The Author's POV

"What in the world happened while I wasn't here?"

After Kevin teleported back to Immorra and saw what appeared to be an entirely flat land, he was at a loss for words and remained there for some time.

'...What exactly happened here?'

There was a smoky odor that lingered in the air, and the area of land in front of him was completely charred and devoid of any and all vegetation. The sky continued to be covered in ominous clouds, and a sense of gloom pervaded the entire planet.

The view that greeted Kevin when he arrived in Immorra was completely different from what he saw when he first arrived in Immorra.

"Did Ren do this?"

This was the first thought that crossed Kevin's mind when he saw the scorched land.

"Haa."

After releasing a long sigh, he reached into his dimensional space and pulled out a small communication device. He quickly activated it.

―Oh, looks like someone has finally decided to show up.

A familiar voice echoed from the speaker of the communication device.

Kevin's lips slightly curled.

"I'm guessing that you're the one responsible for this mess."

―Smart one you are.

"I know I am."

Kevin secretly rolled his eyes.

"Alright, come and get me. We don't have much time."

―Sure, sure, send me your location.

"I already did."

―Oh, right. Give me a sec.

As soon as those words were spoken, Kevin was hit with a gust of wind, and his clothes and hair began to flutter. A figure soon appeared in front of him.

"That was fast."

"Glad you're impressed."

Ren and Kevin exchanged a simple hug before Ren handed him a brown bracelet.

"What's this?"

"Put it on."

"...Okay."

Kevin obeyed Ren's instructions and put on the bracelet as he had been told. Soon after he had fastened the bracelet around his wrist, Kevin noticed a change in the surrounding area, which caused him to jump in surprise.

"Ho!"

"Relax."

Ren gave the tiniest smile as he turned his attention to the horizon, where he gazed at what appeared to be a large city encircled by a transparent yellow dome.

"The bracelet you are wearing enables you to see the city. A large camouflage system currently surrounds the city. This is to prevent the demons from discovering what is happening, and only with the bracelet can one see the city."

"...What?"

The shock on Kevin's face only grew the more Ren spoke as his mouth hung open.

'City? Camouflage system?'

What's going on?

As Kevin turned his attention back toward the city, he found that he was unable to utter a single word. He was beyond speechless.

In particular, he was drawn to the appearance of a particular structure.

The structure was surrounded entirely by glass and was designed to look like a large rectangle that jutted upward into the air. It was situated on the very edge of the cliff, and it wasn't particularly tall—there were no more than twenty floors—but Kevin could tell at first glance that it had been constructed with some very advanced technology.

Perhaps even beyond that of the human domain.

'The changes in the lower levels are just as shocking.'

Kevin observed, as orcs moved throughout the entirety of the lower levels carrying heavy rocks, that a large frame of what appeared to be extremely large walls was gradually beginning to take shape around the areas where the camouflage dome rose up.

The walls encompassed only a relatively small area of land, a radius of approximately twenty kilometers extending outward from the hill on which the large structure was located.

From where he stood, he could see buildings slowly being built at the bottom, as well as the frameworks of the houses.

Because they were only skeletons and frames, he couldn't see what the houses looked like, but from a glance, he could tell they were more earthern and modern in style.

"Crazy…"

Kevin muttered something under his breath as he watched everything take place right in front of his eyes. The scene that was unfolding in front of him was nothing short of incredible, even for someone like him.

"It's cool isn't it?"

Ren's voice echoed beside his ear, and Kevin nodded his head.

"…It sure is."

"You might not believe me, but I've built all of this in the span of about fifteen days."

"Oh."

Kevin gave a calm nod, giving no indication that he was surprised. He didn't have any reason to be surprised because he understood how all of this could have been built in such a short amount of time.

"The orcs must be efficient workers."

"Sort of."

Ren scratched the back of his head.

"However, it is not actually this quick because of them alone. The dwarves are incredibly useful and make them much more efficient workers."

They were the actual cogs that made this machine work.

Ren silently whispered under his breath as he took in the scenery.

"I see…"

Kevin muttered silently as he nodded his head.

Ren's explanation made sense. The dwarves were indeed smart and efficient when it came to this type of stuff.

"Had it not been for them, all of this would've only been possible in a few decade's time."

Ren added while Kevin simply nodded his head.

"Yes, I get it."

He then turned to face Ren.

"Enough about the dwarves, what else have you added to this place?"

"I'm glad you asked."

Ren leisurely walked forward with his hands behind his back. Kevin walked beside him.

"Because we don't have a large enough dwarven workforce at the moment, we can't take on too much work right now. The orcs are typically in charge of building the walls and constructing the structure, while dwarves are in charge of the planning and organization of everything."

'As it should be.'

Kevin inwardly mumbled.

There was no way that the orcs, who were significantly stronger than the dwarves, could expect the dwarves to be able to carry the heavy materials and rocks as they did.

"Because I had warned them about the project in advance, we were able to bring enough equipment and materials, which accelerated the construction of the city. Oh, and I plan on calling the elves soon."

"The elves?"

Kevin's feet suddenly came to a pause while he looked at Ren.

"Why would you call the elves?"

Kevin had nothing against the elves, but from a glance he could tell that there was a fundamental problem with this place.

Jezebeth.

He was the problem. With just a swipe of his hand, he could annihilate the entire planet.

At this moment, the only reason why Jezebeth hadn't found him was because he had used a unique skill to conceal the fact that he had used the Akashic laws to teleport to where Ren was.

But that was besides the point.

"If you plan on having the elves come to this planet, you should expect the probability of demonic spies possibly coming here and revealing everything to him. That in itself will jeopardise everything."

"Don't worry about that."

Ren patted him on the shoulder in a reassuring manner.

"I have already taken that into consideration, and I have devised a few solutions that can be implemented in the short term. In addition, I have a solution that can be implemented in the long term as well, but it could take some time."

Kevin's eyes narrowed, but he eventually nodded his head.

"Well fine, since you seem to know what you're doing, I won't say much anymore, but..."

His head cocked a little as he pondered.

Actually, there was something he was still confused about.

"Why do you need the elves' help? Realistically speaking, they won't be able to build much with construction and stuff and —ah!"

Kevin's expression stiffened halfway through his words.

He turned to look at Ren.

"Don't tell me…"

Ren smiled back at him and nodded.

"It's exactly as you're thinking. I'm planning on having them create mana and place it within the city."

***

Creation, destruction, foundation.

Those were the three fundamental components that made up the world.

Without creation, there would be no destruction, and without foundation, there would be no creation.

The general consensus between the three races was that the dwarves represented creation, the orcs represented destruction, and the elves represented foundation.

They, who knew how to manipulate mana better than anyone else, also knew how to create it.

It was something that only they, beings that were closest to mana, knew how to do.

Issanor, Elven domain.

"What have you called me for, Randur?"

A sweet and crisp voice reverberated throughout an empty hall.

The voice belonged to none other than Maylin, the elven queen.

—Nice hearing from you too.

A harsh voice could be heard throughout the hall as Randur's face suddenly materialized in front of Maylin, appearing through a small circular gap that stood in the air. It was essentially a face time call.

Maylin gave a contented grin and crossed her legs as soon as she heard Randur's voice.

"Why have you suddenly called me out of the blue? This is very unusual of you."

—Actually, I have something important to talk to you about.

Randur's face suddenly turned serious, and so did Maylin's.

Her delicate brows came closer together, and her back became more upright.

"What is it?"

—You know the human that helped us back in Henlour?

"Human that helped you?"

Maylin pondered for a while before an image appeared in her mind.

'Could he be talking about…'

"You mean Ren?"

Maylin's mouth opened instinctively as she said a name.

Randur showed a surprised look.

—Oh, so you do know him.

'So, it's indeed him…'

"Yes, I do."

Maylin nodded her head.

"He has also helped me out in the past."

—You too?

Randur suddenly burst out laughing.

—Hahahaha, what a strange coincidence.

His laugh subsided shortly after and he stroked his long beard.

—Well that makes things easier for me.

"Go on. I don't have that much time."

—Does it have anything to do with the Fallen?

Maylin felt her head hurt when the word 'Fallen' was mentioned. They, like Inferno, Monolith, and Gobra, were the demonic organizations for which those that signed a contract with a demon resided.

In this case, Fallen was the respective organization for the elves.

"...yes, so please be quick with it. I don't want to think about them right now."

Maylin massaged her forehead.

"If it's not anything important, I'll just end this meeting."

—Haha, I can reassure you that I won't be wasting your time with this meeting. Rather, you will be thanking me once this is over.

"Oh?"

Maylin raised her head. She was starting to feel curious now.

For what reason did Randur seem so confident?

As soon as Randur noticed the interested expression on Maylin's face, he broke into a broad grin. He stopped dancing around the issue and came clean with the information.

—Ren has recently gained access to an old orcen planet which is filled with natural resources, and we are planning on building a city on it. It's a city that will not have any contact with the outside world, and that will only be revealed once the third cataclysm comes forth.

"Another planet…secret from outside world…resources…"

Maylin mumbled the key points to herself as her eyes widened with surprise.

"Is this true?"

Just in case, she wanted to ask again. Simply put, what Randur told her was hard to believe.

Especially since it was believed that most habitable planets had already been taken by the demons long ago.

Randur energetically nodded his head once he heard her words.

—It's true, I've seen it with my very own two eyes.

"Hisss…"

Maylin drew a cold breath upon hearing his confirmation.

Closing her eyes, she was quickly able to recompose herself as she asked.

"Let me guess, you want me to send some elves in secret in order to add mana to the world?"

It didn't take long for Maylin to understand what Randur was trying to ask of her.

With her experience, she was able to analyze this much.

She quickly shook her head.

"I apologize, but that will not be possible. Excluding the threat posed by the Fallen, we cannot inject mana into something of planet-sized proportions. It's just too m—"

—Who said anything about planet?

Randur stopped her mid sentence.

—We don't need to have mana cover the whole planet. What we need is for it to just envelope the city. That shouldn't be too hard, should it?

"That…"

Maylin furrowed her brows and lowered her head as she contemplated.

'Indeed, if it's just a city, inserting mana shouldn't be too hard, but it would be costly…'

As if he could read her thoughts, Randur spoke.

—If you're worried about cost, don't worry about it. This place is extremely rich in nutrients. If you manage to insert mana, I guarantee you that you will be able to grow anything that you want.

"Anything?"

Maylin slowly raised her head and stared deeply into Randur's eyes.

While maintaining eye contact with her, he gave a slight nod of the head and gradually lowered his voice.

—…Anything.