The tenth layer of the Necropolis of the Gods, the Grassland World.
Rumble...
The entire tenth layer of the Necropolis of the Gods suddenly trembled. The blades of grass rustled from the shaking, and the distant stone pillars swayed gently.
All the experts rose to their feet and looked in the same direction.
A passage shrouded in black light appeared out of thin air above the tenth layer. A man stepped out of it. It was Beirut, the foremost expert of the Yulan Continent.
"The ten years are up. You may all leave." Beirut looked around, his gaze lingering an instant longer on Linley and Akes. "It seems you've all gained quite a lot from this journey."
Everyone bowed, then stepped into the black passage one after another.
The other end of the passage lay on the floor of the South Sea. The enormous Necropolis of the Gods towered behind them, the carvings of Wingless Giant Dragons on its twenty-thousand-meter-high walls barely visible in the dark water.
Beirut led everyone upward. The seawater parted on its own, forming a broad passage. Moments later, they broke through the surface and saw the sunlight they had missed for so long.
"Whew." Bebe took a deep breath, bliss written all over his little face. "The air outside really is better."
Everyone laughed. The joy of surviving swept away the exhaustion that had built up over those ten years.
Beirut did not leave immediately. Instead, he hovered in midair, his gaze sweeping over all the Saint-level experts present.
"Before we part, I have a few things to say." Beirut's voice was quiet, yet it reached every ear clearly.
Everyone fell silent and looked respectfully at the foremost expert of the Yulan Continent.
Beirut first turned his gaze on Faen, Desri, Tuli Lei, and Rosalie,