The view of the half-destroyed plaza instantly vanished before their eyes. The next moment, it was exchanged for the view of a giant tree, half-submerged in a semi-permanent wall of iridescent light. This was the Gate Guardian blocking the rift between worlds.

  Without a vast city at its foot, the wide branches stretching far across the land looked even more fantastical. It was like the scene of a painting from out of this world. Considering the size of the guardian tree was unfathomable, it was hard to compare them, but their size was definitely similarly unbelievable.

  They had spent two days on their detour to New Hope, but they had crossed the rest of the way in an instant, thanks to Idyllin Mo. Flashed by the sight, they simply stood there, staring, taking in the view, until Fin finally broke the silence.

  “Do you think she will be okay?” Fin asked, a tinge of worry in her voice. Although she had energetically told Pip that she could do it, it might have been just a way to hide her own worries for the young woman.

  “She will be fine,” Seth assured her once again and meant it. As long as Pip planted a tree sapling that followed her will in New Hope, nothing and nobody would be able to resist her within its influence.

  At this moment, the blacksmith's thoughts were more concerned with their own journey. Pipwas not the only one who had used the past couple of days to distract herself from her worries. In his heart of hearts, Seth was a shut-in. He had just learned to deal with it, ever since the Apocalypse evicted him.

  When the journey was still far off in the distance, he could think of all the benefits and the cause that made this journey a necessity without any worries. He could imagine the sights and materials they would find and the adventures they would experience.

  But now, when facing the Gate Guardian, when being at the imminent verge of crossing over into a foreign world that could hold unknown dangers, doubts surfaced, and there was a small hint of fear of the unknown.

  This was different from the little trip to Perrerian, a world that barely had any monsters that could not touch their shadows, much less pose a threat to them. Even if they were stranded in Perrerian, the way back home was not long or threatening.

  The Cloud Continent, on the other hand, was a vast place full of foreign dangers; this was exactly why they had to go there and why it held so many opportunities, but it was also the reason Seth felt worried. On Urth, home was just a Home Call away.

  On the continent, if they were stranded, home was potentially weeks away... the blacksmith took a deep breath to calm his thoughts. He reminded himself of all the preparations he had made for such cases. Logically, there was nothing to worry about, still... He suddenly felt a soft hand on his shoulder.

  “You okay?” Minas asked, slightly concerned.

  “It's fine,” he answered to calm her down. Maybe it wasn't perfectly fine, but it was only temporary. he had experienced this moment quite often, especially in the recent past. It was the last moment of fear just before leaving home to experience something new.

  However, once he managed to jump over his shadow, new impressions would quickly wash away this hesitation. It had been like this when he decided to leave Urth, when he entered the Evaluation, whenever he had too much time to think of a big change, but ended up finding out that it never came as badly as he could imagine.

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  “It will be fine,” he said with some more confidence, looking at the colorful rift between worlds.

  “Let's go,” he exclaimed and took the lead toward the flickering horizon that separated them from the Cloud Continent.

  “Seems like you are ready, should I move us to the foot of the tree then?” Idyllin Mo suddenly interrupted their atmosphere of departure. Seeing them all look at him in confusion, he smirked.

  “I simply thought you would like to appreciate the view from a little further away since it's your first time,” he explained with a shrug.

  “Look at this old man being playful,” Seth teased him

  “Hmph, I only thought I would do you a favor. Now, gather around. I will move directly to the System Church.”

  Once more huddling together and one more weird pull in the stomach later, they actually stood at the foot of the giant trunk, the canopy of branches directly above them. The colorful rift they had seen in the distance was only a couple of tens of meters away now.

  There was a small chapel that acted as the branch of the System Church nestled into the roots of the Gate Guardian, and there was a small group of house trees Karina had erected before her return to Minas Mar.

  A couple of cultivators were walking around the humble streets. Seth recognized the robes of the Luminous Mountain and the Soaring Eagle Sect, their two main conspirator for their advance into the Cloud Continent.

  The blacksmith and his group had barely any time to look around when they saw Master Mountain already coming toward them. His arms were spread wide open, greeting them with a friendly smile.

  “My friends, you have finally arrived!” he exclaimed with a hearty laugh. Instead of the usual bow, Yu simply pulled Seth into a small hug for a greeting. The bard was a little surprised by the casual greeting, but he didn't mind.

  “Hello, Yu, how are things going?” he asked when the elder finally released him.

  “Great, I would say,” the cultivator gave an honest review of the current status. So far, things were going according to schedule. The other strike teams had set off two days ago, using Yu returning the captured cultivators as a distraction.

  Meanwhile, the first rescue teams had returned with the people they had freed from the sects. The rescued people had already been sent to Delta. Back home, Mary had already prepared a shelter where the rescued people could stay and be educated for the time being.

  They had long gone and needed to be informed about the recent changes and the current choices in Urth's society. Later on, they wanted to help find their families or relatives, if any remained.

  It was especially important to find relatives or guardians for the children. There were talks about proper counseling and therapy. Even if they happened to be treated well on the Cloud Continent, it was still a traumatic experience. Even more so for those who were not treated well.

  The rescue didn't end with their return to civilization. They would probably have to grapple with the consequences for the rest of their lives, but Mary and the other would do the best they could.

  “The other side is also on the move. I returned the remaining cultivators we were able to find in the vicinity and relayed your message. The elders of the various sects have returned to their own sects by now, only leaving a small contingent at the Desolate Dawn Gate.

  I doubt all of them will take kindly to your new policies,” Master Mountain ended the briefing with a warning.

  “They will become a lot more docile once we make our move. You prepared the channels to spread the news, right?” Seth asked the cultivator about his side of the preparation.

  “Yes, I managed to win the Wandering Sound Sect for us. They are among the best at spreading information,” the immortal guaranteed.

  “Cool, then all we have to do now is finish it,” Fin spoke up, cracking her knuckles.

  “We should rest for the night first,” Mina suggested.

  “You are staying the night?” Yu asked, a little surprised. It seemed that he expected them to set off straight away.

  “Yes, that was what we intended. We will set off tomorrow morning,” the blacksmith confirmed. Seth had not slept at all while driving the airship through the night. They needed some rest before they continued moving the next day.

  “Aw...fine.”