Voranthar pressed his forehead against the floor. "The western army utilizes impossible tactics. The Sovereign employs a creature that devours divine light. Conventional magic simply fuels them."

[ YOU FEAR A GHOST FROM THE ABYSS. ]

"I fear his army crossing our borders!" Voranthar yelled. He briefly forgot his standing before quickly lowering his voice. "He knows exactly who we are. He knows the truth of the sacrifice. If his Vanguard breaches the continental divide, Aethelgard will burn."

Silence filled the vault. Voranthar kept his eyes shut while waiting for a response.

"I need the Vanguard eradicated before they march into our lands," Voranthar pleaded. "I request the Monarch’s direct intervention." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

[ THE MONARCH DOES NOT STOOP TO SQUASH INSECTS. RANK 20 AUTHORITY CANNOT MANIFEST FREELY IN A RANK 4 DOMAIN WITHOUT FRACTURING THE SERVER. ]

"Then grant me the weapon," Voranthar countered. He lifted his head to stare into the dark space. "Give me access to the vault underneath the capital. I will trigger the Pre-Calamity engine myself."

A metallic laugh echoed from the unseen entity.

[ THE COST TO UNLOCK THE ENGINE IS SEVERE. IT REQUIRES A MASSIVE SURGE OF LIFE FORCE TO BYPASS THE SYSTEM LOCK. ]

"Take the outer districts," Voranthar offered immediately. "Take a hundred thousand citizens. Consume whoever you need. Just give me the power to vaporize that monster before his army sets foot on our soil."

Suddenly, a golden geometric rune flared into existence on the black floor directly beneath Voranthar’s hands. The light seared his retinas.

[ THE PACT IS ACCEPTED. PREPARE THE SACRIFICES, KING OF AETHELGARD. WE WILL OPEN THE VAULT. ]

Up in the orbital sanctuary, Red remained seated on his throne. The holographic projection of the global server floated in front of him.

He watched a massive cluster of red warning markers abruptly bloom across the Fourth Continent’s landmass. The geography pulsed with unstable energy signatures.

’He is finally panicking,’ Red analyzed, resting his chin on his knuckles. ’Good. Let him break his own kingdom before I even cross the border.’

"Iron-Scale," Red projected his voice straight into the commander’s mind. "Secure the capital. We will consolidate our forces and master the new elements before pushing toward the continental divide."

Down in the sun-baked plaza, Iron-Scale tapped his chest plate twice to acknowledge the command. He turned away from the chained Earthlings and looked toward the towering figures of the native deities.

’So that’s how they managed to survive in the third continent while the other gods of the third continent couldn’t.’ Red realized. ’They live and rule together as one. And they seem to have similar traits to be able to live in the physical realm as well. Or perhaps, it is just a manifestation and not their true self.’

Ignisar swept his tattered golden silks over the sand. The surrounding architecture shifted once more. The ruined courtyards and makeshift walls folded backward into the dunes, revealing a massive palace carved entirely from polished sandstone and dark volcanic glass.

"The labyrinth served its purpose," Ignisar announced. "My capital is yours to use. You delivered us from extinction."

Nyxara stepped forward. Her polished obsidian form reflected the harsh sunlight. "We prepared the inner sanctum for your commanders. Your soldiers may use the outer rings to rest and recover from the anomalous gravity fields."

Iron-Scale signaled the Vanguard elites. "Take the prisoners to the deepest vault. Post a hundred guards. Break their jaws if they speak."

Krax handed the chains over to a squad of armored infantry. The general rolled his shoulders, feeling the immense physical pull of the violet Ley-Crystal embedded within his greataxe.

The four commanders followed the native gods up the grand steps of the palace. They passed through massive archways into a sprawling throne room kept incredibly cool by subterranean aquifers flowing beneath the floor tiles.

Gulag ran a hand over the smooth walls. She analyzed the elemental composition while feeling the residual magic left over from the labyrinth.

"We cannot march immediately," Syra stated. She merged briefly with a nearby shadow to test her mobility in the unfamiliar room before stepping back into the light. "The army took damage during the valley ambush. We have six hundred thousand troops needing advanced triage."

"The soldiers will heal," Krax countered, resting his axe against a pillar. "But we need to test these crystals. The Sovereign granted us mythic-tier cores. Throwing ourselves into the Fourth Continent without understanding our own strength is a fatal error."

Iron-Scale took a seat at the massive stone war table in the center of the room. He unrolled the cartographic map they recovered from the crater.

"The Vanguard stays here," Iron-Scale decided. "We will establish a permanent forward operating base in this city. Aethelgard abandoned dozens of mobile fortresses and subterranean bunkers across this desert. We will hunt down the remnants, secure the border, and train our forces to utilize the Ley-Crystals."

Ignisar nodded in agreement. "There are feral beasts and corrupted mercenaries roaming the outer dunes. They served the Heralds for scraps of power. Clearing them out will provide your troops with excellent target practice."

Up in the sanctuary, Red watched the tactical planning unfold. The holographic projection displayed the vast, untamed regions of the Third Continent still crawling with minor enemy outposts.

Red summoned his system interface and pulled up the newly acquired Cellular Mastery Protocol. He possessed absolute control over biological regeneration, but he needed a controlled environment to test the limits of physical mutation on his own troops.

’Take the desert,’ Red thought, closing the interface. ’Turn this wasteland into a slaughterhouse until every soldier understands how to break a Herald.’

Within a few hours, the sun had set and the desert had become cold.

It had been around a week ever since they stepped into the third continent. Since then, they already dealt with six heralds, and a total of eight heralds out of twenty eight. And since they were in pairs, there were only fourteen of them, and now only ten remained.

The fourth continent had already begun to bleed and their army hadn’t even stepped into it.

For now, however, they had earned their well deserved rest.