Cain glanced at Anark and gave a final nod to the True Primordial before diving back into the Everstrife Empyrean World, descending directly toward the Scarlet Crown.
The instant he stood alone within its crimson vastness, the
somberness in his eyes only deepened. rely waiting for the Heart of the Root and Radagon to move was not wisdom-it was surrender. And surrender was sothing Cain had never once considered.
If he wished to launch an offensive, the first step was clear: he needed the support of the five remaining Empyrean Worlds. To gain that support, he had to prove that the defensive path they favored was not only flawed but fatal.
And there was only one thod capable of revealing that truth- learning Radagon's real intentions. And the only way to uncover those intentions was to infiltrate the Heart of the Root itself.
That was Cain's true plan. That was the reason he had pushed his cultivation, his evolution, and his mastery to their limits, growing stronger at a pace that defied sense and logic. He intended to enter the ho of the abomination and uncover its sches from within.
If the Heart of the Root had been a normal Empyrean World, the task might have been difficult but manageable. But instead, it was a colossal tumor of flesh, tendrils, and unblinking eyes-an awareness spread across an entire world-sized mass. Approaching it alone would allow it to detect him the mont he drew near.
Even if Radagon chose not to appear due to its wounds, Cain would be surrounded instantly by the High Lords of the Root, fighting at full power within their own domain.
That was not a battle. That was a death sentence.
For Cain to succeed, he would need to infiltrate the nest, hide every second, learn their plans, and escape alive. Before he beca an
ArchDeity and gained the Samsara Rebirth Set, his chances of survival had been virtually zero. Now they had improved significantly, but the mission remained the most dangerous undertaking of his life.
"My offensive power and defense are ready," Cain murmured, closing his eyes as he evaluated himself. "My domain over space-ti has expanded exponentially. My control over the Flow is stronger than ever thanks to the Crimson Bloodline."
As he reached that point, his voice dropped. "My cloaking ability is still lacking."
Developing stealth techniques capable of concealing him inside the Heart of the Root within a short span of ti was impossible. Fortunately, he didn't need to create anything new. All he needed was to draw from the abilities sealed within the Scarlet Throne.
It did not take him long to locate the soul of one of the ArchDeities from the Abysscrown Empyrean World. As he channeled the power hidden within the man's Alter Ego, Cain's body began to tremble. Within minutes the changes took hold. At first, they were subtle: shifts in bone density, minor changes in musculature, strange cosmic vibrations rearranging themselves. But soon those changes grew, deepening into a full tamorphosis.
In less than an hour, Cain had beco soone entirely different- not only in appearance but in soul aura as well. Even his wives and sons would not have been able to recognize him. Yet that was still not enough. Simply hiding his identity would not allow him to slip past the Root's awareness. To enter its domain safely, he needed to beco sothing the Heart would not view as foreign.
Once again, the answer already existed in the Scarlet Throne.
Cain focused on the largest of the statues resting within the crimson dinsion. After several minutes of resonance, his flesh began to mutate again. Bones popped. Muscle fibers rearranged. Skin dissolved and reford. And the human structure of his fra collapsed entirely, replaced by sothing born of nightmares.
He beca a creature of red tendrils and exposed muscle, his right arm reshaping into a curved blade of living bone. His face was covered by a plated mask of bone and chitin.
He beca a mimicry of Emprik, the Champion of the Root.
Of course, Cain had no intention of impersonating Emprik himself. But he could beco a lesser version of the sa lineage-one of the millions of spawns that road the world-sized tumor. His body, his aura, even his instinctive movents aligned perfectly with those abominations.
No one in the Nine Empyrean Suns Universe-not even an Overgod- would be able to guess his true nature.
Whether the Heart of the Root itself would be fooled... that was sothing he would only discover once he confronted it directly. Cain allowed himself a faint smile as he nodded, satisfied. It wasn't perfect. The disguise could fail. Sothing could go horribly wrong. But this was the best he could achieve, and he would have to hope it
was enough.
With that complete, he moved to the next critical point of the infiltration.
"Now-a way to hide."
Becoming a spawn of the Root would allow him to move undetected for a long ti, but there would inevitably be restricted areas, places even the Root's own creatures were not permitted. For those monts, he needed sothing more-true invisibility. "Such a state won't remain effective for long," he muttered. "Changes in energy fields, vibration patterns, and soul resonance will eventually expose . But if I only use it for the final phase, it should be enough."
A complex smile crossed his face.
Assuming the technique works.
Cain was not accustod to plans that relied on uncertainty. He
preferred absolute control. He preferred precision. He preferred leaving nothing to chance.
"I suppose when you face an abomination born from the Emptiness," he sighed, "luck becos part of the equation."
Shrugging lightly, he dismissed what he could not change and began training one of the Alpha-Oga Techniques he had obtained from Legion-an ultimate concealnt art capable of folding a practitioner into the cracks between layers of existence.
With the power of his Inner Universe, mastering it was not difficult.
"I should be ready in less than a week," Cain whispered.
His voice hardened.
"And then..."
He did not finish the sentence. He only clenched his fist, steadying his
will for what was about to co.
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