MMORPG : Ancient WORLD

Alex's emotions were a mess as he dealt with the feelings that came with the new information, making him feel like he was drowning in an abyss, sinking without reaching the bottom, with every moment feeling duller than the last, as a fog of confusion, sorrow, and anger wrapped tightly around his mind.

The mere thought of the entire realm, a place that housed billions upon billions of lives, seemingly being destroyed, countless lives erased from existence, made Alex feel sick to his stomach.

Alex wanted to believe that the chances of such a tragedy happening were not very high, and even if it did happen, he had nothing to do with it, nor could he do anything about it, but just knowing it put a heavy burden on his mind.

"You must be wondering why the Realm Ruler would even allow such a tragedy to happen, or how it would even happen, and similarly, why I would even tell such a heavy truth to a child like you."

"Let's take it one question at a time, shall we?" Asher said, his walking speed slowing down to keep up with Alex.

"I will begin by explaining what the True King plans to do, but before that, first tell me, are you familiar with the basics of astronomy?" Asher said, and seeing Alex get a hold of his emotions as he nodded in confirmation, he continued.

"As we all know, the Ancestral Realm exists within a separate pocket dimension, but what most don't know is that it exists in a galaxy named Nyxara, and specifically in its central area, since every time the realm is opened, only the hundred or so inhabited planets are connected to the realm."

"The connection to those same worlds goes back to the very first time the realm was opened to the public, and while new worlds have been added in the past millenniums, all of them belong in the central area of the Nyxara galaxy."

"However, what is also true is that the Ancestral Realm is hidden, and locating it in the massive void of millions of void years is impossible."

"Since no one can exit from the inside or send a signal out because of the Realm Ruler, and no one can find it from the outside, it has stayed hidden since its appearance, but it does not mean that there are no ways of locating it."

"The True King is on the road to achieving one, if not possibly the only, way to give the location of the realm to outsiders," Asher said, and there was just a heavy silence following his words.

"How will he do it?" Alex questioned as these thoughts crossed his mind.

"By killing billions in a very short time, and by short, I mean just a decade, and deaths on such a scale would send ripples through the cosmos, felt across space and realms," Asher said, his voice laced with a quiet dread.

The distant screams of dying criminals, as the city turned to frozen dust, only deepened the weight of his words.

"Now let's talk about why the Realm Ruler is not stopping him."

"As I said before, the realm exists within a separate pocket dimension, and it's the Realm Ruler who opens it to the outside world and makes sure no one above a certain grade of strength uses those gateways to enter or even track its location."

"But doing so drains him, requiring an immense amount of energy, which in turn weakens him considerably, and while even now the Realm Ruler is strong enough to crush the entire might of the realm, he is also weak enough to not contain the cosmic impact of billions of deaths."

"As for why the Realm Ruler is not killing the True King, it's because if he is killed, all his pawns, numbering in the tens of millions, many of whom are in positions of great power, including his entire clan of Tharokarn."

"All those maniacs would go on a rampage, and even if they are all killed along with their master, with the three wars already taking root throughout the realm, the death count would grow to immense heights in a few years, only giving away the location of the realm much quicker."

"When the outsiders find the location, they will tear open the realm, and there would be no one to stop them because even the Realm Ruler is no stronger than a peak Second Rank transcendent."

"As for those inside, they would be annihilated, with few, if any, survivors. Because why would a galactic power go to such lengths to find the Ancestral Realm?"

"Sure, it's a great resource, but on the cosmic scale, it's just a small garden," Asher said, his voice trailing off as he turned to Alex. He fell silent, watching, knowing that Alex already understood the answer.

"Because it's not the realm they want but someone inside of it, and knowing that the Realm Ruler wouldn't let that said person leave, the person could only be she herself."

"She is the one they are after," Alex said after a few grueling seconds of silence.

"Now, the final question as to why I dumped all this sensitive information on you: because in six months, the Drakaryx and the Umbryssan clan, including the three empires, will announce our full support to the adventurers."

"As for why we will do it, it is all to help the Realm Ruler, and how your growth would help it, we are not certain, but he said that the growth of the inhabitants of the Nyxara core area helps her grow stronger."

"Our best guess is that she did something to the Nyxara core at some point, and in turn incurred the wrath of the cosmic law, suffering a heavy punishment that pushed her into hiding and helping the younger generation of the area grow stronger."

"We could be wrong, and it could be something else, but at this point, our only choice is to help the Ruler and hope that we can survive," Asher said, with a weary smile.

"I told you everything because I think you are a good candidate for my daughter, and while I am well aware that you don't have any feelings for her since you two never met, I can assure you she is one of the top, if not the top, beauties of our clan."

"You have nothing to lose since you would be gone, and she might be dead, including me and my wife, in seven and a half years, and you also don't have to worry about us surviving and taking responsibility."

"You could also get lucky, as my daughter might have someone she loves, but all things aside, time is too short, and I think it's about damn time I get to play with my grandchildren."

"You will have my full support, so don't hesitate to ask about anything, and I mean anything," Asher said, with a wide cheeky grin as he gave Alex a thumbs up.

Alex's mind was spinning, as he couldn't wrap his head around everything he'd just heard. A potential realm catastrophe, billions dying, the entire realm at risk of getting erased, and all of it was already terrifying enough, but now, this talk of seemingly forced marriage? A daughter he'd never met? And grandchildren, it was a lot to digest.

Asher's calm demeanor in the face of such an impending disaster only made Alex feel more unsettled. It was as if the old monster who stood at the peak of the realm had already resigned himself to the chaos, his priorities shifting to something far more personal, far more trivial in the grand scheme of things.

'What the f**k is this old man on about?' Alex thought, feeling the urge to curse at him but finding too much reason in his demands to make a comment.

Asher said his piece and kept walking toward the palace, the city around them turning to dust with all its residents, leaving nothing but barren land behind.

Alex was left standing speechless, a thousand emotions roiling through his mind as he processed what he had just experienced and how he was going to proceed.