Chapter 449: First Phase Of War
600 years later...
With everything on the right track, time passed very quickly.
At the castle, Maximus checked the entire Etherium Realm for vulnerabilities.
"Perfect," he said, nodding in satisfaction.
After hundreds of years of preparation, the Etherium realm was finally turned into a solid fortress.
Spending countless human and monetary resources, Maximus felt that the Etherium realm could withstand anything.
Looking at the gloomy sky, Maximus sensed the presence of the Blood Ragnarok Realm.
"50 years more..." Maximus calculated.
In about 50 years, the first stage of the dimensional war was about to begin.
Dimensional war isn't simply opening a gate and invading another dimension.
In a dimensional war, the two opposing dimensions would merge little by little.
Each dimension's land, space, and resources would be swallowed and merged, forming a void battlefield.
In this void battlefield, the people swallowed with the land would fight and kill each other to win.
Once land captured from the opposing dimension is cleared, it would be captured and absorbed by the winning dimension, whether in physical or origin form.
This would happen continuously until 50 percent of either of the two opposing enemy lands were captured.
At this stage, the winning dimension that captured 50 percent of the enemy land could directly open a void gate, directly invading the enemy's dimensions.
This void gate only allowed the entry of the winning dimension.
For the enemy dimension to get to the other side, they could only kill all invaders and refine the void gate for two-way entry.
In this final stage of war, all trump cards could be used without limit until one side was defeated or surrendered.
"The Etherium Realm's victory, I will ensure it..." Maximus thought with confidence.
In the past hundreds of years, Maximus not only reinforced the Etherium realm, but his strength also reached an astonishing level.
[Family and Power System:
Host: Maximus Shadowcrest
Power: Tier 9 (0.0154%)
Physique: Dimensional Source (Origin Grade: 0/Unknown) (Rank 10: 0/100...)
Magnitude of Power: 3.001 billion
Family:...
Time Points: 24,153,235...
Potential Points: 12,583,212...
Causality Points: 526,346,]
"Five hundred thousand causality points?" Maximus smiled, counting his harvest over the past hundreds of years.
The population of the Etherium Realm already reached over three octillion, tripling in number.
From a few hundred, he could now get over a thousand causality points every year.
Although it was still far from his goal of tens of billions to upgrade the physique of his family to the ultimate level, Maximus was still satisfied with making such progress.
During this time, Maximus also condensed all the missing tier 8 ultimate treasures for his tier 8 realm foundation.
Seeing his power getting three times stronger was proof of it.
Not wanting the world tree to be idle, Maximus also started condensing tier 9 ultimate treasures.
Although it would still take thousands of years before he could create the perfect foundational manual containing all the 161,803 essence of laws, condensing tier 9 treasures would take a longer time.
Even in the past hundreds of years, he only condensed four tier 9 ultimate treasures, one every hundred years.
"Now everything is ready; all we're missing is some luck..."
...
50 Years Later,
In Lamster City, one of the peripheral cities in the Moonlight Empire, the people were tense, waiting for the impending war.
Looking at the crimson-red sky, casting blood shadows on the ground, they couldn't help but dread the coming war.
According to the Etherium Alliance announcement, the war could start at any time, taking various lands and merging them into a void battlefield.
Looking at the tense adults, Willy, a kid on his way to school, couldn't help but ask what was happening.
"Uncle, why is your bun shop closed? Are you sick?" Willy, a 5-year-old kid, asked, rubbing his belly in hunger.
His breakfast this morning was barely enough, that his tummy is calling for more food.
"Nothing. Uncle needed to prepare to help protect the city." The bun owner, Legarios reasoned.
"Wow, Uncle, so you are a hero! My father also said something like that~" Willy said, clueless about the situation.
"Hahaha, kid, just go to school, or your teacher will scold you."
"Alright, Uncle, but you don't need to be so tense; the Lamster City soldiers are enough to protect the city~," Willy said confidently.
Although he was only 5 years old, he was smart enough to know the soldiers guarding Lamster City were strong.
Even one day, he hopes to be like them and protect the peace of the city.
"Hmph! Don't underestimate me; I'm also strong!" the man snorted, feeling the kid underestimated him.
However, thinking of what he said, he also calmed down.
The city soldiers were selected from the most talented people of Lamster City.
If Legarios hadn't been injured in his teens because of reckless practice, he might have been one of them.
"Then thank you in advance for keeping the city safe, Uncle-"
Just after Willy finished speaking, the sky suddenly darkened as they felt a pulling sensation.
Soon, screams and panic echoed around the city.
Fortunately, with years of drills and simulation, they quickly composed themselves, pulling their weapons for the impending battle.
"What's happening, Uncle?!" Willy asked, tremblingly grabbing his hand.
"It's dimensional war..." Legarios said, his eyes filled with killing intent.
"Dimensional War?! What is that, Uncle? Are we being invaded by another continent?!"
"No time to explain; go to the evacuation shelter at the school!" he said, pushing Willy in that direction.
"But-"
"No buts! Didn't your family tell you what to do in this situation? Go!"
Feeling his body screaming, telling him the danger, Legarios couldn't help but yell at Willy.
The school had already prepared an evacuation shelter; even if the city defensive array didn't work because of the environmental change, it was still made of solid tier-10 materials, ensuring it could withstand any attack.
Feeling the urgency of the matter, Willy runs wildly toward the school.
"Huh~ It seems my sword would taste blood again..." Legarios muttered.
...
In the Etherium Realm, spots of black could be seen all over the place.
When people tried to enter, they were barred and directly killed, as if the space inside led directly to the void.
"Don't enter; you'll only waste your life." The City Lord of Lamster City, Harden said.
Harden was a tier 8 powerhouse.
With his talents and wits, Harden had the honor of being a city lord in the prestigious Moonlight Empire.
Knowing there was a war, he readied himself for the upcoming battle.
What Harden didn't expect was that he would be directly expelled and not allowed in the battle.
Earlier, as darkness loomed over, Harden could only feel a pulling force kicking him out of the city.
Looking at his subordinates, who were at least in the tier 4 realm, he understood.
"The first phase of the dimensional war only allows up to tier 3 individuals."
The intelligence given by the Etherium Alliance was not accurate.
Although all possible scenarios were there, he couldn't react for a while.
Calming down, he instructed his subordinates to report the situation.
"My people, I hope you are safe and sound..."
...
In the Etherium Academy, Maximus, Fealan, Alabaster, and Readius were in a meeting, looking at the situation.
"560 trillion cities, almost a thousandth of the Etherium realm, were sucked into the void battlefield. Furthermore, many of them are mortal cities, without many tier 3 fighters," Readius said with a frown.
The Divine Continent had the highest number of mortals.
As a god only wanting faith, Readius didn't care about potential and did everything to expand the population.
As a result, there is little to no talent in the land, that even with rich mana, people barely reach tier 1 in their adulthood.
"Hmph! The cities of my beast continent wouldn't lose to anyone." Alabaster said exactly the opposite of Readius.
Unlike Readius, who pursued quantity, Alabaster pursued quality.
Each of his tribesmen who awakened their wisdom was a talent no one could contend with.
Even against another dimension, Alabaster was confident his people would win.
"We should also be alert and send various levels of powerhouse in each city. The next phase of the war may happen at any time." Fealan said gravely.
Although he had prepared, facing the unknown still worried him.
"There is also the food, weapons, potions, materials, anything that could help the people of Etherium Realm survive the unknown."
"Hey, I should have listened to you, Maximus, and fortified each city in Arcane Continent regardless of the cost." Fealan sighed.
Hundreds of years ago, Maximus told them the dangers of the Dimensional War, hoping they reinforced their territory to prepare for any battle.
Unfortunately, besides some modifications, they didn't continue to put in more effort.
They were not like Maximus, who treated money like crap; they had many things they needed to spend to.
"Don't worry, I have a backup plan that could ensure most of the people in Etherium Realm survive..." Maximus said mysteriously.