Chapter 80: True Enemy

With the passage of a month, the inhabitants of Krulon welcomed a new chapter of their lives.

Countless gazes stared at the starry night sky awaiting the appearance of the crimson star, which signified the start of a new year.

Amongst those gazes, Zaos watched the sky with a solemn expression. He still recalled what happened eight months ago when he saw the crimson star for the first time.

At the time, it was the second month of the year, and according to the records, the crimson star should have retreated from the skies of Krulon. Yet, on the night when he planned to assassinate Kolvar Grandum, an accident had occurred, and the crimson star had bathed the world with its bloody radiance during that moment.

Although he wasn't sure if the crimson star had anything to do with Kolvar's grotesque transformation that night, he couldn't rule out the possibility.

Looking at the sky from his new secret hideout, Zaos analyzed, [I have already taken precautions in case a creature similar to Kolvar's transformation appears. With my new trump cards, I should be able to ensure my safety if I can't deal with the creature with my strength…]

During the month that had gone by, Zaos had been constantly honing his skill while also amassing life-saving items and trump cards. He no longer needed to rely heavily on the uniqueness of his elemental weaves in a fight.

But this did not mean he had neglected his edict rune cultivation. It was quite the opposite as at the moment, Zaos has fully assimilated dark mana into his physique while also making significant progress with the other types of mana.

This was only possible because of the large amount of effort Zaos invested in his training during this short period. He made sure to maximize every second of his time to fix the flaws he had noticed, and now, the results were showing.

As the opportune moment slowly approached, Zaos continued to ponder, [There is also a possibility that Kolvar was the abnormal one and I'm overthinking the encounter from back then but, it doesn't hurt to be cautious,] Zaos slightly eased his troubled mind.

At that moment, a change occurred in the sky. A crimson radiance, almost the size of a full moon from Zaos' previous world, appeared in the sky. Unlike the other stars in the sky that seemed to move, this star directly appeared on a fixed spot in the sky, yet strangely enough, it could be seen from all over the planet.

When the crimson light shone on Zaos, he shivered uncontrollably. His danger senses sent warning signals greater than anything he had ever experienced. He could feel an overwhelming amount of malice being directed at him as the star's radiance shone on him.

[This…] Zaos' thoughts could barely form as a fear stemming from the very depths of his soul clouded his mind.

While frozen in fear, he spotted a bright streak of red light rapidly approaching him from the sky. As it got closer, Zaos was barely able to discern the appearance of this light. It was a humanoid figure bathed in scarlet flames!

The creature was still high up in the sky, but Zaos could already feel the temperature around him rising at a rapid rate. This was truly interesting as it was currently winter in the Ever-night continent!

At the moment of crisis, Zaos' will to survive surged, causing him to regain control of his body despite the dread he felt. He didn't think twice and instead hurriedly mobilized the void mana in the surroundings while running deeper into the cave. His intentions were simple, he needed to teleport away from the area, but if that didn't work, he would utilize the arrangements he had made in this mountain.

However, he had just taken a few steps when the crimson star alongside the humanoid torch vanished from sight.

Although he had his back to the cave entrance, Zaos could feel the sudden change as his danger senses stopped sending him warning signals and the heat in the air dissipated, being replaced by bone-chilling coldness caused by the freezing winter winds.

He turned his head, looking at the sky in a daze as he muttered, "It is over?"

…

Far away, in the vast cosmos above Krulon, an annoyed snort reverberated through the expansive void of space.

Following the snort, a voice seething with malice and pure evil spoke angrily.

"Damned tree! Don't think I will let you have your way!" The voice declared before calling out, "Baelbaros! Prepare your forces!"

From the shadows, the silhouette of a gigantic figure materialized as a voice with less grandeur than the previous one was emitted from the creature.

"Yes, my lord…"

…

Back on Krulon.

After realizing the crisis had been avoided, Zaos breathed a sigh of relief but still followed his original plan and moved to a safer location.

Once there, he began to seriously contemplate the previous phenomenon.

[Those were certainly otherworldly threats! Enemies of the one who sent me here perhaps!] Zaos felt chills recalling the malice-filled gaze he felt.

[Am I supposed to fight those things?!] The thought caused Zaos' hair to stand on end.

Those were no creatures he could handle with his current strength, and even with the strength of an empyreal elf, he doubted it would be sufficient.

[Will they keep on attacking every night?] Zaos was sweating profusely. The crimson star was an important symbol to the world of Krulon, it marked the beginning of the new year and it appeared in the night skies for a total of 25 days before it retreated. Thus, a month on Krulon consisted of 25 days while there were 6 days of the week.

Zaos feared that he would have to face the constant harassment of these otherworldly entities as even at this moment, he had yet to get into contact with the one who summoned him here.

As he pondered on a solution, he suddenly thought of something crucial, [At the last minute, the enemies suddenly disappeared. Did something happen that caused them to shift their attention?] Zaos was unable to conclude and could only anxiously prepare for what was to come the following night.

Yet his worries were unnecessary as on the second night of the year, the crimson star did not make its appearance. This caused a great commotion all over Krulon as an oddity of such magnitude had only happened once in history and that time was eight months ago!

While others sunk into contemplation, fearing the worst, Zaos was celebrating averting a huge threat to his life. To him, the disappearance of the crimson star was the best news he could receive as he knew he had no way to combat this threat.

But just as he was relishing in his fortune, an unexpected guest arrived before him.