Surviving The Fourth Calamity

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It was an autumn day, just at dawn, when a light misty rain began to fall.

Fine wisps of rain gently tapped on the maple leaves, playing a pleasant morning tune. Washed by the rain, the red leaves grew vividly bright. Hill sat on the windowsill, listening to the pitter-patter of the music, admiring the beautiful scenery.

Today was the day William would be crowned King.

Unlike the previous kings who had their coronation ceremonies in the Temple of Royal Power among the nobles, William, whose deity had not yet ascended to the divine throne, decided to take his oath of ascension in the square in front of the Royal Palace.

Hill had gotten up early to wait for Fran. Today, he was going to join the faction of mages in the square as Fran's junior.

Noble mages could choose to stay with the nobles during the ceremony. But aside from a few junior mages who found it difficult to level up, nobody would choose to leave the mage faction.

Today was Hill's first time participating in such a celebration, and after choosing the mage faction, others would no longer introduce him as Baron Polanio.

This was his first time entering the circle of mages as the Great Mage Hill Polanio.

Hill was still somewhat nervous.

It was best to keep the identity of a magician hidden until becoming a magister. Moreover, mages generally presumed the presence of hidden magicians among them. Even though there might be envy and jealousy, they were all magic professionals, and their numbers were already few. So even if Hill's secret were revealed, nobody would say anything.

From a distance, Hill saw Fran's carriage roll into Maple Leaf Street and went downstairs to lock the door.

The night before, he had reset the shop to its initial setup, and replaced the shop's core with a new one.

After the coronation ceremony, Fran was to take them back.

Hill watched as Uncle Adrian opened the carriage door and with a light smile, he got in.

"Good morning, Grandfather, Uncle Adrian."

Fran nodded.

Adrian replied with a laugh, "Good morning, young Hill. Are you looking forward to it? Today's going to be a grand occasion!"

"The coronation ceremony?"

"The square in front of the Royal Palace can hold thirty thousand people at once, which in itself is already a rare sight.

But William has invited all of the Undead Tribe. A terrifying power indeed."

"Time and space!" Fran exclaimed suddenly. "What powerful forces. I wonder how much longer we can even utter these two words directly."

Adrian wondered, "Is it a permanent expansion of space, this large?

Has the time ended when only a space crystal could be used to expand space?

Even a deity couldn't find a space crystal this large, right?"

Fran said calmly, "Did neither of you take a good look at the crystals the King offered to the Undead Tribe?

Sloppy! Completely unacceptable!"

Hill hurriedly poured out a portion of the crystals from his ring and, to his amazement, realized that aside from a few scattered ones, the vast majority were attributeless crystals!

This was terrifying – elements fill every corner and crevice of this world.

Attributeless crystals are almost non-existent.

The sporadic ones that do appear are usually found near a particularly powerful Element Lord of the Elemental World, created by chance after an elevated lord has absorbed everything else.

The entire world is filled with elements, and every breath people take contains elements.

The reason why magical beasts are so fearsome in this world is because every breath they take strengthens their bodies.

If It wasn't for the innate scarcity of magical beasts, humans, elves, and dwarves would all struggle to survive.

However, the emergence of these attributeless crystals is a warning to everyone.

Adrian was almost horrified: "A world without elements?"

"Didn't you notice how quickly Saral submitted?"

Hill fell silent: he had assumed it was because William had become a legendary figure and the Undead People were numerous.

Fran said irritably, "A legendary figure is the foundation of a nation. William has only just become a legend, but Saral has five old legends! And that's just the ones known publicly. With the Saral Royal Family being so powerful, how could they not have their own legends?

"They agreed immediately to William's ascent without uttering a single protest. I knew there had to be a problem.

"The moment I saw the crystals the Undead Tribe gave you, I understood! Either this King has divine power so immense he can condense crystals directly, or He can plunder crystal mines from other worlds!

"A massive Metal System elemental ore alone could sustain so many legends! What's the point of arguing?

"No matter the reason.

"Anyway, it's too powerful to provoke, and there's an unlimited supply of crystals lying around! That's why they're all keeping silent out of self-interest."

Adrian said, "Don't be angry anymore, teacher. We've just been preoccupied with making money these last couple of days. We'll pay more attention in the future."

Hill quickly nodded obediently.

Fran continued, "If this King truly can disperse the elemental power in the air, the world will change."

Hill remained speechlessly contemplative.

Why are the nations of this world almost always fixed?

Immense distances are the reason for this stability.

Even the deities cannot teleport people through congealed space.

The land of each nation is as far as the royal family can control.

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Fran, such a wealthy alchemist, could only use a Space Box in the Magic Tower, and an Alchemy House that could transform into a small home was so expensive that even Hill could not bear to use it.

Not to mention like in other novels where the Magic Tower could fold space into a small plane, such an idea was unimaginable even in dreams.

It was because a space teeming with elements would inevitably stir up an Elemental Storm with any significant oscillation or severance.

The use of spatial magic in this world was virtually nonexistent, only alchemists with natural Space Crystals could create Alchemy Rings.

When the Undead Tribe first appeared, every one of them had a small spatial pouch. Countless magicians had studied them to no avail, ultimately attributing it to Divine Power.

But now, William could directly expand a plaza to accommodate more than 100,000 people in a vast space.

If it were to exist forever, what would happen to the solidified Elemental World?

Hill now understood that terrible premonition after the appearance of the Undead: how could an online game not have a Teleportation Array!

After William's army could easily reach any corner of this world, what then?

The God of Time and Space did not wish to compromise with the God of Nobility and God of Monarchy. Hill understood now.

William was indeed the Chosen One! He aimed to unify the world and ascend the throne as Emperor!

That's why William allowed players to run amok, that's why he valued education even more. That's why he needed fair and just laws!

A unified human Empire needed officials who could get things done, not nobles who ruled over their fiefs.

Hill thought back to the nobles of his own world who, aside from their lineage, had nothing left.

In the future, they would have to compete with professionals for influence.

Upon reaching the plaza, Hill held back the words at the tip of his tongue.

Fran simply felt that William's throne was firmly secured. Someone from Saral's legend would participate in the battle this time.

And with the God of Time and Space so powerful, even if William could not withstand it, as the only Deity remaining on the earth, they would not fear the God of Nobility's distant attacks.

Hill could not say anything. The more he saw, the more silent he became.

Hill's current feeling was like he thought he had played an independent episode, only to realize it was just a prelude.

Perhaps the world consciousness also acknowledged the choice of the God of Time and Space, offering no resistance to the summoning of players through time and space.

The semi-slave society of thousands of years was finally heading towards its demise.

When Hill got out of the carriage, the light rain suddenly stopped.

Sunlight poured down fiercely onto the plaza in front.

Hill looked up towards the cloudless sky above Obastian, not feeling Divine Power. So, was it the Legendary Mage who had taken action?

Fran, with immense pride, never involved himself in politics. A Legendary Mage like him had also descended from the altar.

After watching for a while, Fran's face showed emotions changing. In the end, he said nothing, straightened his clothes, and, together with Adrian and Hill, walked toward a Male Mage who was enthusiastically coming to meet them.

"Mage Fran, please come with me. Do you only have two accompanying persons?"

"Yes!" Fran answered succinctly.

Following the lead Mage, the trio of Fran entered the plaza.

With one step onto the plaza's surface, Hill was shocked by the sudden transformation of space.

What appeared to be a flat surface from the outside became a vast and expansive space.

The enormous circular plaza, aside from the outermost ring of shops, had a stadium built in the center of it.

Following their guide into the stadium, they walked step by step toward the seats on the second floor.

Fran and Adrian tried to compose themselves as they sat down, looking around at the massive venue with its 200,000 seats.

Hill almost numbly followed to their seats, his heart filled with emotion: this was an enlarged Bird's Nest.

He had visited and toured it several times, envying and wishing he could have been a part of its construction.

Hill's eyes nearly reddened instantly. A wave of infinite melancholy overwhelmed him.

Never before had he felt such intense nostalgia for his motherland, for his homeland.

The emotions he had rationalized away surged forth, and Hill had to bite down hard, determined not to lose his composure.

Suddenly, a resonant and ethereal bell toll sounded, and Hill looked up. A comforting force that calmed the spirit swept through.

The entire stadium quieted down.

Hill, who had not noticed before, saw that even the noisy and lively Undead in the highest seats had fallen silent.

Hill watched as Fran relaxed and glanced at the upper tier, belatedly realizing that he was used to the chaos before an opening ceremony and thought nothing of it.

An old-fashioned Noble Mage like Fran was probably driven mad by the noise.

No wonder no one noticed the fluctuations in Hill's emotions.

As the sonorous music of a march sounded, the Royal Guard made their entrance.

The procession of knights in gold and white looked majestic, with golden fittings on their white horses.

The music's rise and fall accompanied the entrance of the Saral People's Army, prompting cheers and jubilation.

Yet Hill felt detached: this was "Steadfast Heroism," the anthem of the Tri-service Honor Guard.

After the knights queued up, the music shifted to the inspection march.

Hill silently noted: William is about to appear.

Indeed, William, dressed in the King's regalia, appeared mounted on a white unicorn.

Hill felt an awkwardness rising from within and suddenly felt he couldn't look directly at this fellow countryman.

What a memory you have!