Cataclysm

All ten Heroes gathered in Scal Pale, the nearest one on the unexplored continent.

They also chose this as the gathering spot for Feralid to use his water network most effectively since Scal Pale has a lot of rivers connected to the other parts of the world.

"I am Warne. Heroes, I have gathered you today to spearhead the exploration towards the unexplored continent which we have hypothesized as the home of the dark entities attacking us!" Warne, a robed man leading the Heroes and other Adventurer teams introduced himself.

In reality, the continent of the Noctua called Nightbloom is not the unexplored continent in the playback.

This remaining continent is truly unknown and unexplored, the same continent in the Southernmost part of the Terra which was also used by Kafka when gathering their army.

Not all of the Heroes are interested in taking part in the exploration, specifically the likes of Solara, Calhone and Lurian.

These three have always worked alone, not revealing the extent of their abilities and weapons to their own allies.

"I understand very well that not all of you want to take part in such a dangerous exploration of unknown lands. However! I guarantee you that your time with me will not be lackluster. Together, we will make a map for the continent and come back with a massive harvest!" Warne spoke again after noticing the disinterested Heroes at the back of the pack.

"Just start it, I still have things to do." Solara opened her eyes and approached Warne, urging the man to start the exploration.

Feralid similarly finished using the Nethervoice to check the movement of mana in the continent, nodding to Warne to start their exploration.

The Heroes and some Adventurers bravely marched into the continent, moving with vigilant eyes and sharpened senses.

Everyone has a respective direction to watch while others are focused on the ground underneath.

This peaceful positioning maintained throughout the first exploration quest, not breaking their positions and rhythm.

However, the reason for being able to maintain their solidified positions is because they have not encountered a single enemy or a monster inside the continent.

For the second exploration quest, which is also the journey to the middlemost part of the continent after they mapped out the borders, they similarly used a position that focuses on all directions.

This time, the ground shakes and multiple spatial distortions appeared in the sky.

Growl! Growl! Growl!

Varieties of monsters flooded both from the ground and from the spatial distortions, instantly entering a melee against the Heroes and the Adventurers.

Lurian was the first one to move, not bothering to communicate with his allies, jumping onto a treetop and massacring all the flying monsters with his Hellwalker.

The battle remained easy for the Heroes due to all 10 of them fighting together despite their lack of communication.

After finishing the last monster, everyone returned to their positions and marched again, at this point, they would now face larger forces of monsters with growing strengths as they approach the center area.

Another day passed, the second exploration is now doubling the time of the first one, they cannot afford to go back anymore and replenish their strength and supplies.

They could only rely on the healing powers of Rellen's Kindleflame.

When everyone was healed and recovered from their injuries, Warne commanded to move forward yet again, according to the distance they covered, they are now nearing the last area of the continent.

Vuwoooom!!!

Suddenly, loud hums filled the ears of everyone in the exploration team, Warne floated in the sky.

"HAHAHAHA! Now that I gathered all of you here, I can steal your powers and seal you forever!" Warne's eyes glowed crimson red, his skin tearing apart and slowly expanding.

Some Adventurers immediately panicked, scattering and running to the direction where they came from, however, unbeknownst to them, Warne has the control in their pathing in the continent.

Due to this, the Adventurers got wiped out by the colossal monsters hiding in the dense forests and underground caves.

Only the ten Heroes remained on the exploration team, Warne betrayed all of them and his reason for doing this is yet to be known.

Solara's expression cannot be painted, she is fuming with anger, first, her time got wasted and now she will not get anything from the exploration.

Vuinggg!

The Lightsong appeared from Solara's gloves and soon taking form of twin shortswords, Solara then dashed instantly in front of Warne and started a frenzy of attacks.

Skill: Lightsong's Emergence!

All of Solara's attacks found their marks, tearing Warne's robe like wool.

Now that Warne's robe has been destroyed, his real body was revealed, a Minotaur!

Warne grinned and tore his remaining clothes apart, revealing his entire body now of a massive 15-meter tall Black Minotaur.

His horns did not even receive a single scratch from Masuli's Naxia claws.

The Heroes still refused to communicate and coordinate their attacks, the result: getting sent flying away with Warne's single attack.

Among the Heroes, only Rellen, Ayana, Feralid and Ushein are working together, which in turn makes them the only ones with least amount of damage received.

Rellen will provide support for Ushein's shield with healing powers and Ayana will strengthen their team with the earthen barriers, meanwhile Feralid links their awareness through aquatic mana.

As for the remaining ones, their ego is slowly getting crushed, they must really work together to survive and fight Warne.

Warne originated from this unknown continent, learning to disguise as a human to learn of their plans to subjugate the monsters.

Therefore, he constructed isolating barriers within the continent to hide his monsters.

These monsters are all from Warne's blood, he was the origin of the monsters attacking Terra.

Despite being from a race of Minotaurs, Warne was able to make varieties of monsters through experimentations of his blood magic.

From among all known types of mana in the entire universe, Warne has the most unique one.

He is able to use the concept of nothingness to create his monsters that could grow their own powers and their own mana types.

His mana type was named the Void, which is similar to the end of all things, from something into nothing.

One of the abilities of the Void is to control a creature's willpower, causing them to follow Warne's desires.

Without this ability, the monsters he created will never follow his orders, thus, his Void is one of the strongest mana types that are not attainable by training or any blessing.

Warne was brought into the world not as an infant or a child; he was already a grown Minotaur without memories.

He learned things instantly, until he learned to disguise himself as creatures known as humans.

Warne himself does not know how he came into life; all he knows is that he must grow powerful.

He grew with other monster races that bullied him, forcing him to run errands for them.

Due to this kind of life, Warne endured his suffering and soon took revenge by wiping off the entire continent, making it the unexplored continent.

This continent was then named as Mitapolis, the closed haven of monsters that Warne replaced with his own creations.

Monsters during the ancient times were not roaming on the other lands in Terra; they just lived quietly in Mitapolis.

Since Warne now controlled the continent, he naturally could do whatever he wants, to which he created new types of monsters that will follow his will.

Due to these creations, the monsters roamed Terra, attacking cities at night, plundering smaller villages and towns.

However, not everything is a misfortune when it comes to these monsters, due to Warne's blood magic in creating monsters; their magic sources solidify in their hearts and become magic crystals.

These magic crystals are what boosted the world of Terra into fruition and improvement, fighting back the monsters with growing power and technology.

[…]

"Just throw away your ego today! You will not even take it home when we die here!" Rellen, one of the youngest among the Heroes present shouted at the other 6 Heroes who are still not coordinating their movements.

Solara's veins bulged on her forehead, visibly furious because of Rellen's words; however, it also awakened her mind to listen.

"Fine!" Solara adamantly agreed to the plan, which also prompted the rest to follow suit since Solara is the strongest Hero among them.

Skill: Aqua Binding!

Feralid smiled as he created water sprouts that limited the Black Minotaur's mobility.

Masuli and Calhone then followed up with their demonic and dark skills from their weapons that lessened Warne's defense.

Skill: Harsh Aura!

Skill: Dark Fall!

Water sprouts trapped Warne's massive legs while a crimson aura washed over his body, turning him into a sluggish giant and finally, black-colored mist seeped through his muscles that caused excruciating pain.

Growlllllll!!!

'Success!' Rellen felt satisfied with herself despite her pounding heart due to her own words.

She then followed up with buffing skills to boost everyone's follow-up attacks.

Skill: Kindleflame's Caress!

A wave of soothing flames enveloped all the Heroes, adding additional damage to their skills by using flame type mana.

Lurian, Morovi, Beran and Solara then acted as the main attackers that targeted each limb of the massive Black Minotaur.

Skill: Lightning Surge!

Skill: Spinal Abyss!

Skill: Moonlight Punishment!

Skill: Sun God's Frenzy!

Splat! Splash! Swing! Thrust!

Different types of mana assaulted the atmosphere due to the scale of the attacks simultaneously released by the Heroes.

To further amplify the damages done by the four, Ayana used Ushein's shield to propel herself upward with great momentum.

Skill: Thorns of Ka'leena!

Earthen stalactites appeared in every movement of Ayana with her whip, which targeted the wounds of Warne.

The stalactites rained down and pierced the colossal bull which turned him into a porcupine instead.

Blood gushed from all over Warne's body, his breath quickening as he falls down on his knees.

Thud!!!

"Your head is mine!" Solara's eyes glowed as she brandishes her Lightsong.

However, just before she could finish off Warne by cutting off his head, the air shook violently.

"Up there! Retreat!" Feralid noticed the changes in the atmosphere using his Nethervoice orb, sensing that something is amiss, immediately asked Solara to retreat.

Flick!

An invisible hand flicked Solara's body and sent her flying like a bullet, planting her entire body on the ground.

Shurururururuk.

"You! Who are you?!" Ushein ran towards Solara and asked the direction where they heard a snapping sound and where the unusual energy is coming from.

["Me? I am the direct counterpart to your so-called great Ruler!"] An unknown entity with a body made of galaxies appeared, the mesmerizing appearance even dazed the other Heroes present.