The Mirage Void. A descending ancient city.
The fathomless, unseen firmament of the void was violently torn asunder. A pitch-black rift, like a scar across the heavens, split the "sky," scattering the mist. It was as if the eye of a god had suddenly opened.
A silent, bronze city plummeted from the rift, descending like a massive, rusted anvil. Its silhouette sharpened as it fell.
It was a battle-scarred fortress. The towering walls were pockmarked with ballistic craters, arrow shafts, and the crushing impact points of siege weapons. Countless jagged gashes from blades and axes crisscrossed its surface.
From a distance, those scars looked like hundreds of eyes opening upon the ancient city—eyes that glared, intimidated, and threatened to swallow any who looked back.
As the ancient city finally crashed into the earth, anchoring itself as a satellite settlement for Blackstone City, Kaidric flew over its towering ramparts and landed beside Thresh and Edward.
"Walls as high as a crouching behemoth, keeps packed together like coiled mountains. Every stone on that city bears the weight of eras," Kaidric said, brushing off some dust. "Breathe deep. You can still smell the blood that could never be washed away."
The mander cast a sideways glance at Kaidric before returning his attention to the bronze fortress. He knew perfectly well that Kaidric didn’t have the personal power or resources to manifest a city of this magnitude.
"Hahaha... Tell me this isn’t incredible," Kaidric boasted. "This is an investment personally allocated by the Chieftain himself. He said this city is the Death-Soul Race’s gesture of sincerity."
"More importantly, as a member of our Death-Soul Race, Orion is an asset worth backing. Worth placing a heavy bet on."
According to Orion’s original blueprint, Blackstone City was meant to have three satellite settlements: one provided by the mander, one from Leonidas and his close bros, and one from the Saint Gran Council.
No one expected Kaidric, upon hearing the plan, to volunteer to provide an entire city himself, forging a much deeper alliance between the Death-Soul Race and the Stoneheart Horde.
"Don’t let the dead silence fool you," Kaidric said, a hint of smugness bleeding into his tone as he subtly angled for praise. "Once I ignite the core engine, this war beast will roar to life. When it does, my slumbering kin will awaken one by one."
"Furthermore, as the city breathes in World Essence, the Great Grinder will activate, endlessly churning out war slaves."
"I won’t make grand promises, but holding the line against an enemy charge from one direction? It won’t be a problem."
His boasting subsided quickly. He didn’t dare claim the Death-Soul Race’s city was invincible.
He knew the truth. In an Ascendant Plane like the Mirage Void, once the drums of war sounded, the invading hordes couldn’t just be described as "endless."
This war would end only in total annihilation.
As for the death toll? How many souls, how many war slaves would be ground to dust? No one could say.
They might be fighting until the end of time itself.
"You’re certainly confident," the mander sighed, tearing his gaze away from the bronze city to stare up into the void-sky. "But it’s a pity. This war, orchestrated by those four gods, is destined to be a brutal grinder."
"Have you managed to dig up any useful intel? Spill it," Kaidric demanded. As a friend, he knew Thresh’s habits well. If the mander was talking like this, he had already mapped out the enemy’s foundation.
"This territory we’re standing on is called the Boundless Expanse," the mander said coolly. "As for its total size, I’m still mapping the borders." He paused. "But based on my current exploration, the Boundless Expanse alone is several times larger than the entire Titanion Realm."
Truthfully, even Thresh had been shocked when he first realized the scale. He had never encountered an Ascendant Plane existing entirely within a void-state like this before.
"One territory? Several times larger than the Titanion Realm?" Kaidric’s eyes narrowed, his voice betraying his shock.
The current Titanion Realm was vastly different from its original state. Excluding the Godforsaken Land and the Pocket Dimension, the Titanion Realm had already assimilated over a hundred lesser worlds and four major worlds.
Yet, all of that bined couldn’t match a single territory within the Mirage Void.
"And there are eleven other named territories just like the Boundless Expanse," the mander dropped the next piece of information, stunning both Kaidric and Deputy mander Edward into absolute silence.
"mander," Edward said, his throat tight, his voice raspy as he swallowed hard. "What you’re describing... it borders on despair."
"Then brace yourselves. I have even more despairing news." A strange, wry smile touched the mander’s lips. He thought it was a rather good dark joke.
"Every territory is ruled by a Lord. The strict prerequisite for the title? They must be apex masters at the sixth stage of the demigod realm."
"Twelve territories. Twelve apex demigods at the sixth stage."
The mander continued to stare into the sky, his thoughts unreadable.
"Thresh," Kaidric stammered slightly, a sliver of panic creeping in as the implications hit him. "The Lord of a territory is the absolute strongest entity within it, right?"
"Unclear."
"But based on my senses," the mander continued breezily, "the Boundless Expanse holds at least two apex masters at the sixth stage."
"As for those below the sixth stage... there are quite a few. I didn’t bother counting."
Thresh spoke lightly, but his words hit Kaidric and Edward like sledgehammers, leaving their ears ringing.
Gulp.
Both Kaidric and Edward swallowed audibly.
"You know what? I think I’ll head back to the Abyss," Kaidric said, trying to mask his dread with humor. "The stakes are too high. The game is too rigged. Forget me, even our Chieftain couldn’t hold down this front."
It was a grim joke ing from an Abyssal Sovereign.
Thresh looked down from the sky, his wry smile deepening as he stared at Kaidric.
"Above the twelve Lords, it is said there are twelve slumbering Sovereigns. And every single one of them is attempting to assimilate a Divine Mantle."
"Are you sure you want to run back to the Abyss?"
The mander’s smile shifted from wry to downright teasing.
"What?"
"A Divine Mantle?"
"Twelve of them?"
"Thresh, say that again. I don’t think I heard you right."
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