Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation

"Adrian, should we continue waiting?" Alfreed asked. All of us were hiding behind a short hill.

In front was a huge lake nestled among barren, rocky land without a single blade of grass. A very narrow river flowed into it, seemingly the same one Selene and I saw from the air earlier.

Based on the location Nicola described, the lake was likely where she had teleported from. But there was no sign of the Kaga Mountains that should have appeared during the exchange.

And that was indeed the case.

When we first arrived, we saw thousands of magical beasts gathered motionless on the shores of the lake. They remained still until the entire lake was suddenly replaced by a forested mountainous area. Only then did the beasts step over the boundary into the foliage and rocks.

Shortly after, the lake reappeared and space quickly returned to normal. The magical beasts had vanished without a trace.

"Something seems off. This is very different from before," Adrian said hesitantly after witnessing the entire exchange.

"The beasts had just entered the exchange area and were immediately teleported away. I remember the exchange used to last longer initially, otherwise we wouldn't have had the chance to sneak in and teleport here. Also, the area is strange， though about the same size as the pit within Val City - the lake's edges precisely align with the shoreline..."

"So someone's precisely controlling the whole process, and the entire lake is under surveillance?" I couldn't help interrupting.

"That's right! So we're in big trouble now," Adrian said, seemingly anxious.

"To get teleported back, we have to go near or even into the water's edge. But that would almost certainly mean discovery by the enemy."

"But the lake is so big! There's no way the enemy can monitor the entire shoreline, right?" Hayden chimed in next to us.

He had a point. The lake was huge, after all. If not for the tall tower on the island in the middle, we might have dared to try entering the water elsewhere to get teleported back to the Astral Realm Kingdom.

But since the enemy built that structure clearly for surveillance, it definitely had a purpose. If we randomly approached the lake, we'd likely be discovered.

"Unfortunately, the terrain around the lake is too flat. Other than these hills in our direction, there's almost nowhere to hide," Alfreed said regretfully with a sigh. He turned to Nicola and asked, "Did you see all those beasts flooding in from outside when you teleported here earlier?"

"I didn't notice..." Nicola scratched her head, trying to recall. "Mainly because the exchange area was so large, and tall trees were blocking my view, so I didn't dare confirm..."

Can't this guy be more reliable?

These beasts were probably summoned from nearby Val City, but were heading to war against the Astral Realm Kingdom.

I felt they were stronger than the motley crew that had chased us earlier. Perhaps the Val City had to devote their elite forces to the war effort, which was why they couldn't intercept our escape.

When the mountainous area from the kingdom side exchanged over earlier, the shoreline happened to be the boundary line. It wasn't very far from where we were hiding. If not for those magical beasts blocking us, we definitely would have directly charged in.

I fear that under artificial control, if there were no magical beasts waiting outside for the transfer, the exchange would not open at all. That way, we basically wouldn't get any chance unless we dared confront all those creatures head-on.

"I think we should just go straight for it and attack that place down," Nicola said, pointing to the building on the island. Even with the Condensation Sword at her side, she still feared the huge army of magical beasts. But that tower likely wouldn't house nearly as many troops, so she set her sights on it.

"There's definitely a teleport device inside controlling the exchange on this side - the other half of that so-called celestial weapon. If we snatch it, we'll be set for good! We can teleport back to the kingdom from anywhere once we leave this place."

"That doesn't seem like a good idea?" I objected first.

"You're really getting inflated. That's clearly critical enemy territory, yet you dare suggest this? Aren't you afraid of running into someone who can put you in your place?"

"Even if you successfully seize the device, how can you be sure you can operate it?" Adrian also expressed doubt.

"If not, we'll just capture someone alive to show us. Besides, we have no other options. We can't just keep waiting around here forever, can we?" Nicola responded nonchalantly, completely ignoring my opinion. She even started polling everyone else.

"If you don't believe me, go ahead and ask!"

"Yes, yes!" Selene quickly raised her hand in agreement. As Nicola's die-hard fan, there was no way she would oppose.

"Nicola is very powerful... I think success is likely," Eleanora said after some thought, also raising her hand.

Seeing Eleanora agree, Hayden immediately followed suit. Those two almost always took the same stance on everything.

"Given Nicola's strength, I don't think this is out of the question..." Even the usually prudent Alfreed took their side.

Ah, what can I say... they're still not being cautious enough.

"Don't forget the enemy has someone called the Goddess of Fire Flames," I reminded them reluctantly, seeing the huge 5 against 2 disparity.

"We made such a ruckus at City Val earlier, yet never saw her appear. Maybe it's because she left there to oversee this critical location."

"Since you say the enemy is the goddes of all dark creatures, shouldn't her dark elemental aura be very strong? Do you two angels sense anything?" Selene asked Nicola and me.

"Nothing!" Nicola shook her head decisively.

"I don't feel anything at all from that tower, even though we're not too far away. How could a god's aura be this weak?"

"Who says a god must have a strong aura? What if there is no aura at all?" I retorted skeptically. Can't believe Nicola is also a transmigrator like me yet lacks even such common sense.

"And we're talking about the God of Fire here. There's no need for a strong dark elemental aura."

"That's hard to say. After all, dark creatures are generally adept with fire magic - that's just a fact..." Selene didn't agree with me. She had told me before that aside from great strength, mastery of fire magic was also common among dark creatures.

It's just that many beasts aren't very smart and can't use complex magic. And compared to staying back casting spells, direct melee combat tends to suit them better.

"So you all are set on going no matter what?"

I rolled my eyes. Their arguments made so much sense I was temporarily at a loss to refute them.

I looked again at Adrian beside me. He now neither agreed nor opposed, just detachably watching by the sidelines.

"Aren't you going to back me up here?" I complained. He was originally on my side, yet retreated so quickly!

"I don't know what to do..." Adrian said helplessly.

"There's too little information on that God of Fire Michelle. Can't make a judgment."

"Then just go along, Feliciana!" Nicola said triumphantly, seeing I was the last holdout.

"It's 6 against 1 now. Stop resisting."

"Oh, alright alright!" With no choice left, I could only surrender to the majority.

"After all, you're the most capable among us. If even the mighty Condensation Sword can't win, I'm afraid none of us are escaping."

In fact, the island in the lake center was more precisely a peninsula, with a small path leading to the shore. The original plan was for Nicola to go alone, but Alfreed insisted on going together. After all, he was a prestigious level 6 swordsman - his sense of honor wouldn't allow him to hide behind and just cheer.

"Good luck! Retreat if you can't win!" I urged Nicola. We shrimpy level 4's could only watch the experts show off from afar.

Alfreed couldn't fly and could only take the path to the island. Luckily the island entrance wasn't too far from us. Although he ran full speed very quickly, Nicola could fly and arrived at the island first. Without hesitation, she summoned the Condensation Sword and directly charged into the tower.

Soon after, Alfreed reached the destination. He drew his longsword, about to rush in as well, but saw Nicola suddenly emerge again and fly up into the higher levels of the tower.

"What's going on? Could it be another fruitless strike?" I wondered from my distant vantage point. Although the view wasn't very clear from this far, it was obvious they hadn't encountered any enemies. Their seemingly foolproof plan had somehow resulted in this.

"Looks like it really is an uninhabited island." Adrian also realized, as Alfreed and Nicola went in and out several times under everyone's watchful eyes, yet not even a single beast emerged.

Finally, after exchanging some words, the two waved at us, seemingly signaling for all of us to come over.

"That's too risky..." Adrian frowned, saying, "The island has just one path leading out. It would be bad if it's a trap."

But no matter how much he waved at them, the two didn't want to come back. Instead, they kept signaling for everyone to go over together.

"They seem to have found something," Hayden suddenly said. He and Alfreed could communicate in a special way, so he understood the strange gestures.

"Why don't we just go over and see?" Selene persuaded from the side. "Maybe they found the teleport device. And they've been on the island for so long - if it were really a trap, it probably would have already been triggered."

"Oh, alright..." With no other choice, Adrian reluctantly agreed. He looked at me and said, "Escape immediately if anything seems off. Don't try to show off like Nicola."

I deeply appreciated his constant consideration for me. But abandoning everyone to flee alone clearly wouldn’t be right. And I had agonized in the past over cowardice like that.

"Let's see what will happen..." I said, flying out toward the island. I couldn’t brush off his words too directly, so could only vaguely respond.

"..." Seeing me act like this, Adrian also couldn't say anything more. He could only lead the rest out from behind the hill.