The barrier surrounding New Kirk had an extremely specific effect.

It only prevented invading characters from leaving.

It did not stop invading characters from entering.

As for Earth’s humans, there were no restrictions at all.

They could come and go freely.

Figures began converging from every direction.

Nearly half of Arkenfall’s S Rank players were rushing toward New Kirk at full speed, hoping they could help somehow.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The sound of air splitting rang endlessly.

Some rode flying swords. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Some traveled on divine light.

Some possessed supernatural powers.

One after another, they plunged into New Kirk’s barrier and immediately clashed with the invading characters.

If quality wasn’t enough, then quantity would have to make up for it.

Either way, they were going to fight.

None of them knew the barrier even existed.

All they wanted was to keep the invaders emerging from the giant vortex trapped inside New Kirk before they could spread elsewhere.

"Your grandpa’s here!"

A thunderous roar exploded through the battlefield.

A muscular man charged across the ground like a raging beast, his aura wild and violent.

The moment he entered New Kirk’s barrier, his eyes swept across the battlefield before locking onto an S Rank invader near the edge of the barrier.

Boom!

The invader was still confused about where the barrier came from and got slammed away by the charging brute before he could react.

Clang!

A glowing azure sword streaked through the air.

A long haired sword cultivator arrived with a large group of S Rank players right behind him.

"Stop them!"

Battle erupted instantly.

For a time, all of New Kirk became one giant battlefield.

Arkenfall’s S Rank players fought fiercely against the powerful beings emerging from the giant vortex.

Buzz.

Light descended as an S Rank healer restored Van and the others.

Derek and Guy exchanged a glance and decisively used Fusion Technique again.

Then they threw themselves back into the fight.

Caelum, meanwhile, had no interest in the chaos below.

His gaze remained fixed on the game world beyond the giant vortex.

Taking a single step forward, his figure instantly entered the vortex.

Recently, he had reached a bottleneck.

In terms of raw power, he had already surpassed the Endless Sea of Universes itself.

But he had no clear path for progressing further.

That was why he had not entered any games recently.

This invasion event might become an opportunity.

He decided to head to the other side.

To broaden his horizons.

And perhaps find some inspiration.

Beyond the giant vortex.

Six enormous divine projections towering like celestial giants stood frozen in terror.

The truth was slightly different from what Earth’s players imagined.

These beings had not been trying to invade the real world.

They were desperately trying to shut the vortex down.

Because there was a nightmare waiting on the other side.

The giant shadow that crossed first had been one of the Seven Lord Gods.

The strongest beings in this game world.

Yet the moment that Lord God entered the vortex, before it could even fully descend, it had been dragged away by force.

Then silently erased.

The remaining six Lord Gods were terrified out of their minds.

The new world contained something horrifying.

"Quick! Close the spacetime passage!"

"We can’t! A stronger force is stopping us!"

"It won’t shut down!"

A blurry figure emerged from within the giant vortex.

The six Lord Gods panicked.

"Someone’s coming over!!"

They had originally believed the new world would be prey ripe for slaughter.

Who could have imagined it was actually an abyssal monster?

And they had willingly delivered themselves to its doorstep.

"He’s coming over!!!"

The six Lord Gods were terrified beyond words.

The figure gradually became clear.

Caelum stepped through the giant vortex from the opposite side.

Seeing the six Lord Gods lined up before him, he smiled.

"There’s even a welcoming ceremony? You really didn’t have to go through the trouble."

The six Lord Gods shuddered.

Then.

Boom!

The entire game world trembled violently.

This world was called Divine Wasteland.

A vast realm where heaven was round and earth was flat.

Its sheer size exceeded more than a dozen Earth Universes combined.

And it still existed within the Mythic Era.

The six Lord Gods were Divine Wasteland’s ultimate powers.

They had been born alongside the world’s creation itself.

Innate gods.

Each possessed a portion of Divine Wasteland’s power.

Every single one of them rivaled experts from the Realm of Ruin.

Even within the Endless Sea of Universes, Divine Wasteland stood at the absolute peak among supreme worlds.

The Mythic Era existed beyond mortal concepts of time.

And despite being a mythological world, Divine Wasteland was far from primitive.

It contained countless civilizations.

Tribal societies.

Technological empires.

Magical city states.

And many more.

In every possible category, it surpassed Earth completely.

The invaders who first entered Earth barely qualified as cannon fodder here.

Divine Wasteland had not even begun its true invasion yet.

Though at this point, they probably no longer had the courage to try.

Running away sounded far more appealing.

In front of the giant vortex.

The six Lord Gods lay sprawled across the ground.

Their bodies flickered unstably, as though they could dissipate back into heaven and earth at any moment.

Each of them was gravely injured.

"No need to thank me. Consider it a greeting gift."

Caelum casually dusted off his hands.

"..."

"..."

"..."

The six Lord Gods absolutely did not want this greeting gift.

But none of them dared speak.

They were terrified Caelum might rip them apart alive.

After all, the example was still fresh.

Since their birth, this was the first time they had ever experienced pain.

Or fear.

The Star of the Infinite appeared.

Caelum’s perspective rose above the Divine Wasteland World itself.

Looking outward, he saw the same thing beyond its borders as beyond the Endless Sea of Universes.

An endless void.

The edges of Divine Wasteland continued expanding outward as the void continuously transformed into new land and sky.

Beyond that, there was nothing.

Caelum could not help feeling disappointed.

Compared to the Endless Sea of Universes, Divine Wasteland’s scale was far too small.

His idea of using it to elevate his power level further vanished immediately.

"Forget it. I’m going back to sleep."

Caelum quickly lost interest.

Then he crossed back through the vortex and returned to New Kirk on Earth.

Seeing this, the six Lord Gods scrambled back to their feet and resumed trying to close the giant vortex.

But to their despair, it truly could not be shut anymore.

One of the Seven Lord Gods had been torn apart by Caelum.

Its corpse and power remained connected to Divine Wasteland itself.

Because that Lord God’s remains had become New Kirk’s barrier.

The giant vortex had also become part of the barrier.

If the six Lord Gods wanted to close the spacetime passage, they would have to cross over to the other side and retrieve that Lord God’s remains and power personally.

Go to the other side?

The six Lord Gods exchanged looks.

Not one of them had the courage.

"We really can’t close the spacetime passage now. What do we do?"

"Should we try negotiating with that person from the other side?"

The moment those words were spoken, silence fell.

"Forget I said anything."

Caelum had crossed over and beaten them half to death on arrival.

Nothing about him looked remotely reasonable.

Trying to negotiate would probably end with them becoming fresh ingredients for his next beating.

Besides.

Did they even have the right to negotiate?

Caelum could erase the entire Divine Wasteland World whenever he pleased.

They had personally experienced that overwhelming power already.

No need to test their luck further.

Not long afterward.

An envoy sent by the six Lord Gods descended into New Kirk through the giant vortex.