Abby floats forward through the departing demonic clouds.
Her aura is strange.
It bursts outward with a strong green light, but to the three commanders that float behind her, they cannot sense it at all.
Behind her, at the edges of her aura, it shimrs and dazzles with yellow light. It even phases through the demonic clouds without directly interacting with them.
Fisher and Lydia's bright blue and white auras are a far more destructive force on the environnt, despite clearly being much weaker.
The four of them take a semi-direct path to the throne but still weave through a few regions of battlefields surrounding the massive black tower.
Without having to confront massive 1st Class Demonic Beasts everywhere they turn, the commanders are much quicker at retrieving artifacts and monster corpses, as it's very simple.
Within a few kiloters of range, an item storage portal can be opened to store their remains. So, they weave back and forth about a thousand kiloters left and right while moving forward through blast zones, as they might as well take advantage of this while they're on the way.
Arie never bothered to loot the monsters when he killed almost a full third of the world's population in a matter of seconds while battling the Dark Elf Lich.
While the majority of their ether stores are drained, and massive numbers of the corpses have been obliterated to an unrecognizable state from the yellow arrows that followed Arie in his battle, there are still hundreds of soul weapons and valuable high-grade materials found just within this small sliver of land on their path to the throne.
While Monk, in particular, is most excited to take an entire lap around the globe to collect the rest of the remains after Arie's fight, the massive black tower that gets larger and larger in their vision ahead is far more intriguing.
The closer they fly toward it, the fewer massive craters from Arie's last fight show up all over the ground.
Instead, the remnants of mountains, valleys, rivers, and wide-open plains are left behind.
Much of the land looks untouched, as though the only thing that has ruined it into a dark black world of nothing but death is the ambient demonic energy in the air.
Only Abby looks down at the strange environnt and gets flashes of the fragnted mories she witnessed of this world when it was once lush and filled with living Wyverns.
The three commanders that trail behind her wonder what happened here, and if this is what the human world would have turned into had they lost to the Vermillion Family Demons that tried to claim their throne.
At the sa ti, a cold wave of energy ripples through them in slow, yet random and chaotic frequencies.
Fisher only recognizes this as the feeling he felt when coming face to face with the Lich's arrow.
Monk assus there is another tomb nearby or a monster that was left behind and not killed by the other generals, while Lydia, the furthest back, has not yet made any guesses.
Abby, on the other hand, has already sent her perception through this portion of the world and knows exactly what the cold vibrations are.
She puts her hand out and catches the staff rotating around her, then imdiately pushes a large amount of soul energy into it. A new set of glyphs on the base of the staff light up, and the rings around its core rotate faster for a mont before another pulse of green light erupts from her.
This ti, it doesn't reach very far, stopping once it envelops all of the commanders, soaking them with a soothing, warm sensation.
In the sa mont, she activates a restoration circle beneath her feet that expands outward while sending a ssage to everyone following.
"Stand closer to , and we shouldn't have a problem getting to the base of the throne."
They do as she says, but Lydia speaks up with a question once they touch down on the ground together around Abby.
"It's the throne. It's giving off the sa cold pressure that the kings did. Can we really get that close? And would we be of any help? We're still hundreds of kiloters away, yet without your protection, we'd already be turning back."
Monk looks down at his hands in awe, as they are sparkling green and yellow. There is an invisible field pulsing out from Abby, and the three of them are selected as its targets, making a very thin seal around their bodies that absorbs the cold radiation.
Fisher tries to send out a burst of perception, but he feels his aura beco dull the further out of the array that Abby has created. His system is significantly suppressed while out of her general vicinity, and he cannot see what's ahead.
Abby motions for them to walk up a final rocky cliffside.
No one asks why they aren't flying any further, but they just do as she says—without her, they couldn't even be walking now.
The assumption is her power is limited while shielding them from the aura of the throne.
However, in reality, Abby is not limited at all.
Shielding them from this vibrational radiation is a simple task, but she knows that it is not the throne that is giving off such a random, chaotic, and cold aura.
Once the four of them make it to the peak of the cliffside Abby pointed to, she gestures over the edge with her left hand and activates another collection of glyphs with her right.
The few hundred kiloters surrounding the throne are hit with a pulse of green and yellow light, and all of the demonic energy is blown away like a gust of wind rushing in.
The black tower is revealed in all its glory, and around its base, tens of thousands of skeletons litter the ground.
Enormous kiloter long spines with long rib cages of Noble Wyverns can be seen, but in addition to this, tens of thousands of humanoid skeletons are scattered all over the desolate land as well.
Though they have sharp teeth and much larger builds, ranging from 20 ters up to over 100 ters in height.
Many died with their soul weapons in hand, while others have their heads torn off or lodged in the mouths of a Wyvern's skull.
They're the remains of Noble Demons that battled on this world long ago as well.
The most shocking sight is the perfect circle around the throne, separating the graveyard of Wyverns and demons from the untouched land the commanders stand on now.
It looks extrely familiar to the silver do that was ford on the human world, trapping the demons and humans to fight until the challengers of the throne finished their trials.
Getting this close and seeing it in person makes Abby's staff shimr green again, and the vision of thousands of Wyverns flying toward the throne over this thriving world resurfaces.
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However, more mories start to co flooding in as new symbols on the staff light up for the first ti.
As she stares at the ancient remains of a battle down below, with black bones on a lifeless landscape, the visuals of colorful Wyverns fighting with fire, wind, earth, and water—defending their ho against black energy-wielding demons—fill her mind.
–
anwhile, Bri responds to the ssage in her inner ear from Maria through the moon base cultivation chamber's telepathy-linked ssaging system.
"Yes, the ti between realms has stabilized... We have 18 days before the event Jay has planned, but he wants you all to be ready for ascension within 10 days. Stabilizing the green core is going to be a challenge that takes at least a week to complete as well, it seems."
The live feed that shows Maria's cultivation chamber still doesn't look any different from the day she entered it.
Even the data readings that show how much energy has been absorbed don't make any sense. Maria's energy readings show that her yellow divine core is exactly the sa size and power level that it was months ago.
Though, in comparison to the other generals, she's absorbed many tis more divine threads than all of them combined. They've seemingly vanished into thin air, and the slight grin that shows on Maria's face when she receives Bri's next ssage makes the craftswoman even more intrigued to know where they've gone.
"Ten days? Perfect, I'll be ready to ascend then... I'll need complete radio silence to be in total concentration in the anti. And tell Alveron to make sure not to leave anything valuable on this base. I'll be using my 3rd Ranked-Up buff to complete my True Core's compression and saturation... so, let them know they're losing our bet."
Bri's heart races as she watches the other recordings of the generals compressing their cores, and the furthest any of them got to breaking the cultivation chamber was halfway through the 52-wall Region-Sized gastructure.
Though, considering the missing divine threads and Maria's confidence in her words, she believes her... sending a ssage back right away.
"Understood. Good luck."
Then their connection cuts off, and she imdiately tries to contact the silver knight who had left the surveillance room to check on Luna's assimilation progress. However, they were using the cultivation chamber's system to communicate, so Alveron speaks directly into her mind before she even has to send a ssage.
"I will make sure her progress is monitored smoothly, and I would be happy to lose that base if she really manages to break it."
A fake, simulated laugh echoes from the knight, and Bri nods, switching her focus to the other two cultivation rooms that are being used right now.
One is tinted red, as Raven sits between two enormous black blades, with enough mana and divine threads to fuel an entire 1st Grade world.
Arie's chamber is pumped with divine threads, but also a large amount of demonic energy. He sits in the middle of the glossy obsidian black bow.
Both of the chambers are infused with a small amount of the Low-Quality Ether that the Rising Emperor sent down to aid their rging process as well.
About 60,000 Low-Quality Ether each, to be exact.
An additional 100,000 has been sold to Alveron directly, making back close to the amount that was lost by sending materials up to the Upper Realm—the equivalent of the total resources of almost a hundred 1st Class Worlds.
Bri isn't sure if the price Alveron has set is accurate, even though a small galactic fortune was spent. But after the business dealings they've already done together, and the fact that he hasn't even t the Rising Emperor yet, she believes it is most likely a fair price.
She sets tirs to list 280,000 Low-Quality Ether for competitive prices in packets of 1–10 Ether each in random marketplaces on both popular and obscure ssage boards over the next few weeks.
She creates a 10,000 Ether per world limit and a hard cap of 10 Ether per registered buyer for the first round to make sure there are no power imbalances.
Alveron explains to her what it really is, and how it is a far more potent and powerful resource than Qi.
So, Bri leaves the remaining 500,000 Low-Quality Ether in her system storage to sit on and waits to see how the market reacts to this influx before doing anything else.
During this new exploration of markets, while certain trades are being automatically fulfilled and ssage boards begin reacting to the anonymous injection of Low-Quality Ether into the Lower Realm, Bri also begins to read up on the Soul Weapon data packet from Asic, the High Orc.
–
After sending Ether to Arie and Raven's systems, she sends a ssage through their cultivation chamber links, nudging Alveron with the back of her mind to listen along, as she believes the slug will find what she's about to say quite interesting.
"There, I've sent over all of the materials necessary for your soul weapon crafts. The Ether I've provided could be collected over ti, but if a large amount is used in the craft now, it will strengthen the weapon's base."
Arie is the first to respond.
"Perfect. I was going to sacrifice so of the essence I managed to drain from the King, but now I won't have to."
After sitting in a controlled environnt, without having to think about losing his bow or the chance of an enemy attack, the hot sensation burning his body and headaches have drastically decreased.
So of the essence from the beasts he's drained had to be cycled out of his body to alleviate the pressure and remove the impure Qi that was creating an imbalance in his body.
It seems as though different purities of Ether don't mix well in the sa core.
Raven nods along too, but she is in a far deeper trance with her eyes closed.
She is not only here to create her soul swords but also to restore so of the lost divine threads she used up in her battle to reach full saturation again.
"Yes, I'm listening," is the only response heard.
Bri smiles.
"Good. What the two of you will be creating are called Relic Class Soul Weapons. They are going to act as second cores that you must treat as a part of yourselves moving forward. Very similar to blood bonded weapons, but far more personal and powerful."
Bri sifts through the data given to her by Asic and continues.
"Many Soul Weapons, including the vast majority of the ones retrieved from the world below, are classified as Basic Class. This is a very common classification for the average Soul Weapon in the Upper Realm as well. These are different from Relics because they don't carry the will of another being."
Arie smiles.
"So you're saying we'll be wielding the weapons of kings, quite literally?"
Bri nods.
"Kind of. The two beasts that owned these weapons last are a special case. I cannot say how they fell into the state they were in, but to conserve their sanity—or maybe as a result of soone else's curse—the kings on this world fused their minds and souls with their weapons. Maybe it was part of their battle style, or the demons' twisted idea of testing the limits of science, but as a result of this, their eternal battles will carry on."
The craftswoman sifts through her notes more.
"However, Relics aren't able to exert any wills of their own without the guiding hand of their wielder. They only grant abilities and techniques for their wielders to take as suggestions like a lost echo. If they were able to survive even death, and exert this will without their wielder's consent, they would beco a Soul Weapon with the classification of a Sentinel."
Alveron interjects at Bri's words.
"I've heard of these before. It is when a weapon consus its wielder and overrides their will. A Sentinel is a living weapon; it is able to battle on its own without the need for flesh and blood."
Bri nods.
"Yes, the writer of these notes says they are often not born until the wielders die, but they didn't leave a large amount of notes on them. Many of these tests are on Basic Class and Relic Class artifacts. Though, many theories are stated about two others: the Destroyer Class Soul Weapon and the Amplifiers."
Arie and Raven focus on their own careful preparation processes, as hundreds of divine-grade craftsmanship windows float around them. Alveron is very intrigued by this next part, as the slug does not know much about either of these two classifications.
"It's said here Amplifiers are the rarest kind of Soul Weapons, as True Amplifiers are only created once for every race. To bond with one properly, you must have a certainty about your will, and it must align with the prior soul's desires. The writer of this research says they've never co in contact with one themselves but has detailed notes about first hand accounts from a few sources. Though, it is stated many tis that the accuracy of these additional notes cannot be proven. Many tis he has run into Soul Weapon users with extrely powerful Relic Class artifacts that have claid to be Amplifiers, yet they never truly are. Though, for so reason he is certain they exist."
Bri keeps reading, and her eyebrows raise.
"—And yes, the Destroyer Class Soul Weapons. This writer of these notes says he's never seen one of these either, and they may just be myths. However, in theory, they are possible. It is when a wielder harnesses the soul of sothing that should not be captured. Like a planet, or a star..."
Bri's eyes squint, and she shrugs.
"That's it... well, other than the hundreds of thousands of craft results recorded for Basic and Relic Class weapons. There are many different types, but I won't bore you with the affinities and possible evolution paths certain weapons can take. There are common paths that certain races follow, but it seems to be very personal, just like Ranked-Up buffs or True Core abilities..."
Alveron asks to look at the list of crafts, but Arie and Raven aren't very interested.
So, she wishes the generals good luck as they have everything they need and cuts them out of the ongoing telepathy chat to have so peace and quiet while turning to the Silver Knight in the surveillance room.
She has a very familiar gleam in her eyes that lusts for profits as she replies to the slug's request.
"Sure, I've given you a free taste of what I can offer. What specifics are you looking for? I'm sure we can co to a few reasonable agreents."
–
In the Upper Realm, flying high above the green clouds, the Ellipsia Citadel gets smaller and smaller behind a Wyvern and the silhouette of a fake Demon. The Blue Wyvern sends a telepathic ssage back to the Rising Emperor as they both exit the last translucent layer of an ether security bubble surrounding the Citadel.
"Kelfar? How do you know the na of my ho world?"
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