Chapter 241: The Void’s Echo, Glitch’s Evolution

Up in the sanctuary, Red watched Syra’s visual feed sync perfectly with his planetary grid. He analyzed the trajectory of the energy pillar and the localized atmospheric distortions.

’He is not aiming at the desert,’ Red realized, tapping his fingers rapidly against his console. ’He is going to fire that weapon directly at the land bridge to wipe out my army the second we cross.’

Red keyed the communication rune on his armrest.

’Iron-Scale,’ Red commanded, his voice echoing across the Vanguard network. ’The enemy has armed a continental strike weapon. Accelerate the tunneling operation immediately. The surface is about to become an execution block.’

Back in the desert capital, Iron-Scale turned toward Gulag. The earth manipulator cracked her knuckles, her amber core flaring brightly within her chest.

"We dig now," Iron-Scale ordered.

Red reclined against his throne. He stared at the holographic projection hovering above his central console. The Vanguard had successfully reclaimed the massive stretches of the Third Continent from enemy hands.

Hundreds of minor bases and isolated strongholds still littered the golden dunes. Fortunately, hunting down every single straggler would simply burn crucial time. The true war waited across the continental divide.

While his previous wars operated on total certainty of winning, this upcoming invasion presented a dangerous lack of intel. He tapped a finger against the glowing armrest, his eyes tracing the digital borders of Aethelgard.

He knew absolutely nothing about the remaining ten pairs of Heralds waiting to ambush his troops.

Furthermore, the ruling deities of the Fourth Continent remained completely hidden in the shadows. He possessed confirmation of the Radiant Monarch sitting at Rank 20.

However, the other three ruling gods had masked their existence entirely despite Aethelgard taking massive casualties.

Red calculated the numbers in his head. If the remaining three deities held equal or higher rank authority than the Monarch, they possessed access to at least eight max-tier Sovereign Pets combined.

’Once I hit rank 20, I will also get another pet creation ticket. And Glitch will also have someone to play with.’ Red thought.

Red glanced toward the digital marker representing the golden palace below. The captured Heralds—Tyler, Jessica, Ashley, and Brandon, rotted in the deepest vaults of the capital. They held the answers to the enemy’s defensive layouts. But extracting that information was entirely impossible.

The Radiant Monarch had explicitly woven a fatal failsafe into their souls. Any psychological breach or forced interrogation would instantly detonate their bodies, turning them into radiant bombs that would easily crater Ignisar’s entire city.

’I will just let them rot in the dark,’ Red decided. A vicious grin stretched across his face. ’Death is a luxury they do not deserve. I want them to live long enough to watch me burn their kingdom to ash. Once the war is over, I will deal with them myself.’

Down on the surface of the Third Continent, the massive engineering project commenced at the edge of the Sovereign’s Path.

Gulag stood before the towering cliffs of red rock. Her amber core flared with intense brilliance. She pressed both palms against the foundational bedrock to melt the solid crust into a sprawling subterranean cavern.

Carving a simple hole was entirely insufficient. She needed to engineer a flawless, fully functional underground highway capable of supporting one million marching soldiers.

The logistics required precision. The massive column included five hundred thousand Vanguard troops, one hundred thousand Kingdom Knights, and four hundred thousand native desert warriors pledged to Ignisar and Nyxara.

The tunnel required reinforced structural arches, continuous ventilation shafts, and flowing water lines to sustain the combined army during the underground crossing. The construction would take months of grueling labor to complete.

While Gulag ripped the earth apart, Iron-Scale managed the waiting army back at the golden palace. The troops did not sit idle. The sprawling courtyards echoed with the continuous clash of steel and magic.

The combined forces utilized the extended delay to relentlessly drill their formations, mastering their newly integrated Ley-Crystals alongside the native elemental magic of the desert warriors.

Suddenly, a violent cracking sound echoed through the Red’s sanctuary.

Glitch writhed on the metal floor. The Void-Weaver had spent the last few days digesting the remains of divine magic extracted from the four captive Earthlings. Strands of blue lightning, toxic green acid, and pink regenerative light swirled erratically beneath the creature’s silver fur.

He let out a piercing shriek. Its physical form expanded outward. The six legs elongated significantly, and the silver fur darkened into a shade of black. Glowing geometric runes surfaced across its spine to lock the chaotic elemental energies into place.

Red watched the evolution unfold from his seat. The creature was actively breaking down the stolen divine concepts and adapting its own biology to handle the massive influx of power.

Glitch slammed its front paws against the floor tiles. A shockwave of pure void energy ripped across the command center. The holographic projection flickered wildly before stabilizing into a crisp resolution.

The infant anomaly shook its head. It let out a satisfied purr and trotted back to the base of the throne.

A new system interface materialized directly in front of Red.

[ VOID-WEAVER EVOLUTION COMPLETE. ]

[ ASSIMILATING RETAINED DATA FROM MULTIPLE HOSTS. ]

[ NEW SYSTEM MECHANIC UNLOCKED: MNEMONIC DECRYPTION. ]

[ DESCRIPTION: THE HOST CAN EXTRACT AND RECONSTRUCT MEMORY SCARS IMPRINTED ON DEVOURED MAGIC. GRANTS VISUAL ACCESS TO THE TACTICAL KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCES OF THE ORIGINAL CASTER. ]

Red read the floating text twice. He rested his chin on his knuckles. A vicious grin stretched across his face.

He did not need to interrogate the prisoners. He did not need to risk triggering the Radiant Monarch’s explosive failsafe to rip the secrets from their minds. The answers were already sitting right inside his own sanctuary, safely digested by his pet.

’Show me what they know,’ Red commanded the system.

The digital map of the Fourth Continent instantly updated. The corrupted static masking Aethelgard vanished entirely. The glowing projection rendered the exact structural layout of the Radiant Gate anomaly guarding the border.

Ten precise crimson markers appeared across the enemy capital, pinpointing the remaining Earthling squads. Finally, four massive divine signatures illuminated the space above the royal castle, revealing the exact system ranks of the ruling deities.

Red stared at the fully updated board. The terrifying unknowns of the enemy faction were laid bare. He knew exactly how strong the remaining Heralds were and exactly what forces waited across the Sovereign’s Path.

He tapped the communication rune on his armrest.

’Iron-Scale,’ Red projected his voice across the planetary grid, locking directly onto his lead commander. ’Tomorrow morning, recall the captains to the war room. I have the entire defensive blueprint of Aethelgard. I know exactly what the King is hiding.’

Down in the desert capital, Iron-Scale stood near the sparring rings. He watched the Kingdom Knights block a volley of fire magic from the native desert warriors. He tapped his chest plate twice to acknowledge the telepathic command.

Iron-Scale turned away from the courtyard. He immediately signaled for Syra, Krax, and Gulag to abandon their training exercises and follow him into the inner sanctum.

"Ignisar and Nyxara are unavailable at the moment, huh?" Red wondered. "I can’t contact them. And their manifestation has also disappeared from the golden palace. Iron-Arbiter was the same. He would disappear for hours and then contact me randomly. Do they waste time sleeping?"