Gulag dropped to her knees and slammed both palms against the sandstone. The amber light in her chest merged flawlessly with the violet energy.

The physical earth rippled outward like a stone dropped in a pond. The sandstone foundation instantly transmuted into a flawless sheet of polished obsidian, spreading across the entire cavern floor in a matter of seconds.

"Structural control," Gulag grinned, dragging her fingers across the black glass. "I can change the fundamental density of the terrain without fighting the bedrock."

Syra stepped away from the group. The ambient shadows cast by the glowing crystals violently detached from the walls. Instead of merely manipulating two-dimensional darkness, the assassin willed the shadows to solidify.

Ten physical, three-dimensional spears of pure blackness materialized in the space behind her back. She flicked her wrist, and the shadow spears launched forward to completely impale a discarded Aethelgard barricade.

Krax watched the display of evolved elemental mastery. The Orc general walked over to the remaining pile of intact Ley-Crystals. He scooped up a fist-sized violet sphere and walked back to his greataxe.

"Magic is fine for the rest of you," Krax grunted. He forcefully slammed the crystal directly into the iron socket at the base of his weapon’s blade.

The metal shrieked as it forcibly absorbed the mythic-tier catalyst. A crackling aura of destructive violet force coated the massive broadside of the axe.

Krax swung the weapon overhead and brought it down against the newly formed obsidian floor. The resulting kinetic impact shattered the black glass and carved a massive fissure straight through the mesa’s foundation.

Up in the sanctuary, Red tapped his fingers against his armrest. The entire core command structure had just crossed into a completely different tier of combat capability.

[ System Notification: Vanguard Mana Cores Evolved. ]

[ Sector Threat Level Upgraded to Cataclysmic. ]

[ Excellent progress, Sovereign, ] Ignisar’s voice crackled through the secondary terminal. [ Your commanders wield the desert’s power better than my own native champions ever did. The Fourth Continent will bleed when they face this force. ]

"They are ready for the next phase," Red replied, dismissing the notification screen. "We have the map, the water, and the evolved artillery. The Vanguard is officially going on the offensive."

’Although I am saying this, I can’t have them rely entirely on magic. Of course, evolving and adapting are their key factors, and you need magic to might against magic, they should learn to use it wisely.’ Red said to himself.

"Well, either way, it doesn’t matter since running out of DP is out of my concern," he chuckled.

After hauling everything and securing the parameters by stationing five hundred troops at the cavern, the rest of the vanguard began their march.

They stopped at the cities that came on their route and continued the journey.

The crimson grid of the cartographic engine projected a massive moving target directly ahead. Iron-Scale led the Vanguard across a sweeping expanse of golden dunes, tracking the hostile blip on the map with absolute precision. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Roal pulled his linen cloak tighter against the desert wind and pointed toward a series of towering, sun-baked spires rising in the distance. "We are less than a few hours from the outer gates of Ignisar’s capital. Your army crossed the Sea of Glass faster than any force in history."

Gulag walked alongside the guide and rested her hands on her hips. "We received a massive push. Your god flushed us hundreds of miles through the earth to dodge that orbital strike. That definitely cut the travel time."

The second guide shook his head and gestured to the stolen map hanging from Iron-Scale’s belt. "The Sand God only moved you to the western edge to save your lives. You stand on the capital’s doorstep today because you butchered the Heralds, stole their entire logistical network, and marched a straight line through their bases instead of taking the hidden detours."

The sand beneath their boots began to vibrate violently. A towering plume of dust erupted half a mile ahead. A colossal domesticated sand-worm breached the surface, carrying a massive iron-plated fortress strapped directly to its segmented back.

"Ghost Fort," Iron-Scale announced. He drew his star-iron dagger. "Stop the beast. Secure the structure."

Krax bared his fangs and sprinted directly toward the emerging behemoth. The Orc general gripped his greataxe tightly. The violet Ley-Crystal embedded in the weapon surged with condensed mana. Krax launched himself into the air, crossing the distance in a single massive bound.

He brought the axe down squarely against the dense chitin plating of the sand-worm’s skull. A violent shockwave of violet energy exploded outward upon impact.

The immense kinetic force drove the colossal beast’s head straight down into the bedrock, instantly halting the fortress’s momentum and throwing the Aethelgard garrison off their feet.

"Archers on the battlements!" a Fourth Continent commander yelled from the upper decks of the tilted iron structure. Mages scrambled to align their arcane cannons.

Syra melted into the shadow cast by Krax’s towering figure. She traveled across the uneven dunes and materialized directly on the fortress walls. She willed the ambient darkness to solidify. Dozens of three-dimensional spears of pure blackness manifested in the air around her.

She flicked her wrists forward, launching the shadow constructs directly into the barrels of the arcane cannons.

The solid darkness shattered the artillery from the inside out before a single shot could be fired. Syra stepped gracefully across the battlements, drawing her condensed dagger to dismantle the remaining mages.

Iron-Scale channeled his emerald core. Raging cyclones lifted the Blood-Mane warriors from the desert floor and deposited them directly onto the fortress decks. The Vanguard swarmed the incapacitated stronghold, completely overwhelming the panicked defenders.

Up in the orbital sanctuary, Red leaned back against his obsidian throne. He watched the planetary sensory grid update in real time. The mobile fortress icon shifted from hostile grey to allied crimson.

’The evolved cores turn a siege into a brief skirmish,’ Red calculated, tapping a finger against his armrest. ’They possess the exact firepower needed to confront the next set of Heralds.’