Two years after the announcement of the Soul Inheritance Array — Year 755 After the Coronation

Young Sector 99 — Nihari — Southern Region

Noise Noise

"Eh... Eeh..!!"

One of the children tried to jump as high as he possibly could, straining every muscle in his small body as he pushed himself upward again and again, desperately trying to catch even the smallest glimpse of what was happening beyond the sea of heads around him, but it was completely useless.

The boy was surrounded by rows upon rows of children around his age, an overwhelming mass of young bodies packed tightly together, kids roughly between eight and twelve years old, all pressing, shifting, and murmuring without pause.

Every time he turned behind him, no matter how he tried to look forward or stretch his neck upward, he saw nothing but endless lines of those his age... but not of his kind.

Children from every race of the great empire were gathered here, humans, half-humans, mutants, and countless other bloodlines that blurred the boundaries between species... in fact, the number of pure humans among them was noticeably small, almost lost within the diversity.

The voices of the children, their laughter, their constant side conversations... they were not merely the harmless sounds of children, but something far heavier, something dense and overwhelming, like the rising hum of a battlefield before the clash. To the boy, it felt less like a gathering and more like standing in the midst of an army, surrounded on all sides by a restless tide of life.

<"Siiiiiiiiiiiiilence!">

At that moment, a powerful voice echoed directly into the ears of every child present, a command so sharp and forceful that it instantly cut through all the noise, freezing conversations mid-sentence and planting a sudden, instinctive fear deep within their small hearts.

All of them began looking around like frightened little birds, their bodies stiff, their movements hesitant... but just as quickly as the fear came, it faded, and within moments they returned to talking again, the noise rising back to its previous level as if nothing had happened.

None of them truly understood why they were here.

They had all been brought without explanation, their parents simply telling them to make them proud, offering no further answers before pushing them forward and leaving them behind.

So naturally, making a few friends to pass the time, sharing small conversations and laughter, felt like the only reasonable thing to do while they waited for whatever was coming.

"...Ugh,"

Far above them, standing atop a hill that overlooked the massive gathering, was a figure dressed entirely in black, a dark hood covering his head and casting shadows over his face... the man let out a tired sigh and shook his head slowly before speaking in a calm, controlled voice,

"Your Highness, I have some experience dealing with children, at least more than most. I would rather not have you become overwhelmed or start making involuntary reactions like they did to me earlier. Please, go for now, and I will send you a detailed report of everything I observe."

"....."

The one standing beside him, Theo, cast his gaze downward without answering immediately, his eyes silently scanning the scene below.

Even he, whose eyes had witnessed countless horrors and wonders across dozens of sectors, who had stood in the presence of death and chaos more times than he could remember, found himself slightly stunned by what he was seeing now.

Below the hill stretched a sight that defied expectation... no fewer than one hundred million children, gathered together in a single place.

...The Shadow Swords were already engaged in war across multiple sectors, fighting endlessly, struggling each day simply to survive while searching for replacements to fill the gaps left by the fallen, and at the same time delivering precise and lethal strikes against anyone who dared to interfere with them... it was not merely war, but a complete system of intimidation, fear woven into every action they took.

Yes, their numbers had grown into the millions.

But even that was a pitiful figure when compared to the sheer scale of the sectors they operated in, sectors that contained billions upon billions of planets. What could a few million Shadow Swords truly accomplish within such vastness? Even if one were to erase a hundred planets entirely, there was a high chance they would not encounter a single Shadow Sword among them.

And yet, despite this overwhelming imbalance, things had been progressing in their favor... both sides of the war suffered losses, but the Shadow Swords had managed to maintain a position of strength, largely due to the updated instant-transfer array that allowed rapid movement across nearby planets, enabling them to strike and disappear before retaliation could arrive.

An array whose existence remained hidden, known only to the highest leaders of the Shadow Swords, a secret advantage that had carried them through countless battles.

But two years ago, everything changed.

Lord Human Robin revealed the Soul Legacy Array to the universe, and with that single act, he ignited a raging fire within the minds and hearts of every member of that Syndicate. From the highest authority to the lowest subordinate, all of them burned with fury, their anger growing uncontrollably as the implications of that array became clear.

And that fury did not remain contained... it spilled outward, spreading into every corner of the conflict.

The war itself began to shift, its intensity rising, its nature changing, as the Syndicate redirected its efforts, and the fragile balance that once existed between the two sides was violently disrupted.

That Syndicate was no longer content with merely inciting local forces against the Shadow Swords or stirring unrest from the shadows. To make matters significantly worse, they escalated the situation by supplying those same forces with highly sensitive and dangerously precise intelligence regarding the Shadow Swords themselves.

They provided detailed information about Shadow Sword locations, their hidden bases, their allies and the extent of their proximity, their expected upcoming strikes, and even patterns in their movements. In some cases, they went as far as deploying mercenaries on behalf of local forces if those forces lacked the military capability to confront them directly, effectively turning scattered resistance into coordinated threats.

This development plunged the Shadow Swords into an immediate and devastating crisis, a catastrophe unlike anything they had experienced before, not even during the height of the war when the Behemoth of Relativity had openly declared hostility against them.

Within the first year alone, approximately fifteen percent of all active Shadow Sword agents were killed, their losses mounting at an alarming rate, while a similar portion was forced to retreat beyond their zones of influence, many of them severely wounded and barely clinging to life as they withdrew.

Yet, that same period did not bring only disaster... amidst the chaos, Lord Human Robin sent Theo an extremely brief message.

A message so simple, yet so absolute, that it changed everything.

Theo, who had only moments before received a separate message from his father asking him to leave behind a few billion so he would not fall back into absolute poverty, did not even consider questioning how or from where the budget had suddenly become limitless. He understood the reason perfectly well.

The same factor that had driven the Syndicate into such relentless aggression was also the very reason the Shadow Swords had become obscenely wealthy in such a short period of time... and now, that wealth was no longer meant to sit idle. It was meant to be unleashed.

The volume of planetary-grade equipment Theo began purchasing was nothing short of terrifying, entire shipments moving across sectors in rapid succession. This time, however, none of it was stored away in secure warehouses as reserves. Instead, it was distributed immediately across all Shadow Sword outposts and operational bases.

Because this war had fundamentally changed. It was no longer a battle of information networks, hidden movements, and calculated intimidation. It had become a direct confrontation, brutal and unavoidable, where every Shadow Sword operative was now expected to fight for survival.

And Theo intended to ensure that each one of them had the means to do exactly that, even if they found themselves surrounded in hostile territory with no allies in sight.

The blood of the Shadow Swords was not cheap, and it would not be spilled without cost.

However, another problem soon surfaced, one that could not be solved by wealth alone... the Shadow Swords had suffered heavy losses, and their already limited numbers had been reduced further.

In response, Theo issued orders for a massive, wide-scale recruitment campaign, one unlike anything attempted before. It was the only viable solution to replenish their ranks and sustain the war effort.

But executing such a plan was far from simple. Any attempt to gather large numbers in a single location for recruitment would immediately attract attention, and that location would be targeted and destroyed without hesitation. Even if it were a planet under the Crumbled Dreams Empire or the True Beginning Empire, or even one under the domain of the Temporal Behemoth Arkaile... the Syndicate’s reach and fury were not something that could be ignored or underestimated.

Thus, Nihari Galaxy, hidden within a concealed region, was selected as the staging ground... a place difficult to track, yet still capable of supporting such an operation.

A call was broadcast across thousands of planets within the galaxy, announcing that enlistment into the second most respected organization in the empire had been fully opened, and that this time, there would be no bias toward humans. Every intelligent being, regardless of origin, would have an equal opportunity to join.

The response was immediate and overwhelming.

By the very next day, waves of young candidates began pouring toward Nihari... and within the span of a single month, the number of children arriving for evaluation reached one hundred million, with the flow showing no signs of slowing down.

Managing such an influx proved to be a logistical nightmare. Providing sufficient food, clean water, sanitation systems, and breathable air for that many children alone placed immense strain on the headquarters’ resources and planning capabilities.

"With this number of volunteers, we will undoubtedly be able to multiply the size of the Shadow Swords within the next two decades," the person standing beside Theo laughed with visible excitement, "the issue of numbers will soon become irrelevant!"

"...." Theo continued to stare downward in silence, his gaze fixed on the vast sea of children below, "After all the support His Majesty has provided us, if we fail to eliminate every internal weakness within the Shadow Sword organization, along with all external threats... then the fault will lie entirely with us."

Ding

"Hmm?" Theo glanced at his interplanetary communication ring as it activated, his expression shifting slightly, "...my father is calling for me?"