Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation(1-3VOL)

Charging Straight into Enemy Territory

"Adrian, should we continue waiting?" Alfreed asked. All of us were hiding behind a short hill.

In front was a huge lake nestled among barren, rocky land without a single blade of grass. A very narrow river flowed into it, seemingly the same one Selene and I saw from the air earlier.

Based on the location Nicola described, the lake was likely where she had teleported from. But there was no sign of the Kaga Mountains that should have appeared during the exchange.

And that was indeed the case.

When we first arrived, we saw thousands of magical beasts gathered motionless on the shores of the lake. They remained still until the entire lake was suddenly replaced by a forested mountainous area. Only then did the beasts step over the boundary into the foliage and rocks.

Shortly after, the lake reappeared and space quickly returned to normal. The magical beasts had vanished without a trace.

"Something seems off. This is very different from before," Adrian said hesitantly after witnessing the entire exchange.

"The beasts had just entered the exchange area and were immediately teleported away. I remember the exchange used to last longer initially, otherwise we wouldn't have had the chance to sneak in and teleport here. Also, the area is strange， though about the same size as the pit within Val City - the lake's edges precisely align with the shoreline..."

"So someone's precisely controlling the whole process, and the entire lake is under surveillance?" I couldn't help interrupting.

"That's right! So we're in big trouble now," Adrian said, seemingly anxious.

"To get teleported back, we have to go near or even into the water's edge. But that would almost certainly mean discovery by the enemy."

"But the lake is so big! There's no way the enemy can monitor the entire shoreline, right?" Hayden chimed in next to us.

He had a point. The lake was huge, after all. If not for the tall tower on the island in the middle, we might have dared to try entering the water elsewhere to get teleported back to the Astral Realm Kingdom.

But since the enemy built that structure clearly for surveillance, it definitely had a purpose. If we randomly approached the lake, we'd likely be discovered.

"Unfortunately, the terrain around the lake is too flat. Other than these hills in our direction, there's almost nowhere to hide," Alfreed said regretfully with a sigh. He turned to Nicola and asked, "Did you see all those beasts flooding in from outside when you teleported here earlier?"

"I didn't notice..." Nicola scratched her head, trying to recall. "Mainly because the exchange area was so large, and tall trees were blocking my view, so I didn't dare confirm..."

Can't this guy be more reliable?

These beasts were probably summoned from nearby Val City, but were heading to war against the Astral Realm Kingdom.

I felt they were stronger than the motley crew that had chased us earlier. Perhaps the Val City had to devote their elite forces to the war effort, which was why they couldn't intercept our escape.

When the mountainous area from the kingdom side exchanged over earlier, the shoreline happened to be the boundary line. It wasn't very far from where we were hiding. If not for those magical beasts blocking us, we definitely would have directly charged in.

I fear that under artificial control, if there were no magical beasts waiting outside for the transfer, the exchange would not open at all. That way, we basically wouldn't get any chance unless we dared confront all those creatures head-on.