The perspective shifted to Kong Zhiwang, who found himself in a vast garden alongside the Second Mobile Squad, the three members of White Eagle, Sakura Nation's Minister of Foreign Affairs Hojo Tatsuya, and all the airport staff.
As far as the eye could see, the garden was filled with vibrant flowers of every color. However, none of them were in the mood to admire the scenery. Kong Zhiwang immediately turned to Hojo Tatsuya. "What do you know about this Dimensional Rift?"
The timing was simply too suspicious. How could it appear precisely when Dragon Nation and White Eagle were holding a summit, and specifically in this city?
"I... I swear, I have no idea!" Hojo Tatsuya stammered, drenched in sweat as he launched into another frantic apology.
At that moment, fully armored soldiers materialized in the garden, weapons drawn and aimed at the group. "Who are you?! How did you get here?!"
"Soldiers..." Kong Zhiwang muttered, turning to the three members of White Eagle. "What do we do now?"
Judging by their shocked and bewildered expressions, the White Eagle trio seemed just as much victims as they were, completely unprepared for this turn of events. This suggested that the incident was unlikely a trap jointly set by the Sakura Nation and White Eagle, but rather a genuine coincidence.
"What choice do we have?" Hunter sighed. "Director-General of the Dragon Nation, let's join forces to handle this."
As for how to proceed, everyone present was a seasoned veteran. Naturally, they would follow their usual method: find the Instance's objective, adhere to the established rules, and step by step, work their way to the endpoint to clear the Instance.
"This place is most likely the King's royal garden or something similar," Wizard speculated. "In any case, let's follow these soldiers. Meeting His Majesty the King should give us some insight into this world."
While Kong Zhiwang, Hunter, and Wizard discussed their strategy, Mad Lion stood utterly bewildered, completely unable to understand a word they were saying. The reason was simple: he didn't speak Japanese.
The Wizard class inherently required high intelligence, making multilingualism commonplace. Hunter, having traveled the globe on adventures, was also fluent in several major languages. For Kong Zhiwang, as Director-General, and Hojo Tatsuya, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, multilingual proficiency was a fundamental skill.
Among them all, only Mad Lion spoke only his native tongue, unable to speak any foreign language. During previous meetings, everyone had spoken English to accommodate him. However, after entering the Dimensional Rift, they seamlessly switched to Japanese when the surrounding soldiers spoke that language.
"Hey! You bastard, translate for me! What the hell are they talking about?!" Mad Lion roared, grabbing Hojo Tatsuya by the collar.
Approximately ten minutes later, over a hundred people, including all the airport staff, had gathered in an immensely spacious hall.
Fortunately, the airport had postponed all regular flights to accommodate a foreign dignitary. Otherwise, such a massive facility would have been overflowing with passengers, packed to bursting with no room to stand.
At the front of the hall, a three-tiered staircase covered in a red carpet led to a throne encrusted with gemstones of every color. Seated upon it was a majestic-looking man in his fifties or sixties, wearing a crown and gazing down sternly at the assembled crowd. "Who are you?" he demanded. "And what is the purpose of your intrusion into my royal gardens?"
It was clear that this was the King of the country, but Kong Zhiwang couldn't help but feel a little disoriented by the man's flawless Japanese.
Nevertheless, he addressed the King earnestly. "We are not of this world, Your Majesty. We come from another realm, guided by the god's will and summoned here to aid you. Does your kingdom face any troublesome enemies or impending disasters? If so, we believe we can help resolve them."
Kong Zhiwang, of course, didn't believe in gods, but that didn't stop him from invoking the divine. In this kind of world, claiming to be messengers of the gods would undoubtedly make their subsequent actions much easier.
In truth, weren't they, the group pulled into this world by the Dimensional Rift, practically divine messengers? They fought tirelessly, without expecting anything in return, helping the local Geo people with their myriad troubles.
But His Majesty frowned upon hearing this. "Otherworlds? Divine messengers? Our Hero, summoned from another world, has already embarked on his quest to eradicate the Demonic Beasts! You lowly rabble—aren't you just trying to steal flowers from my garden? And your excuse is so clumsy!"
Wait, you can actually summon people from other worlds?
His Majesty's words were packed with information. It was now almost certain that this was a classic "Hero versus Demon Lord" world. So, would defeating the Demon Lord count as clearing the game?
Still, the immediate situation was pressing. The King didn't seem particularly approachable, and Kong Zhiwang was pondering how to respond when the Mad Lion, who had been stooping to listen to Hojo Tatsuya's translation, suddenly straightened up. He roared, "Damn it, you old bastard! Are you cursing me?!"
In the next instant, the Mad Lion vanished from his spot and reappeared before the King as if he had teleported. His beefy face loomed down at the monarch, his gaze intense.
Only after the Mad Lion had straightened up did a violent gust of wind sweep through the hall, causing everyone's clothing to flap wildly.
"An assassin!"
"Protect His Majesty the King!"
Instantly, the hall guards raised their weapons. The Knight Commander, standing beside the King and clad in the most ornate and dashing armor, charged toward the Mad Lion with lightning speed, drawing his sword and slashing.
Boom!
Mad Lion didn't even glance at the approaching Captain of the Knights. As the captain closed in, Mad Lion's right hand, which had been resting vertically at his side, snapped upward with impossible speed, as if skipping frames in a video. Without exaggeration, no one present except Kong Zhiwang and Hunter could clearly see the movement, nor could they even follow the captain's flying trajectory.
A deafening crash reverberated through the hall. The captain vanished as if swallowed by thin air, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the hall that offered a clear view of the sky outside.
The impact of the punch silenced the entire hall. The King and all the guards stood frozen in place, their expressions blank.
Kong Zhiwang clicked his tongue. Mad Lion might be reckless, but sometimes a well-timed display of raw power is far more effective than gentle persuasion.
Still, he couldn't let Mad Lion actually kill the King. Kong Zhiwang smoothly stepped in to mediate. After Mad Lion's... persuasive demonstration, the King fully believed Kong Zhiwang's earlier explanations. He willingly ordered his guards to lower their weapons and began detailing the history and nature of this Otherworld to the assembled group.
As Kong Zhiwang had suspected, this was a world of Heroes and Demon Lords. Like the ebb and flow of tides, the world's Magic Power levels peaked roughly every century. During these periods, Demonic Beasts proliferated, and from their ranks emerged four exceptionally powerful and intelligent beings known as the Four Heavenly Kings.
However, these Four Heavenly Kings were not allies; in fact, they were bitter rivals. They would fight among themselves, and the victor could absorb the corpse of the vanquished, gaining their abilities and drastically enhancing their own power. When only one Heavenly King remained, it would instantly ascend to become the Demon Lord.
At first glance, this might seem like good news for humanity, since the Demonic Beasts were killing each other. But the reality was far more dire. Even a single Heavenly King was immensely powerful. If they were allowed to slaughter each other through this twisted form of natural selection to create a Demon Lord, its power would transcend the very fabric of the world.
Therefore, humanity had to confront all four Heavenly Kings simultaneously, eliminating them before they could clash and concealing their corpses to prevent any absorption.
Having discussed the Demon Lord, the conversation now turned to the Heroes. Taking advantage of the once-in-a-century Magic Power Tide, humanity had created a colossal magical construct: the Hero Summoning Array. Due to its exorbitant Magic Power consumption, it could only be activated when the world's Magic Power was at its peak. Its purpose was to summon four powerful Heroes from otherworlds to aid the Kingdom in overcoming this crisis.
"In that case, our objective for clearing this Dimensional Rift is clear," Kong Zhiwang said, glancing at White Eagle's three companions. "Perfect. There are four of us, so we can each take on one of the Heavenly Kings and finish this Rift quickly. What do you say?"
"I'm in!" Mad Lion declared first. "I just hope those Heavenly Kings aren't too weak."
"I agree," the Wizard nodded. The Hunter remained silent, expressing her agreement through action instead. She turned to the King and asked, "So, where exactly are these Heavenly Kings right now?"
"Well... the Heavenly Kings should have only just been born recently. I don't know..." The King wiped cold sweat from his forehead.
This period was essentially a grace period for the Heroes to develop. Starting from the capital of the kingdom, the four Heroes embarked on their respective adventures, each heading in a different direction—a classic storyline, wouldn't you agree?
"Tch..." After hearing Hojo Tatsuya's real-time translation, Mad Lion clicked his tongue in disdain. "We have to find them ourselves? What kind of useless king are you?"
The King looked utterly bewildered, unable to understand a word Mad Lion was saying.
Moments later, everyone left the royal audience hall and stepped outside. Just as they emerged, a striking red "shooting star" streaked across the sky at tremendous speed before vanishing from sight.
However, it was just an ordinary meteor and didn't draw much attention. Mad Lion said, "So, should we each pick a direction and go find these so-called Four Heavenly Kings?"
"Wait, what about these people?" Kong Zhiwang interjected, his gaze sweeping over the crowd. "Don't forget, there are over a hundred airport staff here besides us. What should we do with them?"
"They're not missing any limbs. They're free to do whatever they want. Why should we care?" Mad Lion shrugged. "If you guys aren't choosing, I'll take the North!"
With a dismissive wave, he strode off toward the northern path.
"Then I'll head south," Hunter retorted, turning in the opposite direction. "Getting away from you imbeciles will make the air fresher."
Soon, only Kong Zhiwang and Wizard remained, exchanging glances. But just as Kong Zhiwang was about to speak, a commotion erupted nearby. Several figures suddenly rushed toward the palace.
Hojo Tatsuya's eyes lit up as he recognized one of them. "Director Fujiwara?!" he shouted.
Clearly, the Director from the Sakura Nation had recently arrived on Nawajima. He hadn't even reached the airport when the Dimensional Rift opened, pulling him in as well.
Director Fujiwara was visibly taken aback. "Hojo? Wizard? And the Director-General of the Dragon Nation? What are you all doing here?"
"I heard the King of this country was here, so I rushed over immediately," he replied.
Director Fujiwara then explained the purpose of his visit: to discuss the critical issue of "food" with the King.
They were currently in the most prosperous city of this Otherworld kingdom. Yet, due to the limitations of its historical era, the entire city housed only about a million people. To put this in perspective, Nawajima alone had at least one and a half million inhabitants. In other words, the city's population had more than doubled overnight!
These newcomers were scattered throughout the city, with large groups concentrated on its outskirts. The royal palace remained unaware of the situation, entirely due to the complete collapse of the city's security forces.
Setting aside all other concerns, simply providing enough food to keep this massive influx of people alive posed an overwhelming challenge.
"Is that so..." Kong Zhiwang said. "Then I'll head west."
Just moments ago, he had been considering whether to help the hundred-odd civilians, even though they were from Sakura Nation. They were ordinary people, and he thought it might be right to offer assistance. But now that their Director had arrived, he decided it was best to leave the matter to him.
Soon, only the Wizard and Director Fujiwara, the two most prominent figures, remained at the palace gate. The Wizard sighed. "It seems I have no choice but to head east."
As he walked past Director Fujiwara, he added, "You'd better hurry and attend to your duties. A million and a half people... I wonder how many will survive once this Dimensional Rift closes."
"Oh, right!" Suddenly remembering something, the Wizard stopped and turned back to Director Fujiwara. "You... you impersonated White Eagle and orchestrated a terrorist attack in Dragon Nation?!"
An indescribable pressure descended upon Director Fujiwara. The Sakura Nation Director instantly lowered his head and bowed deeply, large beads of sweat dripping onto the ground.
"Th-this..."
"We are truly sorry, Wizard! We were just... we were just..."
The man stammered, unable to string together a coherent sentence. Finally, he dropped to his knees, abandoning any further explanation. "We are deeply sorry! We swear we will never do such a thing again..."
The Wizard quickly lost interest in the kneeling man, who resembled a beaten dog. Turning to leave, he said, "Once this Dimensional Rift closes, I will consult with the others on appropriate punishment..."
Thud!
Before the Wizard could finish speaking, his eyes widened in shock. A searing pain erupted in his chest as a dagger, somehow undetected, pierced through his back and emerged from his sternum.
The wielder of the blade was none other than Director Fujiwara, his face now contorted with savage triumph, utterly transformed from the cowering figure he had been moments before.
In truth, the Sakura Nation's goal had never been to sow discord. Their true target had always been White Eagle itself.