World Keeper - Chapter 1273: The Beginning of the End

With Terra and Lena both getting involved, it was unsurprising that the attack launched by the various guilds went completely unnoticed. It was as if everything was simply business as usual, even when those various guilds began to seek shelter with those of higher rankings. The loss of their highest combat power had left them vulnerable against the fierce monsters, while at the same time they had stubbornly rejected the support of the new administration.

As for myself, I was happily descending back to Olympus. With this group taken care of, there weren’t any more people in either realm that had both the motive and means to cause trouble for me.

As I appeared within Olympus, I was pleasantly surprised to find Terra descending as well. Not via her incarnation, but her true body, no longer looking as if doing so caused her any significant strain. She offered me a warm smile and nodded, leading the way towards the communal living area.

We were only a couple weeks out from the next annual meeting at this point, so it was good that everything was starting to get wrapped up after Sanction’s defeat. Chelsea was still implementing more and more changes to Hal Tua’s system, working tirelessly to meet her own deadlines. Of course, that meant that Lena had to return to the Tower every time a new update was applied…

“Yo, boss!” Lyrica grinned, waving a paw at me as we all entered the living room. “Looks like whatever was keeping you out of here is taken care of?” She asked, to which I nodded my head.

Seeing how easily Lyrica was adjusting to her life in Olympus, part of me was tempted to take her to the upcoming annual meeting. However, given that she just joined, and was technically from a former enemy camp, maybe it was best to wait until the next meeting to give her a bit more time?

“That’s right. As long as nothing goes awry, I should be able to stick around for a while now.” I said, to which Lyrica nodded her head.

“Sure, sure! According to Tsubaki, that should be a few months or so, right? She said that’s how long it usually takes between big events if you stay down here.”

I blinked, but nodded my head again. “It depends on who we are up against next time, but yes. That is the general gist of it.”

When Aznod learned of the Keeper’s return to Olympus, he spared no expense in preparing a welcome feast. However, immediately afterwards, he learned that it was not only the Keeper, but even the true body of Terra that had descended. With widened eyes, he resolved to go above and beyond to celebrate this momentous occasion.

Aznod traversed to the sixty-sixth layer of Fyor, which had long since become known as the paradise of chefs. Within this layer, everything was a remarkable cooking ingredient. According to Udona, this was because a primordial relic radiating the ‘Cooking’ domain was buried within this layer, its power radiating permeating through the entire floor.

Because of this, everything raised here would become not only extremely delicious, but rich in nutrients and energy. Farmers had migrated their fields to this floor, using various items to set up ideal farms that resisted the intense gravity of the space. Additionally, they used specially designed system spheres that provide a localized change to the world’s system.

This localized change merely adds the farming system present in Lorek and Spica, allowing farmers of Fyor to take advantage of it as well. As long as they have this system, they can quickly create crops that possess the natural advantage of the sixty-sixth floor.

However, Aznod was not on his way to any field to make a deal with a local farmer. Although there were certainly many domesticated animals among these farms, Aznod had his sights set on one of the dungeons that Aurivy had created within this floor.

Due to the increasing number of farms, these dungeons that featured food-themed monsters had become less and less popular, with many people preferring the food that was easier to acquire. Thankfully, this meant that he didn’t have to wait in line to get into the dungeon. Instead, he presented his identification at the dungeon’s gate, and was immediately transferred into his own dungeon instance.

I wonder what it will be like when Chelsea manages to properly integrate our dungeon systems… Aznod thought to himself, readying his knives as he walked forward. There were three monsters that he was looking for within this dungeon, as well as two special plants.

Thankfully, with this being a dungeon instance, Aznod did not need to worry about his actions creating problems for anyone else. All he had to do was get the materials he needed and get out.

It didn’t take long for him to come across his first target, a towering tree known as the Gravy Pine. It was named after the special sap it produced, which was a delicious gravy that also had excellent restorative properties on its own. However, this tree was far from defenseless against those who sought its flowing bounty. The pinecones produced by this tree were highly explosive, capable of annihilating weaker fighters if they came too close.

Not wanting to waste any time dealing with the explosives, Aznod swung his knife rapidly. Each swing caused energy slashes to stretch through the sky, neatly trimming off all of the branches from the tree. Then, with a burst of wind, he blew them far into the distance, letting them explode far away from the tree.

“Now, I’ll just need the Noodle Vine, Battered Boar, Flaming Bull, and the Cream Slime.” He said, listing off his desired ingredients as he went to harvest the gravy from this tree.

That night, Aznod prepared a grand feast for us, calling back everyone from Olympus to partake. Even James and Chelsea showed up, happy to be a part of the celebration. There were a wide variety of dishes, ranging from pasta to steaks, and even specially prepared sloppy joes with naturally spicy meat.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the celebration, and to my surprise, nobody took the initiative to discuss business. Whether it was Hal Tua or Deckan, everything was left for later as we enjoyed the specially prepared meal.

After that night, I had to deal with my regular work, which involved reviewing high-level reports that made it to Olympus. While I was gone, it was naturally Tsubaki who was in charge of those, but such work fell to me once I returned. It felt like I was finally getting back into the flow of things from before having to worry about Sanction and Hal Tua…

A week later, and Chelsea had finally managed to make her self-imposed deadline. One final update was applied to Hal Tua, integrating their systems with those of the other realms. Their currency was officially updated to divine coins, and their dungeon system was entirely reworked from the ground up.

With this update, dungeons would no longer randomly appear in Hal Tua. Instead, there were numerous dungeons with multiple instances, known as Public Dungeons. These dungeons functioned largely the same as the old ones, but could hold multiple instances and were overseen by the dungeon cores of our worlds. Additionally, conquering a dungeon did not give the conqueror a new universe.

That said, there were still ‘Private Dungeons’. Private Dungeons were dungeons that were created using the old method of Hal Tua, but were done manually. These dungeons had no core to oversee them, and no additional instances. However, conquering one would grant the guild the territory.

Strict laws were placed to prevent Private Dungeons from being misused. Tentatively speaking, they existed as both a way to expand guild territory, and a guide for people seeking to ascend to the rank of Master, or Origin. That was the reason we kept Private Dungeons around at all in the first place.

The changes to the system were… hard to accept for many people. The formerly powerless masses had already begun growing stronger, some of them rivalling a mid-tier combat force when they came together. It would take time for them to truly train to the same level of power as the rest of my people, but I knew that was only a matter of time.

Additionally, it would take time to convince the various guilds to stop treating those who were born in dungeon worlds as mere NPCs. That was the biggest reason for their current racism, because their culture simply did not perceive these people as… well, people. They were merely mobs that needed to be overcome in order to conquer a dungeon. And after that dungeon was claimed, they were the reward that the guild claimed, a free workforce population. Even when those ‘NPCs’ rose and became their own guilds, they were treated as lesser beings.

I was hoping that the Public Dungeons, as well as the integration with my other realms, would gradually help to change this way of thinking. They needed to realize that they weren’t naturally better than anyone else just because of their race or origins.

As I watched Hal Tua adjust to these new changes, the days silently passed. Thankfully, no new major issues arose. Tsubaki’s contracts, as well as Julia and Lyrica’s Origin powers, were doing their job to protect the various worlds. All that was left for me to do was prepare for the upcoming meeting.

On the final day, I stood in my throne room with the rest of Olympus, watching the timer count down. Although Lyrica was present, and had been informed what we were going to be doing, she didn’t seem that bothered by the fact that she wasn’t being brought along. After all, she was simply too new.

Looking out the timer, I gave a small smile and counted down the seconds. Five, four, three, two, one, zero… I thought to myself, prepared to feel the familiar sensation of time being frozen. Everyone was already prepared, ready to head to the Admin Room and depart for the meeting, that way we could descend in the same place once time returned to normal.

However… “Eh?” I blinked, looking around. The others similarly looked confused, glancing down at their own hands.

“Why did time not do the thing? Or rather, why is it still doing the thing!?” Lifre asked in alarm, before looking up at me. “You didn’t get the wrong date, did you?”

I hesitated, unsure at this point. What else could have caused this? However, looking at the system calendar, I was certain that the day was correct. And… time really was still flowing. Confused, I opened my guild chat, wanting to see if anyone knew what was going on, but the chat window wouldn’t open.

Suddenly, Terra cleared her throat, smiling towards me. “Do you remember the reward you received upon reaching the Sixth Rank?” She asked, and I hesitated. However, before I could say anything, a new window appeared in front of me.