Flashy Adventurer System : Show Off to Get Stronger! - Chapter 721

Chapter 721: Darkness On The Horizon
“Damn it! Damn it all!!” Sanada cursed inwardly, grinding his teeth so hard that it made an audible sound. “Retreat!”

The enemy reinforcements were already closing in. They couldn’t afford to squander the hard-won advantages of the operation by losing more of their elite forces.

Upon hearing Sanada’s command, every terrorist commander, including those from other factions, swiftly initiated their group’s retreat plan.

“Retreat! To the mass-teleportation magic circle!”

“Everyone! To the spatial tunnel!”

As for Hadean Varsa, their elite forces entered a void portal that had taken twenty-five of their top members five full minutes to summon, linking directly to their main headquarters.

Shye felt a ridiculous urge to leap into the void portal, momentarily forgetting he was present as a hero.

Fortunately, he caught himself before making any movement, as getting noticed in such an act would have been catastrophic.

The other heroes, on the other hand, wanted to make the terrorists’ retreat difficult.

But unfortunately, even the Yon Augennians were already spent.

Fighting seven-hundred and fifty elite adamantite-level terrorists was simply too exhausting.

Moreover, they were caught unprepared, which resulted in the death of more than seventy youth representatives and a total of eleven heroes from different regions.

It was Krebori who suffered the most losses, with Director Barley on the verge of going insane.

Only one of their youth representatives managed to escape while three of their heroes had fallen, leaving only two veteran heroes, whose retirement age was approaching.

To make matters worse, most of their hero candidates were killed.

It was an absolute disaster for the region.

On the other hand, Valenzia suffered no casualties.

Even Siegfried, who would have been killed had the terrorists remained just five seconds longer, survived in the end.

Shye was exhausted, but he was unscathed.

It was nothing short of a miracle that Valenzia didn’t lose anyone, a miracle made possible by none other than their hero, Shye Crowley of the Black Dawn.

What no one realized was that Hadean Varsa had rarely targeted the Valenzians, significantly easing the pressure on Shye and the youth representatives before they retreated.

This played a major role in everyone’s survival, especially since Hadean Varsa’s elites were obviously a cut above those of the other terrorist groups.

Within minutes, most of the terrorists had already withdrawn, leaving only four behind at the scene.

These four had been ordered to sacrifice themselves for their organizations, tasked with destroying the remnants of their escape methods to prevent the adamantite-ranked adventurer reinforcements from the WAA from pursuing them.

As expected, after completing their tasks, the four terrorists took their own lives by detonating themselves in a final attempt to inflict damage, hoping to take out or at least severely injure a hero in the process.

However, they failed to accomplish this goal.

Still, their actions secured the safety of their organizations, ensuring that their elites would not be tracked back to their headquarters.

It was a significant victory for the terrorists, though not as decisive as they had hoped.

After all, despite their efforts, they failed to kill Dweezel Hawkins and suffered heavy losses among their elites due to the heroes’ fierce resistance.

However, the WAA’s losses were far greater.

While terrorist elites could be cultivated with the aid of stolen training materials and a bit of help from soul arts, the talented youth from each region were irreplaceable and wouldn’t be allowed to grow under such circumstances.

In short, the terrorists would recover from their losses much faster, while the WAA faced a far longer road to recovery.

It would take at least a decade or two—possibly even longer—for new talented individuals to be born, grow, and reach their peak before they could replace the youth representatives and heroes who were lost.

This was why Head Director Hale Eversong trembled with a mix of anger, frustration, and deep concern for the future.

The escalating, seemingly unrelenting threat of mana dungeons was already causing the WAA significant stress.

Now, with terrorist groups steadily gaining power while the WAA—the world’s governing body—grew weaker with each passing year, Hale feared a grim future.

He dreaded the day when terrorists would be at the gates of Yon Augenn City, with every other city across the world already fallen.

It was a dark future.

Hale surveyed the heroes in the venue, aware that they, too, sensed the looming threat on the horizon, as reflected in the hints of despair in their eyes.

They were tired and weary from fighting a long battle that seemed devoid of any hope for victory.

However, among the weary veterans, four individuals stood out, their eyes betraying not a trace of despair: Van Smolders of the Roaring Flame, Axelle Vespertine of the Scorching Luminosity, Alexander Aphelion of the Boundless Shadows, and Shye Crowley of the Black Dawn.

Seeing them, Hale clenched his fists as a spark of hope ignited in his heart.

‘Maybe… just maybe, with these four young heroes, we can turn things around!’ was the lone optimistic thought that flashed through his mind.

With this, the head director ascended the elevated platform.

“Heroes, the WAA sincerely apologizes for this disaster, which was likely the result of our decision to stream the battle of the four young heroes to the public. We will ensure that each region is compensated for their losses, although it will only be through training resources. I hope everyone can maintain their trust in the WAA,” Hale declared, bowing deeply, his voice resolute and authoritative.

He may not have been a hero, but he was the leader of the world.

He couldn’t allow himself to waver or display any weakness.

Hearing his words, a few older heroes snorted in utter dissatisfaction, though their attention was quickly captured as an enormous holographic screen emerged from an orb held by the Hawkin Guard Captain.

On the screen was Dweezel Hawkins, the retired Golden Sun hero—a steadfast pillar of humanity.

The elderly man bowed apologetically to everyone, mirroring Hale Eversong’s earlier gesture.