More and more people continued boarding the massive airship as time passed. The atmosphere inside gradually became heavier with tension as awakeners from different regions gathered silently. Some sat with their eyes closed while preparing mentally for the coming battle, while others whispered anxiously among themselves about the catastrophic beast tide.

Within a single hour, the enormous airship had reached full capacity.

The vessel was capable of carrying nearly ten thousand people at once, and now every section inside it was completely occupied. Despite the massive size of the ship, very little noise came from its engines when it finally began moving.

Boom.

The gigantic vessel slowly rose into the air before accelerating forward.

In Ethereum, nearly all advanced machinery operated through mana stones instead of traditional fuel. Because of that, even gigantic warships like this one moved with surprising smoothness and minimal sound. Only a faint vibration spread through the floor as the airship pierced through the skies.

Victor remained seated quietly in the corner with his eyes closed.

However, his peaceful silence did not last long.

"Hey, mask freak."

A nasty voice suddenly entered his ears.

Victor slowly opened his eyes and looked toward the source of the disturbance. Standing nearby was a bulky man with several ugly scars across his face. The man radiated the aura of a Novice Rank awakener, while Victor was only displaying the aura of an Apprentice Realm mage.

The scarred man sneered mockingly while staring at Victor’s mask.

"Why are you hiding your face?" he asked crudely. "Are you some pretty boy underneath that mask? Afraid someone might drag you away if they see your face or are you some kind of ugly bastard?"

Several nearby passengers frowned immediately after hearing those vulgar words. The man’s expression and tone made his intentions obvious. He clearly enjoyed bullying weaker awakeners, and there was even something disturbingly twisted in the way he looked at Victor.

Victor’s gaze remained completely calm.

Without saying a single word, he slowly raised one finger.

A sharp metallic shard instantly materialized above it.

The next moment, the shard shot forward like lightning.

"AHHH!"

The bulky man screamed like a slaughtered pig as the metal shard pierced directly through his left eye. Blood exploded outward while he staggered backward in agony, clutching his ruined face desperately.

However, Victor had no intention of stopping there.

Before anyone could react, another metallic shard formed instantly.

It flew forward with terrifying precision.

The second shard pierced through the man’s right eye as well.

The scarred man collapsed to his knees while screaming hysterically. Blood poured from both empty sockets while his body trembled violently from pain and fear.

The surrounding awakeners stared in complete shock.

Victor calmly activated a Water Healing Spell immediately afterward.

Gentle blue mana flowed toward the man’s face and sealed the wounds rapidly. The bleeding stopped almost instantly, though his destroyed eyes were not restored. He became permanently blind.

Then Victor stood up.

Metal elemental gloves covered his fists within a split second.

Bang.

His punch landed directly on the man’s skull with terrifying force.

The bulky awakener lost consciousness instantly and collapsed lifelessly onto the floor.

The entire sequence had occurred so quickly that most passengers failed to understand what had even happened. Only a handful of Adept Rank warriors and mages nearby managed to witness the entire exchange clearly.

Their expressions changed immediately afterward.

"What did he just do?" one Adept Rank mage muttered in disbelief.

"He is clearly a mage," another whispered nervously. "Then how does he possess such terrifying physical strength as well?"

Murmurs quietly spread throughout the surrounding area.

At that moment, one of the Federation military officers hurried toward the disturbance.

"What is happening here?" the officer demanded sharply.

Victor calmly sat back down in his seat before answering without emotion.

"A filthy insect was crushed," he said calmly. "Remove this trash from my sight."

Then he closed his eyes again as if nothing had happened.

The officer frowned before approaching the unconscious man lying on the floor.

"What happened here?" he asked seriously while turning toward Victor again. "What exactly did you do?" 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Victor did not even bother opening his eyes.

The military officer’s expression darkened slightly. He was about to force Victor to answer properly when the entire airship suddenly shook violently.

Boom.

The vessel trembled hard enough to make several passengers lose balance.

The officer’s face immediately changed.

He knew exactly what was happening.

Sky monsters had attacked the airship while it was passing above a dangerous forest region.

Warning alarms echoed throughout the vessel instantly as defensive formations activated automatically. Outside the airship, powerful mana cannons began firing concentrated laser beams toward the approaching monsters.

Bright flashes illuminated the sky continuously.

Within moments, several flying beasts were torn apart completely by the bombardment. Burning corpses fell from the skies while the airship continued advancing without slowing down.

The officer glanced at Victor one final time before leaving immediately.

Under current circumstances, protecting the vessel mattered far more than questioning a minor conflict between awakeners.

From that moment onward, the atmosphere inside the airship became even heavier.

Everyone understood clearly that this was merely the beginning.

The journey toward the Fredonia Empire lasted nearly three hours.

Fortunately, the airship managed to reach its destination without suffering major casualties. Only a few sky monsters attacked during the journey, and all of them were eliminated quickly by the vessel’s defensive systems.

When the gigantic airship finally landed, its gates slowly opened.

"You may disembark now," one army officer announced loudly. "Wait for further orders. The battle will begin in approximately three hours."

Thousands of awakeners immediately began leaving the vessel.

Victor calmly walked outside along with the crowd.

The moment he stepped out, he could already feel the overwhelming pressure filling the atmosphere. Endless camps, military formations, supply stations, and defensive barriers stretched across the enormous battlefield region.

Humanity had gathered an unimaginable number of awakeners here.

Victor’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Right now, his goal was very simple.

He intended to create absolute carnage on the battlefield.

However, he also needed to hide the truth about his unlimited mana trait. If he continuously cast spells without exhaustion, countless powerful individuals would immediately notice something abnormal.

Therefore, Victor headed directly toward the Federation supply shops.

The area was already packed with awakeners purchasing weapons, potions, armor, scrolls, and recovery resources. Yet Victor ignored everything except mana potions.

He began purchasing them in massive quantities.

Bottle after bottle disappeared into his storage ring continuously.

People nearby stared at him as though he had gone insane.

"What is he planning to do with so many mana potions?" someone muttered.

"Even Legendary Rank awakeners cannot consume thousands of mana potions within three days," another person said in confusion. "The human body cannot withstand that amount of mana circulation."

Victor ignored all of them completely.

In his eyes, their opinions held no value whatsoever.

During the previous seven days alone, Victor had accumulated thousands of mana cores through nonstop dungeon clearing. Combined with his earlier savings, he possessed more than enough wealth to purchase absurd amounts of supplies.

After finishing his purchases, Victor moved toward an open area and quietly waited.

More airships continued arriving one after another.

Suddenly, Victor’s eyes focused on a particular group.

Several airships belonging to the Royal Magus Academy, Royal Warrior Academy, and Royal Assassins Academy had just arrived.

Numerous students began descending from them.

Among those students were Victor’s three cousins.

A short distance away, Victor also noticed his father standing together with several members of the Walker family.

Victor remained silent for several moments before finally removing his mask slowly.

He no longer wished to hide.

Today, he intended to shake the entire battlefield.

He wanted the world itself to witness the beginning of his rise.

Victor lifted his gaze toward the sky.

Twelve figures appeared high above the battlefield and were standing on air.

Each of them radiated terrifying pressure capable of suppressing entire armies.

Diana stood among them as well.

The moment ordinary awakeners noticed those figures, countless people immediately bowed respectfully.

"Greetings, Your Majesties!"

Voices echoed throughout the battlefield simultaneously.

However, one person remained standing completely upright.

Victor stood there calmly with his back straight as an arrow and his hands resting behind him. He showed absolutely no intention of bowing toward the Sages.

The non awakeners watching through live broadcasts from cities around the world were stunned instantly.

"Who is that?" countless people thought in disbelief.

"How dare he refuse to bow before the Sages?"

The awakeners present on the battlefield were equally shocked.

Diana noticed Victor immediately.

A faint smile appeared on her face.

Elyndros looked toward Victor with a speechless expression.

"What is wrong with this brat?" he muttered. "How did he change so much in such a short time?"

Arthur stared at Victor silently for a moment before speaking calmly.

"Protect him if necessary," he ordered quietly. "And keep watching him."

Although many people remained confused, nobody dared question the situation openly after seeing that the Sages themselves said nothing.

Time slowly continued passing.

Then suddenly, an earth shaking roar echoed from the distant horizon.

ROARRR!

The monstrous sound carried enough pressure to make countless awakeners tremble instinctively.

Every person on the battlefield slowly turned their heads toward the distance with nervous expressions.

The beast tide had arrived.