A man with a head of blazing golden flames, his eyes swallowed in the very same amorphous orbs of flickering combustion appeared. He almost contradictorily held a golden trident in his hands, its tips inundated by raging flames much the same way.

This wasn't a man Sylas would recognize. But he would definitely recognize the one that stepped out after him. Ziel Sona. Well, he and several other youths of the Sona.

Ziel had been the genius of the Thryskai Sona Clan that Sylas had defeated right along with Riqo of the Buri just a handful of months ago. The defeat was very much still fresh in Ziel's mind, as were Sylas' words back then.

However, as much of a feeling of inferiority and awe Ziel had for Sylas, he was just a C-tier, and his family wasn't going to listen to his words—certainly not for the sake of asking for the help of an E-tier like Sylas to deal with their enemies.

As such, Ziel had only brought the matter up in his reports of his failure, but he never pressed for his family to do as Sylas suggested, even as more and more support continued to stream in from the Cryst Heaven.

Reports seemed to suggest that the Seeing Eye Guild would make a huge move very soon, and many thought that this had been it. They had eventually confirmed that it was a false flag, but that didn't stop many from sending their own representation to confirm.

If they could get a chance to kill the Cryst Emperors that had managed to get in before they had, they certainly would. But the fact the Sona had sent a powerhouse like Elder Nova seemed to suggest they knew that this wouldn't be all that easy at all.

Ziel looked toward the blazing man. There were faint nubs on his forehead split by the hidden slot of his third eye.

He couldn't remember the last time they had to send out someone of Elder Nova's caliber. Their Sona Clan was used to being the top dog. They could easily get away with sending their middle-tier powerhouses to deal with even the most annoying things they had to.

But sending someone who was nearly a Legend…

Ziel could feel the weight of it all.

BOOM. BOOM.

Space shook as though earth rattling to the sonic booms of a falling mountain.

A man rotund and sturdy beyond what the words alone seemed to suggest appeared. His skin radiated just the slightest shade of blue, but it didn't seem to be natural to him and more like every one of his cells was radiating such a fierce energy that he was glowing.

Elder Nova looked over.

"Nova, Nova, my dear. You look just as handsome as always." The fat man's voice boomed with laughter, but not a single one of his fat rolls jiggled. It was almost like they were no less sturdy than muscle.

His actual voice, though, wasn't nearly as masculine as his form. While the man was practically a tank, an artillery unit of flesh and blood, his voice twirled in high pitches and flirtatious undertones.

"Elder Kombe." Elder Nova greeted once and then looked away.

"So cold." Elder Kombe giggled.

From behind Elder Kombe, Riqo appeared, his frame having grown robust once more as well.

A line followed after Riqo, and while Elder Kombe was smiling with kind and flirtatious expectations, every one of them seemed extraordinarily serious. Their lips pressed into thin lines, their knuckles white not with fear but fury.

They seemed like a group of youths ready to wage war.

While Elder Nova's expression was all too well hidden by his flaming hair and eyes, the flames themselves seemed to talk in the same way.

Behind Elder Kombe's smiling expression, there was the very same coldness.

Another portal shuddered and the most normal of them all appeared.

"Elder Cain." Kombe and Nova said at the same time.

Elder Cain was dressed like he had come for a debate rather than a battle. He had a fan in one hand and scholarly robes were draped across his body in layers of silver and blue. He looked as human as any Thryskai ever had, but if one looked at him from the back, one would see just how much sheer audacity he had… Because the back of his robes were embroidered with the wings of angels.

Elder Cain's fan snapped out with the satisfying echo of rapidly flipping pages. He bowed in greeting to Kombe and Nova.

Out from behind him, the first of the Purvon Clan geniuses to appear was actually a child.

He couldn't have been more than seven or eight years old, his chubby little hands holding onto an enormous lollipop with a head larger than even his own.

Kombe and Nova's pupils both constricted into pinholes when they saw this.

"Rhykan." They both said at the same time.

The child waved a hand. "It's just a clone. The family wouldn't stop harassing me. But I guess I knew this would happen, that's why I left this behind. Don't expect me to be of any real use."

Kombe and Nova frowned and then looked at one another.

Elder Cain sighed. What was the use of having a genius if they abandoned the family at the drop of a hat? Rhykan should have been the one to lead things here.

"Why are you all so worried? I just came to observe the fun. Just leave it to Sylas."

Rhykan licked his lollipop and the other Thryskai stiffened.

They kept hearing this name over and over again, but they didn't expect it to come out of Rhykan's mouth.

The legend of Rhykan was etched into their very psyches, but this Sylas was new. They didn't expect these worlds to collide like this.

Another portal ripped open and a man with three eyes stacked vertically on his forehead appeared. But he had hardly appeared when another was torn open.

Every one of the elders looked over at once.

They knew Cryst Emperors by feel alone.