"Governor Turan, what is the problem?" Vanis said as they walked into the quickly raised command center hovering just outside the arena.

  The room was constructed entirely out of stone, with the structure set in the shape of an arc. The Governor was sitting on a huge, levitating chair, surrounded by multiple levitating people who had their eyes closed.

  There were other people coming in and out, both Kings and lords, each handing in one report or another or requesting use of some equipment that was instantly granted.

  They all bowed when Vanis walked in, trailed behind by Solis as well as the other scions and Damien and his brother.

  "Lord Vanis," Governor Turan stood just up as Vanis walked in. "I didn't expect to see you so soon."

  Vanis raised an eyebrow. "You have rulership over this continent, and your senses extend far beyond it. I don't think my location anywhere on the core, and even the closest rings around, should've been lost on you."

  "Ah, I'm so—" the governor began, but was cut off as Solis interjected brusquely.

  "Answer the question, Governor. Who would dare attack us?"

  The governor sighed, tucking his hands behind his back. He strolled to stand in the middle of what Damien now recognized as a formation layered on the floor; a circle intersected with multiple five pointed stars, each of which hovered a Spirit King.

  "The Demon race." The man said. "Someone has contracted the Demon race to lay siege on us."

  The entire room went deathly silent. Sareina hissed and Huiron made a choking sound. Solis squeezed his fist tightly together and Vanis's brow furrowed deeper. They all had differing expressions, but the one thing they all shared was the fear. Fear choked the room.

  Damien watched Vanis take a deep breath with his eyes closed, and then he opened them. "If the Demon race in its entirety had been attacking us, we wouldn't be alive right now—nobody in this galaxy would be.

  "The fact that we're still alive means that only one clan is attacking us, and not a powerful one at that." He stared at the governor. "Which is it?"

  "The Yxil Tyrants. The Mind clan."

  "Again, the fact still stands," Solis stepped forward. "We're still living, which tells that the full might of the clan is not against us. For you to remain here instead of the middle of a warzone tells me that we're likely being attacked by a subsidiary."

  Governor Turan sighed and nodded. "We haven't been able to determine their rank yet, but yes, they are mostly a small Vassal of the Mind clan."

  "How did this happen?" Sareina said, stepping past the barricade of warrior maidens surrounding her. "A planetary invasion coinciding with the appearance of that... thing should not be possible."

  "That's because it's not a coincidence, is it, Governor?" Solis said slowly, turning his attention back to the governor.

  For the first time, Damien detected a sign of anger in the usually amiable features of the governor. His face twitched and a flash of something incomprehensible passed through.

  "No, my lord. Somebody made a pact to bring them here, likely in exchange for bodies. Somebody from our side."

  Vanis sighed. "Any idea who it is?"

  "No, and interrogation of some of the captured invaders has yielded no answers. All we know is that someone up in their chain of command made a deal for the Yxil to cause chaos and consume as much as they can."

  "What about Divination?" Huiron asked with his head tilted to the side and face contorted in confusion. "Have you tried divining who this... Traitor is? Unless they're of the same realm as you or above, I don't see why their identity should still be hidden."

  "Unfortunately, young master Saulae," Governor Turan turned his attention to the Saulae Scion. "That seems to be the case. I'm ashamed to say that our diviners are blind as to the identity of this traitor."

  The man sounded truly remorseful, and even though he shouldn't have been able to convey those expressions on his body features, given his realm, Damien still detected the dropping body posture and frustration on his face.

  "Gray?" Damien asked.

  [I'm sorry to disappoint, Damien, but my results correlate with those of the governor's.] Gray sounded worried. [I can't see anything about who made the pact. Trust me, I've checked.]

  That was more worrying than Damien would like to admit. He'd always viewed Gray as this depthless, powerful entity that saw all and knew all. His reach had been hinted to span the entire solar system, but Damien suspected it probably went far past that.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Having the man himself reveal that he was just as blind as the Spirit King diviners here sent a bad premonition down Damien's mind.

  "How many people do you think are powerful enough to block your sight?"

  [Admittedly, there are a lot. But extremely few are able hide something of this magnitude away from me. The actions of this person have sprung too many Karmic strings that their identity shouldn't be— hold on, brace!]

  Outside, an explosion suddenly rang out and everyone in the room crashed down on their knees.

  The already dimmed sunlight streaking in dimmed further and a sickly green light flashed out, followed by a dense crimson wave that still managed to reach down to those on the earth.

  Damien rose back up with a heavy breath. "The battle up there seems to be—"

  A soul-wrenching scream swept across the land, sending people spasming in pain and agony. In front of Damien, he watched as multiple Spirit lords who'd been walking in to deliver reports collapsed onto the ground, some unconscious, while others were straight up dead.

  The diviners hovering above the magical formation wobbled for a moment and then righted themselves.

  "What... was that?" Keilan said with widened eyes.

  He wasn't the only one, as the other scions and even the Divine King among them seemed very unsettled.

  Damien staggered to the side. His sight and mind were foggy from the sudden lancing pain that struck him. He felt like somebody had taken a knife and brought it down on his soul like a butcher with zero knowledge on their craft.

  [The hollow has begun wielding its powers,] Gray flowed up towards the ceiling. [Had I not intervened, all of you would be dead. And despite my powers, it still managed to shatter thousands with that one attack.]

  "Where are you going?" Damien asked.

  [To go assist the World Spirit. I suggest you all find a way to push these demons out and close the gateways. Turan, if you aren't aware, the Cosmic rules of war still stand. Do not intervene, and call back all the higher tier Spirit Kings who plan to. This battle has yet to turn bloody. Do not make it so.] And with that, he phased through the Ceiling and was gone.

  [Damien,] Gray's voice said in his head. [What I'm about to do will require much of my capabilities, and as such I will not be able to provide protection should anything happen to you. Be careful and do not take on more than a couple of those demons by yourself. The Yxil Tyrants might not wield a great affinity, but they're just as powerful as those who do. Don't underestimate them.]

  Damien didn't make any outward show of agreement, but he let Gray know that he'd listen and would follow his advice.

  "I take back my earlier words, your Minder is pretty cool! Where did you find it?" Damien turned as Huiron's left arm curled around his neck.

  Slowly extricating himself from the other man's grip, he answered. "Under a large piece of rock."

  "Ahh, a lucky find, ehh?!" The other man smiled as he let Damien squirm away. "Marvelous! Say, how much would you take for it? Five hundred million black Vicari? A billion? Fifty?"

  Nalon choked. "That's far more than I'll ever earn in ten thousand years!"

  "More than what most houses have in their account," Sareina murmured.

  "Where do you expect to find such an amount?" Solis asked with suspicion. "I doubt any of us has such an amount, even combined. Heck, not even Governor Turan does. Or do you, governor?"

  The man coughed nervously. "I'm sorry, lord, but I do not."

  "I have a few properties here and there," Huiron shrugged.

  "He probably stole it," Sareina nodded with certainty.

  "I did not!" Huiron said, and then when he saw the looks of disbelief on everybody's face, shouted again. "I didn't! I merely... Acquired them."

  "Without the owner's knowledge or consent, you mean."

  "Hmm, nope, I didn't steal them. It's not my fault they don't know how to keep track of their things."

  "I have never seen someone try to justify thievery this bad, and with such a good point, too," Keilan shook his head.

  "Trust me, this is just the beginning," Vanis said. "Now, everyone, focus. We need to find a way to solve this issue."

  "Solve?" Solis said with raised eyebrows. "You say that like this is an issue that requires brains more than brawns. Here's what we will do. As commander of no small part of our armed forces, I will take my ground forces and assist the nearest—" he paused. "Governor, how many gateways are there?"

  "Two."

  Solis nodded. "Perfect. Huiron and I will provide assistance to the warriors assaulting one gate while my brother and the rest will take the other."

  "Brother, don't you think you're—" Vanis tried to speak but was cut off.

  "I have experience in warfare and you don't. I take charge in this." He stared at his brother, and then turned away when Vanis finally nodded.

  "Huiron, you're the most stealth oriented of us all, you'll find and take out the Yxil Spirit lord commanders. Any Spirit King commander you find, stay away and report to me or Lord Turan."

  "Yes sir," The Saulae scion smiled and then saluted.

  Solis seemed to be in the mood, because he ignored Huiron and then turned towards the rest.

  "Vanis, Sar, and the rest of you will make for the second gate," he began. "Sar, you'll provide aerial cover while my brother and Damien push for the gate. Keilan, you're a wind wielder, which makes you a dual fighter. Taking your injury into consideration, I can't have you on the front line, nor can I have you on the air. So, you will stay behind the lines and provide cover protection for Sareina in the air.

  "She will be mainly protected by her warders," he gestured at the maidens who all nodded. "But there's no such thing as too much protection. With your will and intent, nothing below Spirit King should pose any problem for you."

  Keilan didn't answer, instead he turned towards Damien, who nodded at the unsaid question on his brother's face.

  "I'll be fine. Vanis and Sareina will be with me." Damien assured.

  "You'd better be, else I'm storming in, regardless of what anybody says." The last part he said looking at Solis.

  Solis took notice, no doubt, but he pretended not to, which was very uncharacteristic of him, Damien noticed.

  "I will do it," Keilan finally said to the Verrille lord.

  "Good, let's head out. Lord Turan, alert the commanders overseeing the assault on those gates and inform them we're on our way."

  He pulled aside a passing Spirit King.

  "Make an announcement to those under my command to rally towards the second gate. Go. Hurry."

  The man didn't even stop to bow, he vanished with so much speed that it looked like he'd teleported.

  Huh... "Why didn't he teleport?" Damien asked. "A command like that would reach everyone if he teleported."

  Governor Turan answered. "You probably have not noticed, but with the battle happening up there, space isn't... Stable at the moment. Its laws are being interfered with. It's best not to test the consequences of moving spatially."

  Damien nodded and then stretched out his hands, manifesting his spear.

  "Alright, I'm ready."

  "Good, let's—"

  Just then, space cracked, a scream shattered the minds of everyone, and then azure flooded the world.