The Quantum Path to Immortality-Chapter 188 - 187: Fear and Calculation 2

The other two looked at him.

"Doesn’t he have a daughter?" Selvaria asked, understanding dawning in her eyes.

"Yes," Verathos confirmed. "Aria Vance. Currently a first-year student at the Epochal Ascendance Academy. Prodigious talent—achieved perfect scores in the entrance trials, something that hasn’t been done in fifty million years."

"We use her against him," Azmodeus said, catching on to the plan. "Kidnap her. Use her as leverage to force Elias to stand down."

"I don’t really want to fight someone with an aura like that," Selvaria admitted. "I’ve lived for billions of epochs across countless incarnations. I’d like to continue living."

"Same here," Azmodeus agreed. "Direct confrontation with Elias Vance is... inadvisable. But if we have his daughter, he’ll be forced to negotiate rather than attack."

"There’s a problem," Verathos said, his expression darkening. "The daughter is at the Epochal Ascendance Academy. That old Dean—the Timeless Scholar—is there. He’s equally terrifying in his own way. And the academy has countless old monsters in the background, protections we can’t easily bypass."

"We can’t possibly kidnap her from the academy in the presence of those old fogeys," Selvaria said. "The academy is one of the few places in the Infinity Realm where even we would hesitate to act openly."

"Then we wait," Azmodeus suggested. "Students go on missions. Leave the academy’s protections. Eventually, she’ll be vulnerable."

"Hold on," Verathos said, his eyes glazing slightly as he activated his divination techniques. "Let me divine her current location. If she’s in the academy, the protections will block my sight. But if she’s outside..."

His hands moved through complex patterns, pulling on threads of causality and fate. Time Law and Infinity Law working in concert, peering through the present to locate a specific target.

The technique activated, information flooding into Verathos’s consciousness.

His eyes snapped open, and a wide smile spread across his face.

"HAHA! It looks like fate is on our side!" he exclaimed. "She’s on a mission. Right now. Outside the academy’s protections. In Sector Eleven, investigating some spatial anomaly with a small team."

"Perfect," Azmodeus said, immediately beginning to gather his power. "We move now. Before she returns."

"Wait," Selvaria cautioned. "We need to be smart about this. If we go ourselves, it might trigger responses we can’t control. The academy monitors its students. If three Infinite cultivators appear near one of their prodigies, they’ll investigate."

"Then we send our forces," Verathos suggested. "Overwhelming numbers. Every available Sovereign in this headquarters—that’s approximately one thousand cultivators. They surround her, capture her, bring her back. We remain hidden, available for extraction if something goes wrong."

"One thousand Sovereigns against a Master-level student?" Azmodeus raised an eyebrow. "Isn’t that excessive?"

"She’s Elias Vance’s daughter," Selvaria reminded him. "She’s probably inherited some of his monstrous talent. Better excessive than insufficient."

"Agreed," Verathos said. "Quick, deploy all available Sovereigns to ambush her. We must not let this opportunity slip through our hands. This is likely our only chance to capture her outside the academy’s protections."

Azmodeus activated the base-wide communication array, his voice resonating through every corridor and chamber:

"All Sovereign-level operatives, emergency deployment. Coordinates being transmitted now. Target: Aria Vance. Priority: Capture alive. Lethal force authorized against any interference. Move immediately."

Throughout the Obsidian Sanctum, one thousand Sovereign cultivators received the order simultaneously. Within seconds, they were mobilizing—gathering weapons, activating techniques, forming teams.

Within a minute, the first wave was deploying through dimensional folds toward Sector Eleven.

Within three minutes, all one thousand were in transit.

"I’ll go as well," Azmodeus said. "Hidden, of course. If something unexpected happens, I’ll be on site to handle it. You two maintain command from here."

"Be careful," Verathos warned. "Elias Vance may have given her protections. Treasures. Techniques."

"Against one thousand Sovereigns?" Azmodeus smiled confidently. "Whatever protections he provided won’t be enough. She’s a Master-level cultivator barely over a hundred years old. Talented, yes. But still fundamentally limited by her cultivation realm."

He activated his own dimensional fold, preparing to deploy.

"One more thing," Selvaria said before he left. "The seal. Make sure the dimensional seal is absolute. If she has some kind of emergency beacon that summons Elias Vance, we need to ensure he can’t respond immediately. Give ourselves time to extract her and establish our leverage."

"Already planned," Azmodeus confirmed. "I’ll deploy the Eternal Isolation Array—nothing gets in or out until I deactivate it. Even if she calls for help, by the time any response arrives, we’ll be long gone."

"Then go," Verathos commanded. "Capture Elias Vance’s daughter. Secure our leverage. End this threat to our great work."

Azmodeus vanished through the dimensional fold. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The other two Infinite cultivators remained in the chamber, watching through observation arrays as their forces converged on Sector Eleven.

"Do you think this will work?" Selvaria asked quietly.

"It has to," Verathos replied. "The alternative is direct war with Elias Vance. And after feeling that aura, after witnessing what he did to our reconnaissance team..."

He didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t need to.

Both of them had lived for billions of years. Had survived countless conflicts, outlasted empires, witnessed the rise and fall of entire cultivation civilizations.

And both of them, for the first time in eons, were genuinely afraid of what might happen if this plan failed.

On the observation array, they watched as one thousand Sovereigns materialized in Sector Eleven, surrounding six Master-level students who’d just finished fighting some kind of void creature.

They watched as Azmodeus deployed the Eternal Isolation Array, sealing the entire region from external interference.

They watched as their forces began closing in on Aria Vance.

And they hoped—truly hoped—that this gambit would work.

Because if it didn’t...

Well. They’d lived good lives. Achieved much. Reached the absolute peak of cultivation.

If Elias Vance came for them in fury, they’d at least die having accomplished something worthwhile.

Though neither would say it aloud, both Verathos and Selvaria were already preparing contingency plans.

Escape routes. Hidden identities. Dimensional refuges so obscure that even another Infinite cultivator would struggle to find them.

Just in case.

The observation array showed Aria Vance’s aura suddenly exploding with power that made both watching Infinite cultivators lean forward in shock.

"Is that... the unique aura we felt from Elias?" Selvaria whispered. "She has it too?"

"And probably the entire family," Verathos breathed. "They’ve all mastered it. That’s the secret. That’s how Elias reached 99% so quickly."

They watched as the battle began.

And despite their careful planning, despite their overwhelming numerical advantage, despite their supposed superiority...

Both Infinite cultivators felt a growing sense of dread that perhaps—just perhaps—they’d made a terrible mistake.