Upon hearing their names, King Gravnik's expression immediately lit up, making him seem several years younger than before.
"Please have your seats. Allow me to brief you about the dire state of our Kingdom and how you might be of service." He gestured toward the empty chairs for them to take their seats.
Elias and the others nodded. They stepped forward and took their seats one by one. Kaland also sat with them, occupying the last seat.
"Let us begin," King Gravnik said. "As you've witnessed upon your arrival, our kingdom is under attack from the Thorn Juggernauts. However, they aren't the real issue we need to worry about. The real enemies we face are the Red Sea Giants led by the Red Sea King."
Elias and the others listened attentively, understanding that they needed to gather every piece of information they could to defeat the Red Sea King and complete the dungeon within five days.
According to Emperor Gravnik, the Red Sea Giants are a strange species from the skies who descended into the mortal world through the use of some mysterious, enormous beanstalk that pierces through the heavens.
The giants are tall, red-skinned beings with immense, frightening physiques. They are merciless creatures that cause destruction and wreak havoc everywhere they go, slaughtering towns and kingdoms, leaving a trail of corpses and a vast sea of blood drenching the land.
The Beanstalk itself is a strange item that survives on soil and blood. It grows astonishingly fast, capable of covering hundreds of kilometres of land and tall enough to pierce through the clouds within a few hours or a day.
In the beginning, the races on the continent banded together to defeat them. However, even with their powerful warriors defeating the Red Sea Giants and pushing them back, their numbers grew even more immense as more and more giants descended from the Beanstalk, overwhelming their greatest warriors.
It was like men trying to hold down the sky from descending upon them. No matter how many they numbered, they would sooner or later be crushed by the weight. Soon, everyone realised that their destruction wasn't a matter of if, but when.
And so, Kingdoms and Empires began to fall one by one, becoming nothing but ruins and dust. Some tried to ally with the Red Sea King, but failed miserably, dying even before those who were already standing at the brink of destruction.
Their strongest warriors were either dead in battle or had retreated to the ends of the world, their whereabouts unknown. It was even uncertain whether they were alive or dead. They had sent letters across the oceans to the other continents to inform them of the terror that had befallen their world and plead for aid to defeat the Red Sea Giants, but no one knew when help would arrive, or whether anyone would take their warnings seriously or ignore them.
Soon, the remaining surviving nations reached a consensus to cut down the Beanstalk. But they were met with a disturbing fact. The Red Sea Giants used the blood of their victims to nourish the Beanstalk, turning the area around it into a grotesque red sea. No matter how much anyone tried to cut into the Beanstalk, it would regenerate instantly, healing every wound. This earned them the moniker 'Red Sea Giants.'
Every hope they had for survival was crushed at that moment. And every nation gave up hope of defeating the Giants. They simply put up their last resistance, raising all nations to arms, be it man, woman, child, old or young, noble or peasant, King or slave, to at least not let the Red Sea Giants enjoy a peaceful meal.
As the last remaining nation on the continent, the Dawn Empire had also given up hope and was waiting for the Red Sea Giants' final siege to declare all citizens to arms and make one last attack against the monsters invading their lands.
But perhaps out of desperation for one final attempt, they decided to summon entities from another dimension.
They wanted to play fire with fire.
Elias now understood why the Arcpriest Valmir wore myriad expressions.
However, Elias's expression tightened slightly as he remembered a certain Beanstalk story he used to watch in different media back on Earth.
"The Thorn Juggernauts, including the ones you fought, were people who had been contaminated by the bloody sea. We aren't sure whether it's a spell cast by the Red Sea Giants, but we do know that it acts as some agent for the Beanstalk, preventing anyone from harming it," Emperor Gravnik said.
"Even the Red Sea Giant itself… It's a catastrophe so great that even the dead aren't spared. As such, we need to cremate the bodies whenever they fall in battle, or else their deaths will haunt us."
"To be honest, we didn't even think that entities from another world would be humans, much less beings we could communicate with. Archpriest Valmir had taken out an unknown summoning scroll detailed to summon the strongest beings from another world in the empire's libraries, hoping to deduce it so he could summon whatever being was on the other side to fight against the Red Sea Giants."
"Although we all hoped for the same outcome, none of us thought he would succeed, and do so perfectly," Emperor Gravnik said, his expression aged yet calmer.
"So, Heroes from another world… please lend us your strength and save our Empire. We'll grant you whatever you wish, so long as it is within our power. Even if you ask for my crown, it will be given freely to you," Emperor Gravnik added.
"Father…" Prince Raelen seemed to want to say something, but was quickly interrupted.
"Silence!" Emperor Gravnik shouted. He coughed slightly, trying to regain his bearings.
"Don't interrupt the Emperor again, Prince Realen," Empress Elsmerelda scolded, staring at Realen with a piercing, fierce gaze. At the same time, she gently rubbed Emperor Gravnik's back, trying to soothe his cough.
"I'm sorry for the interruption, Heroes from another world. This child does not yet understand that no King is enthroned on a dead land. Please, let's continue," Emperor Gravnik said, shaking his head with a sad expression.