The Author's POV

Two days have passed since Ren went to Immorra, nothing changed in Ashton city during that time.

Everything was just as calm as it had been for the past couple of years.

Of course, that was merely on the surface level.

Anyone in a high position knew that this was the calm before the storm.

…and it wasn't just any regular storm, but a large storm. One that would severely affect the conditions of the human domain in the near future.

That was due to the fact that the truce between the Union and the Monolith will expire in less than a month, ushering in the start of a new era. An era that was filled with conflict and death.

"Why are you so confident that they will declare war on us as soon as the truce is over?"

A gathering was taking place at the top of the Union tower.

Currently, all of the top tankers were present. Including Kevin, who stood beside Monica, and Donna, who was also present and standing beside him.

It was clear to see that they belonged to the same 'faction' inside of the Union. Monica's faction.

"It is not a matter of why anymore, Monica."

Daphne, the now third ranked hero spoke up.

She began to explain the situation to her.

"Over the past few years, we have observed that the Monolith has used this opportunity to consolidate their authority and influence. Their forces are stronger and more powerful than ever, and although it isn't confirmed, we can conclude from that, that there is a high chance of a war breaking out between the two of us. Also, have you not noticed Monica?"

Daphne paused while her eyes swept over everyone in the room.

"Have you not noticed how both the demons and the members of the Monolith have become so quiet right after that crack appeared in the air?"

Monica immediately became calm after hearing her remarks, sitting back in her chair and thinking to herself.

Before she could say anything else, Maximus spoke up.

"Regarding the crack, I think this will be useful for all of you to look at."

He then pressed his hand against the desk and a hologram appeared in the air.

The image of an elf appeared in the video. Everyone in the room was familiar with the video that was currently being displayed.

"A manifestation of the most recent cataclysm is the crack that has appeared in the atmosphere. The main objective of the crack is to fill the planet with as much mana as possible in order to open the door for monsters from the demon world to arrive."

"Previously, due to the planet's low mana density, dungeon creatures could not survive on the surface for very long. This isn't true, though, when there is a lot of mana in the world of humans. If it were to occur, monsters would be free to wander the earth, allowing the demons to start a blown out war against humanity."

desk once more,

the faces of everyone present

video before. With more reports talking about dungeon overflows becoming more prominent and the monsters no longer dying like in the past as

stated in the past, during the press conference that almost everyone here is all too familiar with. The third calamity is no longer a question of 'if' it will

rose at his words. Regardless, Maximus continued

calamity will hit, but it is within the reasonable assumption that it will take no less than ten years, and during that time, the most appropriate thing for an organization that is linked with the demons would

his comments, everyone's expression turned ugly. In a sense, everyone already knew this, but it wasn't until it was brought to their attention that they

room whose face didn't change was in fact Kevin who

knew

knew more. The third cataclysm wasn't going to hit in ten years, but rather four years…or perhaps even

the people inside the room knew. One

other organizations pitted against the three races—with the exception of Inferno, which Ren had largely

were a couple of remnants that survived, and might cause significant damage to the dwarves in the near

to the point of destruction, but enough to

close are you from breaking through

conversation away from the situation on

on Octavious once Maximum's

table, slowly opened his eyes. A terrifying and tanglible pressure emitted from his body

breath while they waited for

unfortunately left

still not

was certain if Malik Alshayatin had attained the level of , just the idea that there was a rumor of him doing so was enough to leave them feeling helpless in the face

contract with a demon, granting him more power than those

you at

asked, clinging to the little hope they had regarding the

she did not get the answer she

"No, I'm not close."

became even more somber after

minutes, no one said anything as

end the

to an end when Octaviois casually got up. He turned

others also stood

some of the people present, it was clear that they were filled with anxiety

was quite shaken after the meeting as she remained quiet throughout the walk back,

you doing

his thoughts. Lowering his head to

was just thinking about the

That was a lie.

it didn't appear that way at first glance, this meeting was immensely detrimental to the Union. Especially in light of the fact that several top ranked heroes were invited to

made up their minds to

with trying to

even bother thinking about changing them, no, he