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"We have the strength to break that barrier." Malakar admitted, "But we lack the opportunity."
"How so?" Micteya frowned, "Are you refusing to help me?"
"I am being pragmatic. The Aetherium Empire is allied with the Nature Pantheon. That is a genuine alliance. If we attack, she will intervene, maybe even bringing Svetlana and Pandora along. We will definitely fail, and in his rage, that Emperor might even wipe your brother's soul."
"So what do we do? Just give up?" Micteya demanded.
"No." Malakar smiled darkly, "I have made arrangements. I paid a heavy price to secure a promise from the 'Titan Lord' Varkath."
"The Titan Lord?"
"Yes. We wait for the seven-day period to pass and if they refuse to hand over your brother's soul, Varkath will join us. With his aid, we will crush the Aetherium Empire."
Micteya's expression softened, "Then I will wait for six more days."
Her figure dissolved into black mist, vanishing from the temple.
"Stupid woman." Skarion muttered once she was gone.
"Perhaps." Malakar chuckled, "But she is necessary for our ambitions. If not for the Throne, I wouldn't waste those resources just to save her useless brother."
"I only hope things go according to plan." Skarion said, looking troubled, "That empire is growing too quickly. I worry that during this six-day period, they might gain another Supreme God."
Malakar paused, "Surely not. Gaining two Supreme Gods within a month would be way too unbelievable."
"Endless Continent's Laws favor them unreservedly." Skarion countered, "Nothing would surprise me anymore."
Malakar rubbed his temples, a headache forming, "Then pray that doesn't happen. If curses worked, I would have cursed that bastard to death long ago."
Whatever confidence Malakar had would have shattered completely had he known the truth: The Aetherium Empire had already gained a second Supreme Goddess that very morning and Haru himself was not that far away from becoming a Supreme God.
…
While all this was happening, Haru, accompanied by Celestia and Yvonne, soared through the sky. In half a day, they had scanned nearly the entire planet.
"It is smaller than the Endless Continent." Haru observed, "It is still massive. Hundreds of millions of kilometers in diameter."
Below them lay a desolate wasteland. The land was gray, and the oceans were a stagnant, sickly yellow.
"Death energy shrouds everything." Haru noted grimly, "It's a mass extinction."
It was worse than any prehistoric disaster. There were no insects, no moss, no bacteria. Even the deep seas were filled only with bones.
"My Lord…" Yvonne reported, "I have checked the spatial rifts in the sky. There are no signs of life, and strangely, we haven't encountered any demons yet."
"The World Laws are also hidden deep underground." Celestia added, "We must enter the core to find them."
Haru nodded, "The demons should be down there too. The surface offered them nothing, so they should've relocated there as well. But now…"
He looked toward the horizon. Trillions of mortal troops belonging to Castle Lords had just flooded this planet. To the starving demons, this was a buffet.
"Lysandra, report your situation." Haru connected to the Imperial Army's General through the link of faith.
"My Lord." Her voice resonated, "We have secured three divine corpses, five damaged artifacts, and seven Godheads. We also found minor relics by the dozen."
"Not bad for a start." Haru said, "And the teleportation arrays?"
"We found two. They are intact, but… their design is modern. They match the style of our empire's teleportation arrays, completely different from the ancient architecture of this planet."
"They were placed here by the GM." Haru realized, "They are emergency exits for the Castle Lords. Secure them, but do not rely on them. Order the legions to prepare for subterranean ambushes. The enemy will most likely come from below."
"As you command, Lord Almighty."
…
As time passed, the sky darkened. Twisted, jet-black cracks in the atmosphere pulsed like veins. Without the sun, the mountains of bone below took on a sinister silhouette.
"There." Haru pointed where wisps of black mist curled up from the ground like serpents. The earth trembled, and sections of the bone-wasteland collapsed, revealing massive sinkholes hundreds of meters wide. Inside the darkness of the pits, thousands of blood-red pairs of eyes ignited.
"Demonized creatures." Celestia identified them immediately, "These pitiful souls, stripped of their intelligence and soul, are puppets of the Abyss, driven only by their instinct of slaughter."
Roars erupted from the pits, sounds of pain and fury. Then, the horde poured out. They were grotesque parodies of surface life, covered in black scales and bristling with spikes.
They ignored Haru, who floated too high for them to sense, and turned their ravenous gaze toward the Castle Lords' armies and Rangers scattered across the plains. The scent of life drove them into a frenzy.
"Damn it! What are those things?!" Screamed a nearby Ranger.
"They're demonized monsters!" A Castle Lord shouted back, "Don't panic and group up. They yield a ton of exp!"
"Hold the line! Protect the mages and healers!"
A battle erupted instantly. Although the demonized creatures were strong, mostly King Tier, with a few reaching the Saint Tier, the 'players' were fearless. To them, this wasn't just a fight for survival, it was an XP farm.
Spells lit up the dark sky. Monsters were torn apart, and troops were trampled. From the high altitude, Haru watched the chaos unfold as the entire planet seemed to wake up. The appetizer was over, and the main course had arrived.
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