1307  An Eclipse

At the same time, in the mountain ranges of what used to be the Yalveran Union, an una.s.suming valley suddenly rippled. A giant dome of metal and runes flickered into existence, appearing tucked into the trees of the forest. Once the dome lost its camouflage, the sky turned dark.

Moments before this happened, Julia was meeting with the sub-guilds of Ascent. Their growth had been explosive after the Level Up Legacy, and Ascent now had twenty guilds under its belt, totaling one hundred thousand members. Many faces were new to the guild, but Julia had no problem trusting them because of their high level in the legacy.

Arthur designed the legacy to help those who wished to protect humanity. Although there was some wiggle room for villains to exploit it, such as considering other races non-humans, these cases were few. Despite that, there was still a lot of discrimination against the demi-humans.

"We need to tackle this issue and nip it in the bud," said Julia while tapping her fingers. "As long as their legacy level is high enough to be considered Kindred, then we can allow demi-humans to join us. You have to remember that one of the highest members in the guild is a demi-human."

"We heard about her," said a man wearing a black mask. "How well-established is her position in our guild?"

Julia smiled and glanced at Yuran, who shook his head at the silly question. Then, she proceeded to answer him. "Let"s just say that if anything happens to her, then the entire world knows. Arthur cherishes her more than he cherishes the guild itself."

"Are we supposed to feel happy that our guild master, who has never shown his face, values us so poorly?" asked a giant warrior who was also a guild master. These people were not arrogant nor condescending, but they were worried about their position in the guild.

Julia could understand their sentiment and its origins. Ascent had been growing in popularity and forces for a while, and its members had reached a staggering number. It was not an exaggeration to say that their guild could rival an army. Furthermore, the Glory List had already ranked them as A, just a short step from being a powerhouse in the world.

But due to the ongoing increase in numbers, it was hard to maintain order. A strong figurehead was necessary to keep a tight grip on their members. Therefore, Arthur needed to make an appearance. In response to his question, Julia rose from her seat.

"Let me do a little introduction of Diana Freya," said Julia as the hologram on the table changed to construct Runera. "Before we begin, please remember that those who address her with disrespect can expect to leave Ascent. Anyone who dares to address her or question her position anymore will suffer his wrath."

The crowd was quiet, intrigued but scared. Their guild master had a reputation that preceded him. Although powerful enough to fight the empyreans, he had one trait that scared his enemies and allies alike: wrath. Julia began explaining when the runes suddenly flickered and died down.

The entire dome shut down in an instant. Many of the guild masters rose with confusion, looking around for possible attacks. Julia was the most confused because Adam Leno was supplying their dome with infinite mana, so there was no way this was a power outage.

"What is happening?" called Julia to her a.s.sistant, a young man she had recruited a while back from Runera. The man rushed forward, waving his hands with confusion as he tried to contact others within the dome.

"We have lost connection with the world. The runes are refusing to activate," said the a.s.sistant with panic. Julia was confused, looking around as she waved her hand to throw a barrier around her. However, her ability did not activate as well. "Miss Julia, we need to evacuate!"

"The dome is the safest place in the world. We need to find out what is happening," said Julia as she rushed out of the meeting hall while issuing commands. "The rest of you should find the entrances to the domes and secure them. We might have lost our camouflage runes as well."

A short search throughout the dome revealed that Julia was right. The runes had refused to activate, but something else came to their attention. The internet they obtained through the satellite still allowed them to communicate with the world.

A receiver connected to the satellite and broadcasted internet throughout the dome. It was an old model, but it did the job. Julia remembered the ones who supplied them with it. It was the Nightroad Company, which belonged to Oren"s girlfriend and her brother.

Once her phone received a signal, Julia hurried to log into the internet to see what was happening. Countless articles, outcries, and posts flooded the websites about the current outage. It even received a name in the short time that this happened.

Runes Outage.

Throughout the world, runes had stopped functioning at the same time. No one knew the reason and no one saw it coming, but the consequences were terrible. Before Julia could read the rest of the articles, several more flooded her screen. It was about a different issue.

"An eclipse?" muttered Julia as she saw the photos posted online. She rushed toward the upper floors where she could see the sky from her balcony. Once outside, she confirmed that the sun was indeed gone, replaced with an eclipse that prevented them from seeing the sun.

Julia stood atop the balcony, unable to understand what was happening. But she knew that there was something wrong, and it was related to Arthur. A boiling wrath bloomed in her heart the moment she stared into the eclipse, and it told her what she needed to know.

Julia knew that wrath could momentarily disable runes, but not to the extent of affecting the entire world. For this to happen, Arthur must have suffered a shock severe enough to make him lose control, even after he returned from the Red Tower.