Chapter 142: Universal Announcement

Lysandra stumbled down the Colossal Titan’s throat and dropped into a pool of disgusting liquid. Her plan was to catch her fall on getting to the bottom, as her sword was simply too long to fit across the throat, but on getting there, she was stunned to see a figure standing to the side with his hands slipped into his pockets.

"M-Master Kaelen?" She lost her balance and dropped face-first into the murky water, but immediately jumped to her feet to double-check if her eyes were playing tricks on her.

Kaelen smiled faintly at her reaction.

"H-How are you? When were you swallowed?" She asked as she approached him, but stopped a few feet away from him to avoid filthying him with the murky water all over her.

"If you knew me long enough, then you wouldn’t be surprised and would’ve trusted me more when I tried to do this earlier. But you don’t have to worry, this is only a clone which I can swap with at any time."

"I’m sorry, Master Kaelen." Lysandra’s head hung low.

"It’s fine. I came here to inform you about my plan, because I’ve found the Titan’s heart but can’t do it alone."

"Really? Where is it?" Lysandra asked immediately.

"It’s in his left heel. I have a plan, but that would require you to transform first."

"W-What... with you here?"

"Is that a problem?"

"No. It’s just that I tend to lose control when I transform and might not recognize you in time. Also, the explosion from my transformation can destroy everything around."

"I understand, and that’s exactly the plan. Like I said, you’re speaking to a clone right now, so no matter what you do, you won’t be harming me in any way. I’ve fixed myself in various locations around that can allow me to move freely when the explosion happens. So I need you to transform, and if the Titan’s heart survives that, I’ll be ready to cut it into pieces myself before it regenerates," Kaelen said with a serious tone.

Lysandra thought about it for a second before nodding in understanding.

"That’s good," Kaelen said as he approached her and patted her head. "I don’t want you to hold back one bit, okay?"

She was stunned for a moment before she smiled. "Okay."

Kaelen then took several steps back and turned to face her again. "Alright... do it."

Meanwhile, just outside Felix’s stomach and hanging onto his left heel was Kaelen, who smiled faintly in the thick white mist that reduced visibility to zero.

What he had told Lysandra was only part of the plan because he was aware that if she realized the blast could kill him—even as a player—she might not go through with it. So it was better to keep that part aside, and during their brief conversation, Kaelen had covered as much of the world map as possible with the speed of a Tier 50 Lifeform and the increased lethality of the [Miasma Slime] that didn’t just serve as a smoke shield but triggered a debuff to all players and NPCs alike trapped within its circle to prevent them from logging out.

All he needed right now was for Lysandra to pull the trigger.

...

KABOOOOOOOOM—!!!

Kaelen had barely reacted when his vision went blank.

[You have killed the Endgame mini-boss of the Demonic Church]

[10,000× Reward Multiplier Triggered...]

[You have received 380,000,000,000,000 Evolution Points]

[You have killed...]

[You have killed...]

[You have killed...]

[You have slain all inhabitants of the #3639 Tutorial World]

[10,000× Reward Multiplier Triggered...]

[You have received 12,000,000,000,000,000 Evolution Points]

[UNIVERSAL ANNOUNCEMENT]:

[Kaelen Cross has solo cleared Evolution Online’s Tutorial World for humanity.]

[UNIVERSAL ANNOUNCEMENT]:

[Kaelen Cross has become the first player to solo clear a Tutorial World.]

...

[UNIVERSAL ANNOUNCEMENT]:

[Planet Akkad has been shortlisted for the Global Descent]

...

As soon as the announcements rang across worlds, planets, and timelines, a lot of things were starting to happen behind the scenes. Several factions and figureheads were starting to move. Words were starting to fly around—about a mortal who made it into the universal announcements with great achievements, with even greater achievements.

***

Beyond the mortal realm and across fate and timelines was a beautiful field of flowers as far as the eye could see, and in the middle of this field was a beautiful woman sitting in a wheelchair, carefully painting across a white canvas when the universal announcement rang out and made her pause in her strokes.

She looked up at the clear blue sky and stared at its moving clouds for a moment.

"Valerie, can you see that? The Atreus is at it again. Humanity seems to be making a comeback... I doubt many people will be happy with that," she said and paused for a moment.

Her lips slowly curled up into a smile.

"I’m done here. It’s time to go home... I guess many people won’t be happy with that either," she whispered to herself in amusement.

The entire flower field began slowly fading away, giving way to a horrifying forest filled with dead trees and brimming with necrotic energy.

A woman dressed in black appeared behind her back and grabbed the wheelchair handles before she began pushing her down a narrow path as a pleasant smirk played across the crippled woman’s lips.

***

In Akkad.

Jessica stood on a balcony overlooking the city with her hands clasped behind her back. Her eyes were mostly focused on the distance where several colored beams exploded in the clouds. It looked like a raging thunderstorm, but everyone there knew it was simply a raging battle against humanity’s forces.

Then suddenly, the universal announcements rang across the world one after the other, and Jessica froze on the spot as she stared at the announcements with wide eyes.

"W-What is this...?" Just as those words left her lips, the door to the suite swung open, and she turned to see Kaelen standing there with a complicated expression.

"Hey, Mom."

Jessica was rooted to the spot for a long moment as she stared at her son, before her lips slowly parted.

"K-Kaelen..."

’What have you done?’