Reborn as God: The strongest system

Esdras wanted to convince himself that he was overly anxious out of urgency, due to the rapidly changing situation.

However, he quickly snapped out of it. He wasn't willing to surrender to comfort and a false sense of safety.

That's when he figured it out - the reason for his worry.

The world was going to change today, starting at Seroie. This wasn't a direct threat to his life, because he was nowhere near Seroie at the moment.

It was something else.

He'd been told that Meeralah had gone there three days ago on a pegasus to attend the victory celebration, at the invitation of the Master Mage.

By estimating her time of arrival, she should be arriving in Seroie today! She might already be there now.

"Damn!"

Esdras couldn't help but curse as he hurried towards the glowing tower. He was using all of his powers seriously, not playing around. He used wind elemental magic to boost his already impressive agility.

At the moment, Meeralah was his supporter. If he lost her, his support would disappear. Not to mention, he had already offended Lent Fayner of the Secrets faction, and that guy was gunning for him.

If he lost her support, his comfortable position would be lost, and he might even be framed for something. Lent Fayner didn't strike him as a man who was above such tactics.

The situation would become extremely unstable. There were probably others targeting him from the shadows. Currently, he didn't have the power to oppose them openly.

It's not like he was unwilling to strike another deal with someone else, but was there anyone who would give him the same freedoms as the Crimson faction?

Unlikely!

Of course, he could try his luck, but that wouldn't change the current reality.

No, he needed to save Meeralah. At this point, he needed her presence to move comfortably within the tower.

If he hadn't made that deal with her, Esdras wouldn't even consider making it, but at this rate, he had no choice but to try and save her.

However, how could he even catch up with her? She had a three-day head start. Teleportation didn't exist in this world - at least not yet.

Sigh...

Esdras realized that he was going to use two of his lifesaving trump cards. And that was only for a mere attempt.

However, the situation was just that dire. If Meeralah died, his plans would have to be discarded. A simple adjustment wouldn't be enough.

His heart ached, but he was resolved.

Esdras quickly reached the tower, registered his name under the watchful eyes of witnesses, and requested leave to handle important matters.

Since he was no longer an apprentice in reality and in realm, the restrictions on movement were lifted. Basically, Esdras could go wherever he wanted now.

Without waiting for anyone else, he immediately took off on a pegasus prepared for him.

Once he was far away from the area, he landed in some wilderness and tied the pegasus to a tree.

Esdras closed his eyes to focus for a moment, then breathed out. With a thought, a blue potion was brought out of his ring and into his hand.

It was one of the rare-grade potions he'd obtained from cleaning the dungeon last time. It was the Roc Flight potion. It had the simple ability of flight. More specifically, it granted him the ability to fly as fast as a Roc for three hours.

It was already 2 PM.

He didn't know how fast a Roc was, but it was a rare-grade potion. He didn't have a better idea either. He could only hope that it would be enough to reachSeroie and then extricate Meeralah in time.

It was highly risky - he might end up dooming himself along with her. But he didn't have much of a choice.

Esdras didn't even have time to ponder deeply - he had to act, now.

Every moment wasted thinking about things was a moment lost in time.

With a swift motion, he emptied the potion's contents into his mouth and felt an incredible sensation coursing throughout his body.

As if some shackle had been removed, he started floating in the air. A blue hue enveloped his body and the sky welcomed him.

In the next second, he disappeared.

In fact, he was already flying towards Seroie at five times the speed of sound, and that was only his estimation. It might even be greater.

What remained was an afterimage.

If he wanted to intercept her, he would be lost, as he had no idea of the route she used. But he knew her destination, so he decided to make his way there first and then take it from there.

Even with this speed, he was unsure if he could make it in time.

The air pressure, which would have killed him even with his enhanced body, didn't affect him at all. The Roc was the master of the sky, vying for supremacy with other legendary creatures.

Such a thing as air pressure at this speed was only a refreshing breeze for it.

Esdras wasn't just flying - he also embodied some of the other abilities that made it possible for the Roc to fly at such speeds. For example, he could easily observe his surroundings, and his vision was also augmented to the point where he could observe ants going about their business.

From the beginning, he chose a straightforward path to the city. He was not concerned about changing his path until he reached the city. That way, he didn't have to worry about getting lost and could simultaneously take the least amount of time.

More than two hours later…

Esdras grimaced. It looked like he might end up having to use the last potion to continue his trip. He was prepared for this eventuality, but he was still indignant about it.

The three hours were almost up. He would have to land in a few minutes to consume the second potion. This had better be worth it, damn it!

However, it was then that something good happened.

With his super-enhanced vision, he spotted a pure white pegasus ahead. On the flying beast was a woman in regal robes, her red hair tied and held in place with a silk scarf.

Esdras was beaming, laughing in the wind. It looked like he might not even need to take the last potion.

Beyond his target on the horizon, he caught a glimpse of the city he was originally supposed to go to. But finding Meeralah here was even better; that way, he would have an easier time.

Esdras was about to catch up to her when he suddenly slowed down, frowning. He had just realized something terrible.

He had no idea what to say to her to stop her from going to the city!

'I know the future, you have to come with me if you want to live!'

...is something she would never believe in the first place. Besides, his identity was a problem. He was just a True mage; how could he know such things?

This would lead to an endless abyss of questions.

He didn't even know what specifically was going to happen, so his explanation was already in the gutter. In Meeralah's mind, she was going to a celebration party in honor of the Master Mage for her contribution to the war.

Flimsy reasoning will just make him more suspicious.

No, in fact, he might not even get the chance to explain himself. Thinking about it a bit more clearly, he came to the conclusion that it was very likely for him to die instantly as soon as he approached her.

She might attack him as soon as she sensed his presence. Kill first and ask questions later. Honestly, he might do the same was he in the same situation.

Esdras thought of every possibility but came up with only one solution.

He had to stop her first, the explanations can wait. His first priority was to prevent her from going to the city for the rest of the day at the very least.

How could he do that against a Great mage?

Simple.

Esdras had to sacrifice his ultimate life-saving trump card.

***

Meeralah was humming leisurely as she had plenty of time to get to the city before the party. The breeze was smooth and the natural air smelled of spring flowers and victory.

Finally, all of her efforts to make this alliance will come to fruition. She had to make some sacrifices but things worked out to her satisfaction in the end.

The Crimson faction was about to take an instrumental step forward, although it wouldn't restore the faction back to its former glory overnight it wouldn't be far off.

She didn't need her backstabbing seniors, she was about to prove them all wrong for abandoning her.

Just then.

She felt her senses tingling as she heard the air behind her whistling. Judging by the sound it must be swift.

Turning to look behind her she only caught an afterimage of the creature as it suddenly increased its speed to an astonishing degree and dived down under the pegasus and evading her field of vision.

Meeralah was on full alert, however, she couldn't locate the enemy at all, and it was moving too quickly and swiftly through the air, it possessed unbelievable mobility in the air at that insane speed giving her a shock.

In a moment she already knew she was being targeted. This thing could leave her in the dust if it wanted to. Her eyes narrowed dangerously, and the air around her thundered with the stirring of her massive mana pool.

In such situations, she would just blast Scorching Field, an area-of-effect spell that burned everything around indiscriminately.

But she couldn't do that easily now, she was too high in the air, the pegasus would go up in flames and such a fall would kill even her. She could control the spell to not hurt the beast but not when it was moving so fast.

Something was coming at her. But she maintained her calmness.

Although she couldn't think of a suitable attack yet, she wasn't afraid of being attacked, she had two defensive spells and an elven defensive spell on her mage robe, the Hex-shield.

At least this way she could figure out the enemy's skills. But she couldn't have imagined what would happen next.

Flying towards her was a black rope the length of a forearm.