Icathia

Josh had no idea how long had passed before he finally woke up. His first reaction was to look around carefully, only to be stunned by what he saw. This didn't seem to be his room?

He spread his hands and examined them carefully, then quickly relaxed. It seemed he hadn't turned into a child again. Josh breathed a sigh of relief at that. He couldn't stand becoming a little kid again and being unable to do anything. That feeling had been absolutely awful.

Most importantly, there had been those maids back in the Imperial Capital. Honestly, every one of them had been beautiful, but Josh could only watch and do nothing back then. One could imagine how devastated he had been.

Then, when he had finally gained some ability, the fact that he was useless meant that no one gave him any more hints. It had to be said that this world was far too snobbish—and far too real.

Josh got to his feet and carefully surveyed his surroundings. He had already concluded that he hadn't been kidnapped. Come on, even if someone wanted to kidnap someone, they wouldn't pick a useless person like him. They should have gone after his three exceptionally talented older brothers instead. Still, perhaps because of their great talent, their father had protected them well enough that those with ill intentions had never found an opportunity.

Shaking his head, Josh stopped dwelling on it. He began wondering how exactly he had ended up here.

"I remember I was testing my magic power, but I think I tripped because I was exhausted. Then that magic sphere I'd compressed and condensed to the limit exploded right in front of me?"

Josh shuddered at the thought. Could that magic sphere have blown him to death? If that were true, then he would definitely go down as the shame of all transmigrators.

"This is the Land of Destruction. The ruins of an Ancient City lie beneath a sky of mist, filled with bizarre, enormous, decaying stone statues of dark and terrifying deities."

Suddenly, Josh seemed to hear a whisper, and every hair on his body stood on end! The whisper seemed distant, yet it also seemed right beside his ear. Josh could tell it was a woman's voice, sinister and terrifying. He swore he had never heard such a horrifying voice before!

What was even stranger was that Josh could completely understand what she meant! He hadn't understood a single word of the whisper, yet his mind had automatically translated its meaning for him. Josh was at a loss. He had no idea what was happening.

"Who is it? Who's there?"

Josh was terrified. Even though he was fairly thick-nerved and had already experienced transmigration once, he was still an ordinary person. He had never been through any battles, so something this frightening naturally left him panicked. Gritting his teeth, he began gathering his magic power. Perhaps because he had been unconscious for long enough, both his mental strength and magic power had recovered. He easily condensed a silver orb of light.

But he regretted it almost immediately. The light from the orb revealed that his surroundings were filled with corpses! Or rather, corpses that had been dead for so long that only skeletons remained!

Josh trembled all over. He even felt like he was about to piss himself from fear. Still, he forced himself to calm down, raised his head so he wouldn't look beneath him, and fought back his terror as he looked around. He realized that the place he was in was practically a graveyard.

The bizarre trees and strangely dead corpses made Josh wonder whether his magic had really blown him to death and sent him to this hellish place. This was no different from Purgatory! Was this really where his story ended?

Josh had a strong will to survive. He didn't want to die here just like that. At the same time, he was terribly afraid. He didn't dare extinguish the orb in his hand, even though it could only provide light and had no offensive power whatsoever. At least the light gave him a sense of security, didn't it?

However, maintaining the orb required Josh to continuously supply it with magic power. Although he knew the magic power stored in his body could keep it lit for a week without any problem, he couldn't go without rest. After thinking it over, Josh decided to maintain the orb until dawn while gradually relaxing his mind and entering a state of shallow meditation.

Josh had mastered this cultivation technique long ago. Although his magic power had no attribute, he had never given up. At the very least, he had learned and mastered every proven and useful technique quite well. That was probably one of Josh's gains.

As he slowly began absorbing the surrounding magic power, Josh was astonished to find that his cultivation speed here seemed vastly faster than anywhere else! In only a short while, he could feel that his magic power had been completely replenished, while new magic power continued pouring into his magic spring. Josh believed that if he cultivated here long enough, his magic spring would soon become like a river. But he still found this terrifying environment deeply off-putting.

"This is the Endless Land of Death!"

After an unknown amount of time, Josh suddenly heard the voice again, and this time it was clearer and more chilling than before! Josh immediately opened his eyes, only to discover something unbelievable: he had somehow become the center of endless magic power!

Yes, with his naked eye, he could see countless silver Magic elements identical to the orb in his hand gathering around him. They circled him and entered his body in an orderly stream!

What the hell is this? Josh screamed inwardly. He couldn't say a single word. He couldn't even move, and could only watch helplessly as those Magic elements rapidly flew into his body. There was nothing he could do!

"This is the Cursed Land. This is the Forgotten Land. This is the Endless Void Land!"

The voice rang out again. Josh could already feel as though his body was about to burst from being crammed full of those silver Magic elements, but he couldn't stop it. He didn't even have time to think about the voice in his ear. Glancing slightly downward, Josh suddenly discovered a massive Magic array beneath his feet!

"Am I going to be sacrificed?"

That was Josh's first thought when he saw the Magic array. From the looks of it, he really did seem about to be sacrificed. He had no power to resist and could only silently endure it. Yet while Josh suffered, he unexpectedly discovered that his magic spring really was slowly growing larger. The entire spring was almost full, and accordingly, Josh felt more and more pain!

"This is the Land of Sin!"

Damn Land of Sin! Josh felt that he was surely going to die today. Looking at the silver Magic elements lined up in a rotating queue, waiting to enter his body, Josh suddenly remembered certain depraved films he had watched in the past. What utter despair!

Josh had never dreamed that one day he would face the prospect of being entered in a queue. He was a man, after all. Although what was entering his body were Magic elements, and although they seemed to benefit him, Josh now felt that aside from being stuffed until his body exploded and he died, there was no second path left for him.

And with that Magic array beneath his feet, and him standing on top of it, it was probably forcing his strength upward before killing him to complete some kind of evil magical sacrifice. Josh lamented how unlucky he was. He had tested one spell and ended up like this. Could this count as blowing himself to death?

More and more Magic elements entered his body, and Josh grew increasingly miserable. Finally, after an unknown number of Magic elements had entered his body and filled that magic spring, the magic spring within him finally exploded. Josh felt his body jolt, and an indescribable sensation rose in his heart.

His head spun, and his consciousness drifted farther and farther away. He even felt as though his soul had left his body and was slowly rising. Then that voice appeared beside his ear again—the mysterious, sinister, terrifying voice.

"This is Icathia!"

"Captain, something seems to have happened in the direction of Icathia. Last night, countless people saw that white energy gathering. What should we do now?"

At The Academy of War, a burly young man with a greatsword on his back listened to his subordinate's report. In truth, there was no need for a report at all, because last night's disturbance had been so immense that no one had been able to sleep. That white Void power had gathered as though it had found its master, and the sight had been utterly terrifying.

"We all saw it. Don't panic. This is probably another invasion by Void creatures."

The young man looked into the distance, his eyes seeming able to pierce through layer upon layer of mountains to see the destination. His gaze was resolute, as though no hardship could ever block his path forward. He was a member of Demacia's noble Crownguard family, an unwavering warrior.

His name was Garen.

"I'll investigate this matter personally. There's no need to worry too much."

Garen touched his greatsword and spoke with a cold expression.

"And our warriors are there as well. It's the perfect opportunity to investigate thoroughly and bring our soldiers back. Go inform Prince J4. Tell him not to worry. With my will and the sword in my hand, I will sweep away all darkness. Put his mind at ease."

"But if we're only retrieving our soldiers, I completely trust in your ability. However, a new Void creature may appear this time. I think you..." Garen's subordinate said uneasily.

"Don't worry, my warrior. I'll be fine." Garen turned back and smiled at his subordinate. "This time, it should be a Void Mage. There's no problem. And don't forget—I am Garen Crownguard of Demacia!"