New Battlefield Command Center – Progenitor City

The afternoon sun slowly began to show its exhaustion. Reluctantly, the world watched as the solar orb withdrew behind the western horizon of the continent. As darkness draped itself over Progenitor City, the streetlights flickered to life.

With the infinite resources they could now duplicate through Vivid Dream, the Kingdom of Wilwatikta no longer feared extravagance. Although the spoils brought back from the Mind Realm could neither fill a stomach nor harden a muscle, their other utilities had propelled the kingdom’s technology decades ahead of its time. One such marvel was the streetlamps crafted from the mana organs of Mutated Animals. Light Beetles—Copper-tier mutated beasts—possessed the ability to absorb mana and illuminate the dark. R-18 had experimented with their mana organs to create a royal lighting system dubbed Mana Lamps. During the day, these lamps drank mana from the air; at night, they exhaled light.

Despite the city being brightly lit, the common folk were too accustomed to treating the sunset as a signal to return home and rest. Activity persisted within the city walls, but the atmosphere was far more somber than the bustling daylight hours.

However, there was one place that never slept.

The Command Room sat adjacent to the city gates, positioned for the rapid receipt of reports and immediate action. This room did not smell of the dust or sweat common to soldier barracks. Instead, the circular chamber, bathed in the dim glow of Mana Lamps, smelled of parchment, ink, and cold metal. At the center of the room, a massive obsidian table displayed a constantly shifting map of the New Battlefield, marked with pieces carved from bone. Several Druids and Asuras took turns moving the pieces according to the latest intelligence received from the Pandava.

Boku stood like a statue at the edge of the table. His massive fingers, tipped with sharp claws, pressed into the obsidian until the stone began to hairline crack. He had chosen to command the front lines of Progenitor City because it was the most perilous post. The Human Alliance would never leave Wilwatikta be without seeking retribution. Consequently, he had entrusted the Bitter Maja front to Goku while he took the reins of the New Battlefield.

The Commander’s crimson eyes glared intensely at a single point on the map: a narrow pass near the ruined boundary between the Bitter Maja and the New Battlefield. The report he had just read felt like a poisoned thorn lodged in his throat.

Twenty-two elite Asuras were dead. Only Kuja and Diru had returned alive, dragging with them the corpse of a Level 5 Constellation Mage. Had Diru not managed to force open the gate of evolution and master his Vivid Dream at that exact moment, the casualty list would surely have been longer.

To Wilwatikta, every Asura was priceless. While the kingdom did not coddle them like infants, strategies were always meticulously designed to ensure the Asuras never faced an impossible foe. Yet, what had transpired this afternoon was entirely beyond calculation.

Three Level 5 Constellation Mages and one Level 6 had ambushed the Asura unit, which had been split into four groups. Kuja had been forced to duel the Level 6 mage alone, while Diru faced a Level 5 whose power verged on Level 6. The other two groups had been unable to offer any meaningful resistance and were slaughtered wholesale by the remaining Level 5 mages.

The only silver lining was that Kuja and Diru had emerged stronger. Nevertheless, the loss of twenty-two Asuras was a staggering blow to the kingdom. Within less than a year, each of them could have become a pillar of Wilwatikta’s strength.

While their current relations with the Demon race appeared tight, the reality was that the time for their "allies" to stab them in the back was drawing near. Boku knew their secrets would soon be laid bare, and once that happened, they would have to fight the entire world. This was why every single Asura mattered.

Unfortunately, an Asura could not grow powerful simply through food and cultivation. Though their Dragon Prana requirements were managed by the discovery of EXP Potions, reality on the ground proved that Dragon Breath Cultivation alone was insufficient. Every Asura had to prove themselves in true combat before they could even approach the next gate of evolution. Fighting was their favorite pastime, but fighting also meant lives were the currency. Boku understood this, yet losing twenty-two lives in a single day felt agonizing.

"It was an unfortunate tactical accident, Commander," Boku’s adjutant said, breaking the silence. The lean Asura, marked by a scar across his lip, straightened the scrolls in his hand. "The Druids reporting enemy positions couldn’t get close enough, leading to a miscalculation of the enemy’s numbers and strength. As a result, the Hobgoblin vanguard was annihilated before the fight even began. They likely panicked and viewed the ambush site as their only safe point. Sadly, that’s only true if the enemy’s power doesn’t exceed our projections."

Boku slowly lifted his head, staring at his adjutant with an aura that caused the room’s temperature to plummet instantly.

"An accident?" Boku growled. "Since when does a Level 6 Constellation Mage go wandering onto a Hobgoblin bait-trail? Even if he carries the Valya name, the Human Alliance wouldn’t let him retreat from the Demon front lines so easily!"

His voice was low but vibrated like a tectonic shift. "And did you not see the enemy’s composition? That was an elite mage squad with the weakest member at Level 3. A unit like that should be engaging our own elites or executing a decapitation mission!"

The adjutant swallowed hard, lowering his gaze. "Perhaps... the mage was too bloodthirsty, driven by the Human Alliance’s grudge—"

"On the battlefield, ’coincidence’ is just another name for an ambush you failed to notice," Boku cut him off sharply. A foul premonition crawled beneath his skin. This massacre was too precise, too lethal to be mere chance. Boku was certain this was a calculated strike by the Valya Family. Their primary target was obvious: Kuja.

Kuja was the son of Nevare, the primary cause of the fall of Heles City. Furthermore, the Human Alliance knew Kuja was the grandson of their King—the son of Prince Moku. It was only natural he would be their prime target.

However, they had failed to realize that Kuja had grown exponentially stronger since his defeat against Artur. Boku still remembered the doubt and fear in the boy’s eyes before the assault on Heles. Now, Kuja had transformed into a true Asura—one who no longer knew the meaning of hesitation.