In the year 3016 of the Celestial Calendar, the Astryx Federation was discovered and brought into the vast rule of the Astral Imperium. The following year, after passing the Empire's assessment, the Federation was officially recognized as the 2,868th Tier-II Civilization.
By 3020, under the orders of the Imperium, the Federation was forced to join the war plan known as the Abyssal Resistance, sharing the growing pressure of fighting against the invasion of the Abyss.
Then in 3037, when the Abyss erupted. The Federation suffered a crushing defeat, and before the end of that same year, its last god fell, marking the beginning of its end.
⸻———X——————
"No!"
Inside a dormitory of the Strategic Command Division at the Grand War Academy of Astryx, a young man suddenly sat up in bed.
His breathing was uneven, and his face was filled with confusion and sweat, as if he had just woken up from a nightmare.
"Where am I…? I'm not dead?!"
Link tried to calm himself, but the confusion in his eyes didn't fade. As if realizing something, he turned his head and looked out the window.
Outside, the sky was a clear blue. Advanced flying vessels moved back and forth in the air, leaving trails of light behind them. Media ships floated nearby, broadcasting stories of heroes, making everything look peaceful and prosperous.
"Breaking report! War-God Darian Skye has entered the twenty-seventh layer of the Abyss and killed the S-Class Ghost-Eye Demon God, earning one hundred survival points for the Federation!"
"In the Thirteenth Abyss Trial, Lord Thunder led his clan to destroy 730 million abyssal troops, ranking seventeenth among all factions and earning seventy survival points!"
"The ninth descent into the Thousand Realms will begin tomorrow…"
The Thirteenth Abyss Trial, the ninth descent into the Thousand Realms.
Link frowned slightly, a bad feeling rising in his chest.
'What is going on? We had already reached the Thirtieth Trial…'
Then it hit him.
'Wasn't my divine kingdom already destroyed by that Abyssal Demon God?'
His heart started beating faster.
'Then this means…'
He looked around the room again, everything felt familiar, yet strange at the same time. His eyes finally stopped on the crystal watch on his wrist. It was an old model, a basic home-use intelligent assistant.
"…Alfred," Link called carefully.
"Yes Master."
A small glowing figure appeared in front of him, with soft wings like a butterfly made of light.
Link swallowed.
"What's today's date?"
"March 6th, 3027, Master."
Link froze.
"3027…?" he repeated quietly, his eyes tightening. "Ten years ago…?"
Shock filled his face. Then, as if remembering something important, his voice became slightly unsteady.
"Connect to the Northreach Channel."
"You have been switched to the channel."
The butterfly-like projection moved gently, and a pale blue screen appeared in front of him.
Link stared at it.
Above a calm ocean, a glowing seven-colored barrier stretched across the sky. Inside it, a crack in space could be seen, tens of meters long, like the sky itself had been torn open.
Red mist slowly leaked out from the crack, moving like it was alive, constantly crashing against the barrier.
At the center of the barrier, a number was changing.
913… 912.5…
Link's hands slowly tightened.
"…Two and a half years."
That number showed how long the barrier could still hold under normal conditions. Once it reached zero, the barrier would break, and the Abyss would descend, destroying everything.
Only one thing could delay it, survival points from the Thousand Realms.
Time could be changed, records could be faked.
But the erosion of the Abyss could not be lied about.
"So… I really came back," Link said softly, a hint of excitement in his eyes.
In his previous life, he had been lucky enough to get an A-rank talent in the Thousand Realms. With that, he slowly rose in power and eventually became a god, leading his own forces and holding an important position in the Federation.
But during the Thirtieth Abyss Trial, everything fell apart.
The defense line he was in charge of was completely destroyed because of wrong intelligence and betrayal from allies. In the end, he was killed by a powerful Abyssal Demon.
Now that he thought about it again, the truth should've been clear.
The reinforcements from the Nebula System never came, and the information given by the Astral Imperium had serious mistakes. What everyone thought was a normal Abyss Trial turned into a disaster. Unknown Demon Gods kept appearing, the Abyss went out of control, and the defense lines collapsed.
Out of the Federation's thirty-seven gods, only one survived.
Because of that, the erosion speed of the Abyss increased even more. The remaining gods couldn't earn enough survival points to hold the barrier.
In the end, extinction was unavoidable.
Looking back now, it was clearly planned.
The Nebula System would never dare do something like that without approval from the higher-ups of the Astral Imperium.
Which meant…
"Ping."
"Master, there is a notice from the Academy."
Alfred's voice interrupted his thoughts.
A virtual message appeared in front of Link, carrying the Academy's official seal.
[Link Wright
Strategic Command Division, Elite Class, Rank 03
Report to the First Teleportation Hall at 09:00 tomorrow to enter the Thousand Realms.
Do not be late.]
Link looked at the message and slowly calmed down.
The Astral Imperium and the Nebula System were both massive powers compared to the Astryx Federation.
If he wanted to find the truth, if he wanted revenge, he needed power.
Real power.
Memories surfaced again.
Seven years ago, when the Federation joined the Abyss Resistance, the Thousand Realms appeared.
Some people said it was a game created by gods to play with lives.
Others believed it was the world trying to save itself from the Abyss.
Link preferred the second idea.
When entering the Thousand Realms for the first time, a person could choose to become a Lord or a Champion, then enter a trial.
If they passed, they would gain a permanent talent.
These talents were extremely important and almost decided a person's future.
From what Link knew, anyone who became a god had at least a B-rank talent.
But unlike normal games, talents in the Thousand Realms were not fully random.
The beginner trials were divided into eight levels, Easy, Normal, Elite, Hard, Brave, Desperate, Hell, and Overlord. These matched talent ranks from D-level to Unique.
Only by passing a trial could you gain its talent.
And everyone only had one chance.
If you failed, unless you had a rare item, your only choice was to become support staff and serve stronger people.
For Lords, the stronger the starting units, the harder the trial.
It was clear that the Thousand Realms was selecting the best people to fight the Abyss.
In his previous life, as a top student of the Strategic Command Division, Link followed the Academy's plan and chose a Hard-level Lord trial.
The assigned mission was simple to say, but extremely hard.
Resist a weak Zergling swarm.
He had three days to build defenses and had to survive ten million enemies for 10 minutes.
Even now, just thinking about it made him uneasy.
The swarm was endless.
In less than a minute, his defense line was broken. More than ninety percent of his forces were killed or injured.
In the end, he survived by carefully controlling the remaining soldiers, spreading them out, and using them to delay the swarm.
If it wasn't for getting the Godspeed talent early, and the fact that the swarm had no leader, he would have failed.
And that was only a Hard-level trial.
Higher levels were much worse.
Out of 1,288 elite students, only two, including him, passed Hard-level or above.
Later, he learned the truth.
The limit of an A-rank talent was just becoming an ordinary god, a side character in the war ten years later.
Link lowered his head slightly.
"I was never afraid of death."
But if even after coming back, he still ended up the same way, getting crushed by an Abyssal Demon God like nothing…
Then that kind of life meant nothing.
He slowly clenched his fist.
This time…
he had another chance to start again.