"half an hour later, we’ll enter an Instance."

After sending a message to Rose, Noah closed his eyes and reached out to communicate with the will of the world.

"It’s fine... nothing troublesome has happened."

Moments later, he opened his eyes, unsurprised. After all, he had only been away for a single day.

Still, Noah couldn’t help but concerned about black land outside Montepillar City, worried it might come under a large scale assault from Demonized Monsters.

However, there was still no signs of any imminent threat. If the Demonized Monsters intended to launch a large scale attack, it certainly wouldn’t happen so quickly.

What Noah did notice, though, was that a considerable number of Demonized Monsters were stepping onto the black land in waves.

Most 0f them were First Order, lacking any real organization and acting purely on instinct, drawn by the presence of demonic energy. Their numbers were scattered, posing little threat, and could be easily handled by the Starfall Nation military.

As a result, the likelihood of coastal cities in Starfall Nation being attacked by Demonized Monsters was significantly reduced.

First Order Demonized Monster, driven by hunger, were guided purely by instinct to seek out demonic energy, making it difficult for Second Order Demonized Monsters to exert control over them.

Noah was somewhat surprised.

Noah was somewhat surprised. This patch of black land, corrupted by demonic energy, was proving to be more effective than he had anticipated. Unfortunately, its effects were limited—it only worked against Demonized Monsters. If other types of monsters existed on Blue Star, this black land alone wouldn’t provide such a strong defensive advantage.

Taking out the Sun Shooting Bow, Noah fired several arrows toward areas in the East Ocean where Demonized Monsters were densely concentrated. After that, he stopped paying further attention.

Thinking about the items he had on hand, there were still ten large planetary teleportation arrays yet to be deployed.

As for how to place these arrays to maximize their effectiveness, Noah had already entrusted the matter to Roland long ago, asking him to gather experts for precise calculations. Professional matters were best left to professionals; once the results were ready, it wouldn’t be too late for Noah to set them up.

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.

Noah sent a team invitation to Rose and the others. After everyone accepted, he opened the dungeon list and selected one.

[You have selected Trial Instance: Beast Tide Assault (Nightmare)]

[Participants: 1–10]

[Enter?]

"Enter."

A flash of light swept past, and Noah vanished from where he stood.

The next moment, Noah and the others appeared out of thin air atop a vast, blood-colored city wall, its surface ancient and unyielding.

System notifications echoed in their ears.

[Trial Instance: Beast Tide Assault]

[Level: Tier Three]

[Difficulty: Nightmare]

[Mission: Withstand the beast tide and prevent the fall of Blood Dark Fortress]

[Description: The Endless Forest has long been a forbidden zone of the continent, home to countless magical beasts. On this day, one of the forest’s kings led an overwhelming beast tide in an assault on the human kingdom. Blood Dark Fortress, standing at the kingdom’s southwestern border, now faces the greatest crisis since its founding.]

Noah glanced over his nine teammates.

Rose, Lily, and the others were all familiar faces. However, his attention quickly shifted to the remaining four.

Two men and two women, all appearing to be in their twenties or early thirties.

At this moment, all four of them were brimming with excitement.

"Finally... entering a dungeon with the Great God Noah and it feels like a dream."

"Boss, please carry us!"

Rose gave a light cough and said, "Why don’t you all introduce yourselves?"

"Alright."

A cheerful young man stepped forward, straightened his posture, and said,

"My name is Ethan. My Talent is SSS-grade..."

"My name is Olivia. My Talent is SS-grade..."

"Leo."

"Aurora."

The four of them introduced themselves one after another. The two girls seemed somewhat reluctant to stop, as if they wanted to share more details, but Rose cut them off without hesitation.

Noah gave a slight nod.

He didn’t pay much attention to the specifics of his teammates. What surprised him was that, aside from Ethan Hale possessing an SSS-grade Talent, the other three were only SS-grade. He had originally expected the Supernatural Management Bureau to send four Awakeners with SSS-grade Talents.

Although Awakeners with SSS-grade Talents tended to be arrogant, Noah believed that in front of him, even the most unruly among them would become as docile as sheep.

However, thinking back on it, he did seem to have specifically asked for teammates who were easy to get along with...

"What are your thoughts on this dungeon?" Noah asked.

"This dungeon should follow a typical tower defense format," Claire replied immediately. "We’ll need to defend Blood Dark Fortress against the continuous assaults of the beast tide. However, if we can eliminate the king of the Endless Forest who initiated the tide beforehand, we should be able to clear the dungeon early."

"Mhm." Noah nodded.

He had come to the same conclusion.

Rose had no intention of wasting too much time in this Trial Instance.

First, he would help his teammates accumulate contribution points. Once the timing was right, he would personally deal with the king of the Endless Forest.

Of course, this was a Nightmare-level instance and something unprecedented. Without knowing the true strength of the monsters, Rose wouldn’t act recklessly.

As they discussed their approach, the one-minute preparation time came to an end, and the ten of them officially entered the dungeon.

A heavy atmosphere of fear and unease hung over the entire fortress.

The soldiers stationed along the walls wore grim expressions, their faces drained of color.

Clearly, very few of them had any confidence in facing this overwhelming beast tide.

The duty of Blood Dark Fortress was to stand against the magic beasts of the Endless Forest. It was the front line between the human kingdom and the forest and a battlefield that had endured countless clashes.

But the terrifying beast tide unleashed by the King of the Endless Forest... was on a scale they had never witnessed before.

The last time such a catastrophe occurred was three hundred years ago. That beast tide swept across more than half the continent, leaving several kingdoms in ruin. The very kingdom Blood Dark Fortress now served had been established only after that devastating event.

"Respected heroes, thank you for your assistance. For the coming battle, you may make your own arrangements."

A general approached, saluted the group, and then hurried off without delay.