizing data.

However, the surge of data on the screen became a torrent, like an out-of-control waterfall, instantly overwhelming the preset filtering model.

“Too many! Too many!” an operator cried out in despair.

He is still very young and hasn't experienced much.

He was not a warrior.

This abnormal void data surged in like a tidal wave, overwhelming their minds in an instant.

Because it felt like the end of the world was coming.

"Manual entry! Partition confirmation!"

Leo's voice carried an undeniable iron will: "Who is responsible for the coordinates of the various nations' gathering points? Who spotted the ocean coastline? Report the coordinates loudly!"

"Tesbul City has sent abnormal data!" a voice shouted urgently.

Panic gripped the young operator's heart like a cold, venomous snake. His voice trembled with tears: "Sir, what...what do we do? There are...more than just one or two everywhere..."

"Shut up!"

A veteran analyst with a scarred face suddenly interrupted him. He had experienced the initial war and was simply old here.

Therefore, he was determined and his eyes were as sharp as an eagle's.

"Stop crying! Record it! Check for duplicate coordinates! Prioritize gathering points!" His voice was hoarse but unusually strong. "No matter how many there are! Writing them down is our job!"

Chief Leo suddenly looked up, and on the blood-red screen, cursors representing "abnormal points" exploded wildly across the entire world map like a plague.

Within just a few seconds, the number of fires had spread from a few scattered points to more than a dozen, and it didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon.

"The database has synchronized and marked all confirmed coordinates!" He took a deep breath, his voice forcefully drowning out the noise and fear in the room.

"Alert Level: 'Doomsday Clock' - Officially Activated! Activate highest authority: Emergency Link to the Torch Council! Simultaneously notify all military and decision-making levels in the City of the Ring!"

His fingers pressed heavily against a rune core protected by a thick crystal.

A deep purple beam of light, purer and more concentrated than any alarm light, shot up from the top of the analysis tower and pierced the bottom of the floating island.

Instantly, through the previously modified data structure, information was quickly sent to some important internal channels.

Heart of the Tower - Command Center
Almost the instant the purple pillar of light rose.

Inside the highest spherical command hall inside the ring tower, a holographic projection surrounding a massive plane emitted a blinding red light.

A beam of teleportation light flashed, and Ariris's figure instantly appeared in front of the enormous command throne.

Her deep red eyes swept over the shocking global explosion of red light spots projected in front of her, and the usual calm on her face was replaced by an unprecedented solemnity and sharpness.

Without the slightest hesitation, a cool and powerful will instantly enveloped the entire command center.

"Total silence!"

Her voice wasn't loud, but it had a peculiar penetrating power, instantly drowning out the gasps and whispers of horror that had just erupted in the hall through the amplification array.

The entire command center fell silent instantly.

In all the Night Watch channels, they suddenly discovered that both the [World] channel, which is for all Night Watch members, and the [Regional] channel, which is for a specific area, were muted. Even the private channels of each squad fell silent at this moment.

"Connect to all high-level communication channels."

Alyris's gaze was sharp as a knife as she swept over the dozens of activated floating light screens in front of her.

Each line corresponds to a key department or legion command center, and the faces in the images are all extremely tense.

She gave direct instructions, speaking very quickly.

"I am Alyris, the presiding judge of the Inquisition, the Blade of Kana. The data from the Anomaly Energy Analysis Institute has been pushed and shared across the entire domain."

"Confirmed: The Void Vanguard's full-scale invasion has been initiated. The 'Doomsday Clock' defense procedures have officially started!"

"Immediately implement: 'Salvation' Emergency Plan, First Rank!"

"Ring City and all its subordinate cities, activate the highest level of void alert, seal off non-core areas, and activate the defense system at full power!"

Once the command was given, the operator below immediately struck the runes, and the instructions were instantly transmitted as a stream of data.

Her gaze shifted to the first lit screen—representing the Night Watchers Channel center.

"Night Watch Headquarters - Lulirus!"

"Command: All Night Watcher squads distributed across world nodes, immediately deploy to the nearest rehearsal coordinate area according to your location!"

"Mission Core: Highest Priority—Establish information nodes, guide civilian evacuation, pinpoint the precise location of the fissure, and suppress the spread of small contaminant organisms!"

"Slow down the vanguard's expansion in their respective areas at all costs! Buy time for follow-up forces!"

On the Night Watchers' command screen, the elven girl Lulirus, who looked no different from before, saluted solemnly: "Night Watchers Headquarters received! Orders broadcast throughout the region! All nodes, proceed immediately!"

Alyris's gaze quickly shifted to the second screen—representing the Lightbringer Command Headquarters, a symbol of the heavily armored Ironclad Forces.

"Guardians of Light Headquarters - General Black!"

"Order: All standing legions shall cancel all rest and reorganization! Complete the mobilization and assembly as quickly as possible according to the pre-set 'Void Vanguard' plan!"

"Activate the teleportation array at maximum priority! Support all reported major rift coordinates!"

"Mission Core: Engage the enemy's main force head-on! Construct defensive positions! Prevent any large contaminated units and vanguard groups from crossing the danger zone!"

"If necessary, execute the [extermination] tactic!"

On the screen, Blake's majestic silver armor gleamed, and his voice was as steady as a bell: "The Guardians of Light are in position! We swear to defend order to the death! Legion teleportation initiation!"

Alyris's gaze finally settled on the third batch of screens that lit up—fewer in number but with a particularly concentrated light—these were the independent communication links of the Soul Keeper squad.

"All Soul Guardian squads!"

"Order: Immediately locate and rush to the highest priority, high-intensity rift battlefield according to your respective mobility capabilities!"

"Mission Objective: Slay the high-level Void Commander, destroy the unstable rift energy core, and support the trapped main force! Clear the way for the Night Watchers!"

"You are the sharpest blade of order! The razor blade piercing the heart of nothingness!"

"'Fuse Anvil,' 'Silent Cold Current,' 'Eternal Echo,' 'Dawn's Edge,' 'Flame Descends'... Take action!"

A brief but powerful voice responded from the Soul Keeper's communication channel.

"'Furnace and Anvil' received! Target: Beckto's coordinates, locked!"

"The 'Silent Cold Current' has locked onto the deep-sea vortex point. Teleportation is ready!"

"'Eternal Echo' is undergoing a leap, target M-22A-3!" (End of Chapter)