Building My SSS-Rank Universal Empire: From Trash to Cosmic Overlord-Chapter 188: So am I

It spun in the air like a Ruin Break portal, but it was bigger, far bigger and it was a circle. The portal itself trembled with dark and green light, warping the air around it.

Directly in front of it, on two sides, were two portals. They looked like pillars of dark light, stretching up into the sky. These were the two permanent Ruin Breaks that the Rift used to defend itself. It was a defense mechanism that wouldn’t have allowed them to get near the Rift in the past.

Yes, even before getting the chance to see the Rift at all, countless Ruin Breaks would have happened, forcing them back. The Flagbearers had never reached this place before and now stood in silence, watching the Rift.

They had only caught glimpses of it while they fought. If this was told to an outsider, someone unfamiliar with the Borderland, they would have disagreed. This? This is what made the Borderland the Borderland?

"What should we do?" Flagbearer Pomora asked. Her voice was tainted with weariness and tempered fear. Something bad was happening, and they could all feel it.

Vale’s voice rumbled from his tower. "We go in."

He didn’t know what they would find, but he knew the monster was calling them. The Rift wanted them in what was surely a trap. But what else could they do? They were here to clear the Rift.

Chief Takoda shrugged. "If there are no monsters here, then we will find them inside. We can only be careful."

Steelclaw didn’t say anything. He stood on a cloud of dark storm, flickering with lightning.

Flagbearer Pomora nodded, as if she had expected this but just wanted to hear it aloud. She raised her hand, and a hammer and a metal rod appeared, Deconstruct!

Then she put the weapon into a small compartment around her waist. "I am ready."

Chief Takoda had nothing more to prepare. His crown was atop his head, and on the spatial ring on his hand was a mountain-load of stones and rocks. The big man flexed his shoulders on the platform rock he was standing on and nodded. "So am I."

Steelclaw stretched out his hand. His spatial ring flashed, and a spear outlined itself into his grasp. The spear was metal, covered in rust and old blood.

Bloodrust! A simple Artifact but deadly. Once it pierced the body, it would shrink and begin making its way to the heart. It moved faster if the target was more active. Most people died before they even knew why.

Steelclaw didn’t say anything, but they understood him anyway.

One by one, the enchanted towers called out that they were ready, and then finally, Vale ended it all by saying firmly, "I am ready."

Chief Takoda and Flagbearer Pomora moved toward the portal cautiously, watching the two side portals warily, but there was no reaction. They passed through the Rift portal without trouble.

The enchanted towers, along with Vale, followed next, swiftly trailed by Steelclaw.

☆☆☆☆

In a grand hall, on a throne, sat a monster with black horns and green claws. His slitted eyes gleamed a sickly green. He was slouching on the throne when he suddenly sat up, his face lighting up.

He grinned, flashing his fangs. The Rift Lord of the Athrimir Rift began to laugh. He felt their presence the Flagbearers and the other weaklings.

But what he felt the most was the boy.

"He’s here! He’s finally here! Hundreds of years, and now a chance!" He spread his will over the whole territory—over the mountains and rivers, the lush grounds and the barren.

And he imposed his will on all the Riftborn Titans. They were the only ones who could do what he wanted. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"Kill them all, but bring me the boy. He is in the Commander’s Tower."

He paused, then added, "You know what to do."

He laughed again, the palace quaking and rumbling. After years of careful planning, to think that what was happening would actually happen... He had been forced to change his plans, but it was in a very good way.

Suddenly, he stopped and frowned because he felt another presence. It was faint, almost familiar, but he couldn’t place it. He shook his head and forgot about it. The humans must have brought many artifacts with them.

"Soon, this pillar will break, and then I will walk the land. I will make it weep. I will take vengeance for the blood of monsters!"

☆☆☆☆

They appeared in what looked like a mountainside. The portal they emerged from still spun behind them, but they soon left it behind as they ventured deeper into the Rift. Jagged mountains and a ragged forest floor met their eyes.

If they hadn’t entered through a portal, Vale would have thought they were still in the normal world. Unlike ruins that were always fixed in a specific place, this one seemed to be like a small world of its own.

They picked a direction one that would lead them to the center of the Rift and began to advance. So far, they hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary. No monsters attacked them, and everything was just as silent and still as it had been outside.

But suddenly, the air changed. It was as if a giant eye in the sky was watching them.

Vale knew what it was immediately. It was like his essence senses but at a scale he couldn’t even begin to comprehend!

’...that’s the Rift Lord for sure! Is it because this is his Rift? Is that why he’s able to sense us like this? He’s coming for sure...’

Vale felt a mixture of relief and fear. They had encountered no danger since they arrived, leaving them all tense and wound up, as if they were trying to fly blind. But now, the Rift knew they were here, and it was definitely coming for them.

Finally, they all relaxed. It was better to know and see the danger than to constantly speculate about whether a monster would leap at them from behind a rock.

Since the Master Knights’ essence sensing was far stronger than the others, even more than Vale’s in his tower, they were the first to sense that the monsters were coming.

One dropped directly above them.