Surviving The Fourth Calamity

"The future matters are in your hands now, List," Hill walked towards the Magic Tower, ready to calculate what kind of people he needed to guard against if he were to arrive in Ferun.

After all, if Valkin really dares to make a move against him, she could only seek allies within the Evil Faction; the Neutral Faction won't offend the World Tree Pantheon over such a matter.

Standing on the Floating Stairway, Hill smiled. In the past, upon realizing that he had offended a deity without any apparent reason, he would have chosen to retreat, either abandoning the place or disappearing quietly, circumventing the sphere of influence of that deity.

The world is so large, the universe so vast, why cling to a single tree?

But, having experienced this world of Felunryel, Hill had confirmed the extent of his own strength. He was now brave enough to confront these disputes and could even declare, "It's just Lower Rank Divine Power, nothing to worry about."

Even if Valkin herself came forward to battle him directly, Hill didn't believe he would lose.

If Valkin truly dared to vent her anger on Hill, he was sure he could teach her a harsh lesson.

After all, Valkin's Temple was mainly established in commercial cities, and most of such cities were located by the water.

The true centers of the continents would only be occupied by the most powerful temples. The Temple of Wealth didn't have the capacity to prevail, and even in a city bustling with commerce, it was already quite an achievement to manage to purchase a good location and simply stay put.

Hill sneered as he glanced at his own fingers. Did Valkin think he would be afraid of the Goddess of the Sea, Anbor?

Having the same Lower Rank Divine Power, whom would Hill fear?

Since meeting his ancient crystal flower ancestor, Hill had understood why the World Will chose him to nurture the Little Sea God.

Hill may never become a Water Deity, but the sea had opened its arms to him.

Even in the deepest depths, Hill could easily reach, and it was not only because of the amiable disposition of the sea turtle Bex.

Hill's ability to create Alchemy goods that even a Demigod Sea Turtle longed for was greatly related to his crystal flower lineage. It's what the Deep Sea needed most—for cleanliness and purity.

Unless Hill attacked first, creatures in the oceans of any world would not harm him on a whim, a repayment for the billions of years of Purification by his crystal flower kin.

Anbor's little bit of sea magic power dreaming of hurting Hill was sheer fantasy, and her other abilities were nothing more than juvenile Illusion Techniques; Hill wouldn't feel anything.

Given what Hill knew of the greedy Goddess, Anbor was more likely to choose to plunder Valkin's Temple after Hill had flooded it.

Her attitude towards Talos was almost on the edge of rebellion; she definitely wouldn't help Talos snatch something like the Ring of Winter.

Even the Frost Maiden would prefer that ring to remain in Hill's hand, knowing it could no longer return to her own.

She was terrified that Talos would completely overrun her divine authority.

The Fury Camp was so fragmented; it wasn't Talos's strength that kept them going, but the utter incompetence of the others.

Hill assessed his own abilities; encountering Talos might pose a nuisance, but it was not so dire that he had no chance of retaliating, and fleeing was even less of a concern.

In fact, having mastered the elements of wind, water, and earth, the most feared enemies were the deities that controlled time and space.

The stronger he became, the less Hill understood how a God of Time and Space could emerge from those small worlds of theirs.

Once he became a powerful divine force, even the World Tree would have to step aside.

The seeds spread by the World Tree Pantheon of Teraxil were likely beyond retrieval.

Hill stepped out of the Floating Stairway, deciding to first check on Alice's acclimation.

Then, he stopped in front of Alice's study, watching with satisfaction as the diligent child buried her head in copying the books.

Hard work can sometimes replace a lack of innate skill, although it might seem like a joke. However, if a person with insufficient talent is sensible enough not to compare themselves with those at the pinnacle of genius, then surpassing a few so-called geniuses who are not as gifted and arrogant enough not to put in the effort is quite easy.

Hill was fully aware that, although his talents were decent, they were incomparable to those of a naturally gifted person like Fran. The only thing he could do was to be earnest and thorough, repeating everything several times.

That's why he now had the strength to face these deities without needing to back down.

Hill gently retreated, not letting Alice notice his presence. He truly hoped that Alice would soon find her own path.

From the beginning, he had hoped that Alice could become a bit stronger on her own.

As long as she was strong enough, even if there were countless schemes, they'd have to circle around her.

Hill returned to his own study, musing over his future path, and whether he should continue to follow the pace of the Undead Tribe.

But suddenly he felt that he no longer needed to rely on the protection of the Undead Tribe. He was somewhat eager to walk on his own and see what lay ahead.

This was also because, in this world, he had already learned enough knowledge that even in a world like Ferun, he wouldn't seem out of place.

The day quickly darkened, yet Hill was suddenly startled by the thunder outside.

He stood up to look out the window.

Endless thunder exploded in the horizon, marking the official arrival of spring in the North.

Some of the lightning bolts aimed directly at the Defensive Shield above the camp, igniting sparks.

Hill's lightning protection measures worked effectively, and the shield did not budge.

Hill couldn't help but reveal a faint smile.

"Sir, there's something odd about this lightning," List appeared before Hill, somewhat nervous. He also knew that if that Los came again, the core inside might just turn into his real self.

"There's no need to bother with it for now," Hill shook his head, "He only dares to probe. He wouldn't dare to attack me openly. Otherwise, those deities from the Kind Alignment of Felun would definitely not blink an eye before slaughtering his avatar as if it were a False God.

It's even possible that the Undead Tribe would be set to the task. Talos would definitely not let himself be humiliated like that.

As long as I withstand this little probe of his, there will be no problem.

Can the electricity that's been absorbed be charged into these Attributeless Crystals that have used up half their energy? What's the ratio?"

This was what Hill was most concerned about.

Originally, the Elementals in his territory had the habit of slowly infusing Attributeless Crystals, which gave him this idea.

But regardless of the type of crystal, he had plenty on hand, so he abandoned this method.

Instead, after leaving Teraxil, Hill dug out this idea again.

Last time, that Los did indeed produce some Thunder Element Crystals, but the array was quite small, and Hill was still hesitant about whether he could completely convert the absorbed lightning over such a large range as the camp.

"Charging them wouldn't be a problem, it's just that only half would work, and some of the crystals couldn't withstand it and shattered. This time the lightning was too scattered, unlike last time when it was concentrated," List replied with a hint of regret.

Hill, however, was already satisfied. Half was enough, and it could also be used after returning to Teraxil.

After all, the array was too targeted, and he didn't need it to be that precise; he simply hoped the array could be reused repeatedly through the power of the enemy.

The thunder roared all night long, and Hill was greeted with a clear dawn after the rain.

The sun's gentle rays spread across the earth, and the enemies lurking in the shadows had quietly retreated.

Hill was a bit puzzled; he didn't think Talos was a god who would give up so easily. It would have been normal for him to strike with lightning for days and nights, probing Hill's defensive limit!

However, he soon understood.

Sounds of thunderous dragon roars came from the south.

Hill frowned. The Defensive Shield outside the camp, which had not moved all night, began to tremble amidst this massive roar.

If he could feel it from so far away from the volcano mountain range at the center of the world, how could the people there still be alive?

"Tyr! You nosy old blind man!" It was the first time Hill realized he could understand Draconic!

He couldn't help but touch his own head. If he were back in his original world, how great it would be to have such an almost comprehensive language ability! The materials he needed to research weren't just from one country, and looking through so many languages, he would have lost half his hair.

And all this was only achievable with some intelligent translator.

"Tampas! How could you be here?" The dragon suddenly panicked.

Because he was always protective! Having your own strategy goddess humiliated by a brainless White Dragon, how could he not come?

Hill grew curious, how could the Divine Descents of those two be so silent?

Could it be that they had already been hiding within the body of some knight?

Hill turned his head and said to List, "Turn the defenses of the Magic Tower to the highest!"

"Yes, sir," List said, closing his eyes and taking control directly.

"Notify Alice, tell her to be careful. No, have her wait in my study," Hill sighed, "We need to be ready to flee at any moment."

"Surely they won't make a move against you?" List asked, somewhat puzzled, "Even if the Dragon Queen herself arrives, she wouldn't start by stealing things, those are her own eggs, after all."

"Have there been few instances where powerful divine forces battle and shatter the world?" Hill shook his head, "It's not so much about attacking me. The Dragon Queen is greedy but not without a sense of weight or measure, she is lawful.

What I fear is that the whole of Felunryel will be shattered outright.

We humans who cherish this world, the Dragon Queen wouldn't."

When Alice walked into the study, she saw Hill carefully examining a strange ship in his hand.

"Dad Hill! What are you looking at?" she asked cheerfully as she reached the desk and gracefully hopped onto it to sit.

"Miss Alice!" Marsha, floating behind her, couldn't help but call out, "Please sit properly on the sofa!"

Alice uttered an 'ah' and then dejectedly went back to the sofa to sit upright.

Hill answered helplessly, "I'm worried that this world might collapse, so we must be prepared."

He gazed at the ship quietly for a long time, and finally made up his mind. Although it was hard to be the good guy, Hill decided to save people nonetheless.