Chapter 60: The Journey of the Overlord, The Reality of the World
It was over. Everything was over.
Charles lowered Flandre, and they silently watched the burning flames, the atmosphere heavy with somberness.
The death of a comrade deeply affected Flandre. If Johann had died fighting alongside them, he would have been sad, but not this despondent.
Because his death would have had value, a value he believed in.
But not like this, being swallowed whole by an overpowered monster, not even able to utter a sound before death.
"Flandre, you need to understand something: the Continent of Overlord is not a gift to us. If you are weak, it\'s easy to be torn apart in this meat grinder of a world." Charles said, patting Flandre on the shoulder, his tone heavy.
Johann was a silent observer, watching the conversations from behind a screen, but he was always the first to charge into battle.
Johann wanted to help Charles, but he underestimated the Royal Corpse, underestimated the power of a Tier 4 creature.
By the time Charles realized what was happening, Johann had already been crushed, all his bones shattered, completely dead.
Flandre knelt silently on the ground, staring at the blazing fire, his eyes filled with remembrance for the fallen and... a thirst for power.
After a long silence, he finally asked Charles, "Boss, what do you think are my chances of surviving if I leave the Serene Forest and try to meet you again?"
Charles didn\'t directly answer but gave him a probability instead: "If you choose to go to a small, sparsely populated town or village, you can always contact me and meet with me."
"But if you choose to fight in the most dangerous parts of this Land of Turmoil, your chances of survival are less than one."
"One percent, huh?" Flandre asked with a smile.
"No, it\'s one in a hundred thousand." Charles said, his tone very serious.
He knew how cruel the outside world could be. Even high-level Tier 2 combat power could only dominate here, in this relatively safer area.
Take, for example, the small hills around here. The minor leaders on those hills might have strength ranging from Tier 2 to Tier 3.
Moreover, the natives of the Continent of Overlord are not even the most dangerous threats.
There are also places like the Land of the Dead, dark creatures, and beings that are chaotically evil or chaotically neutral.
Such beings are not uncommon in the Overlord Continent. Without Tier 4 strength, you don\'t even have the right to resist.
In fact, ancient races like the Succubus could raid a beginner village, enslave everyone, and drag them back to their domain to become lowly sex slaves.
"Flandre, do you really want to go outside?" Charles didn\'t stop him directly but continued listing potential problems he might encounter.
Flandre didn\'t speak. He just listened carefully to his boss\'s explanations.
His eyes were resolute. No matter how difficult the situations Charles described, Flandre\'s determination to leave didn\'t waver.
Staying inside meant breaking through to Tier 3 step by step, which would take at least three months.
Outside, however, represented endless resources.
As for the danger... Flandre wasn\'t naive.
Whether it was the Crimson Tide or this Land of the Dead incident, each was an unforeseen calamity.
Each one was a life-or-death situation.
It could say that the Overlord of Serene Forest still being alive was all thanks to Charles.
It was their boss who held up the sky for them; otherwise, there wouldn\'t be a single survivor in the entire Serene Forest!
"Thank you, boss, for telling me all this. But I suddenly feel a sense of mission. So I will go outside and personally search for the answers I have been pondering." When Charles asked him again after finishing his explanation, Flandre\'s answer remained the same.
But this time, there was a hint of ambition in his voice.
Charles wasn\'t surprised. He was merely curious and asked, "Would you care to share what kind of answers you\'re seeking?"
Flandre nodded slightly, his usually stern face now twisted and fierce. He articulated each word with intensity, "Boss, I want to experience firsthand what kind of hellish place this Overlord world truly is."
"I want to take up Johann\'s mantle, to confront the mastermind behind all this, and demand why we were thrown into this terrifying world!"
This was an ambitious goal, so much so that even Charles thought it might lead to a simple death.
The final outcome was still death.
Charles patted Flandre\'s shoulder, his tone inexplicable, "Since you\'ve made up your mind, I won\'t try to persuade you otherwise. Just remember one thing."
"This vast domain is called the Land of Turmoil."
"It\'s a hell on earth where chaos is considered order. You have to live ruthlessly to survive here."
In a way, Charles felt somewhat fortunate to be here.
In this domain, everyone had some dirty blood on their hands, which made it easier to realize one\'s ambitions.
The Zerg needed sustenance.
And the resources in the Serene Forest would likely be exhausted in a few years, necessitating exploration beyond its borders.
Flandre nodded and left resolutely.
It seemed he had embarked on the path of departure.
Johann\'s death had made Flandre acutely aware of the cruelty and strangeness of the Continent of Overlord.
Unlike other Overlords who waited for salvation or the protection of the first Overlord, Flandre was more like a madman.
Charles watched his departing figure, unsure of what to say.
After all, Flandre was already far away. He couldn\'t very well chase after him and say, "Hey, you\'re going the wrong way!"
Charles shook his head with a smile. There was no such thing as the wrong way. No matter which path you took, it would lead outside.
He then turned his attention away from the matter and began to worry about the proliferating death energy.
Although he had used the Thousand Insects Devouring Heart Array to completely seal off the monsters emerging from the Land of the Dead rift, the death energy was beyond the array\'s control.
"I told you, parchment is the mightiest artifact on the Continent of Overlord." Charles muttered sarcastically before trying to contact Rose.
That Succubus shouldn\'t be asleep, right?
[Charles: Rose, we\'ve got a problem here. One of the nodes wasn\'t cleared of monsters in time, so now there\'s a faint trace of death energy.]
[Charles: Do you have any holy spell or something else that can neutralize it?]
Although Rose\'s icon was lit, she didn\'t respond immediately, possibly because she was busy with something else.
Charles looked at the growing death energy and shook his head helplessly. Every minute that passed without a solution allowed the death energy to spread further.
If things got out of hand, and a necromantic catastrophe struck, the entire Serene Forest would be completely consumed by the Land of the Dead!
Fortunately, Rose eventually got back to him.
[Rose: Ah, sorry, sorry. I was just in a high-level clan meeting, and they don\'t allow holy artifacts in there.]
[Rose: Death energy, right? No big deal. I may lack other things, but I have plenty of holy scrolls!]
...
In the Succubus castle, Rose, dressed in an elegant Succubus gown, was rummaging through a warehouse with little regard for her image.
She picked up a golden scroll, sniffed it delicately, then shook her head and tossed it aside, continuing her search.
She muttered to herself from time to time, " Holy spell is indeed the right approach for dealing with death energy, but not all holy spells will do. You\'re lucky to have me."
"Holy spell... nope! Holy Handprint... also no... Universal Light... this is the one!"
Rose wiggled her rounded backside for quite a while, her legs starting to feel the strain, before finally finding a holy spell buried at the bottom.
This should be enough to counter the death energy he mentioned.
Universal Light, this holy spell... Rose remembered developing it back when she was in her twenties, during her school years.
As a rebellious Succubus, Rose was different from others. She never wasted a single moment on adult activities, spending nearly her entire student life in the library.
When graduation was approaching, other Succubi had already found their sexual partners, successfully turning them into sex slaves to pass their final exams.
And what did Rose do at that time?
She cast a Universal Light holy spell during the graduation ceremony, leaving her Succubus classmates, teachers, and even the principal in a state of shock.
Holy crap, Queen Lilith\'s third daughter cast a holy spell at the graduation ceremony?
After that incident, Rose was locked in the Succubus training room and spanked by her own mother for a year.
Instinctively, Rose rubbed her little butt, a look of apprehension on her face.
Finally, she sent the scroll over.
A fourth-tier holy spell should suffice!
After all, it was just death energy. If she were to send over her newly developed tenth-tier spell, Eden\'s Descent, the entire Serene Forest would be brainwashed by the holy power.
Naturally, this would include Charles, that interesting Overlord. Just thinking about it felt... off.
What?
You\'re not a believer in Jehovah, so how can you cast Eden\'s Descent?
Rose would say she\'s just interested in holy magic. Even though the research was incredibly challenging, being an immortal gave her an advantage.
Unlike her kin, who spent all their time engaged in sexual activities with males, she preferred to do something more meaningful.