The so-called new order was a thin veil stretched over restless waters, its stillness nothing more than a prelude. The storm he wove would not arrive with warning—it would descend all at once, tearing the veil and drowning the world in the tide he had prepared.
"The reports of my death were rely assumptions and delusions, and reality isn’t built on such things. It’s built on facts. " Arthur said with the patient tone of soone who had anticipated this reaction.
The recruitnt had just beco infinitely more complex and significant than Leroy had imagined possible.
He wasn’t just joining an organisation—he was allying himself with the individual who would likely reshape human civilisation’s response to the dinsional crisis and determine which nations survived the ongoing apocalypse
...
Leroy sighed deeply, the weight of revelation settling into his consciousness as he processed the full implications of who he was actually speaking with.
"You are truly an irregular," Leroy said with obvious admiration mixed with lingering shock. "I’ve always wanted to et you, soone who achieved such power at your age, soone with your combat experience and accomplishnts. eting you face to face... You are even grander than I imagined."
Arthur’s smile carried genuine amusent at the complints coming from Leroy.
"Careful now," Arthur replied with teasing humour that lightened the serious atmosphere surrounding them. "Keep saying things like that, and I’ll start thinking you’re coming to my good side already. We haven’t even gotten to the real benefits of the alliance yet."
The joke carried friendly warmth that helped establish a comfortable rapport between them despite the extraordinary circumstances of their eting and the overwhelming power disparity that had initially intimidated Leroy.
Arthur then carefully placed the Mask of a Thousand Faces back over his features, his true identity disappearing once again beneath the sophisticated magical disguise that would allow him to operate without recognition.
Leroy watched the transformation with obvious curiosity before voicing a question that had been building in his mind since witnessing Arthur’s casual demonstration of overwhelming defensive capabilities.
"Why do you bother with the mask?" Leroy asked with interest. In his eyes, Arthur contained enough power to make even the strongest nations kneel. As long as his enemies don’t know his exact coordinates to launch a nuclear weapon, he is almost invincible.
He had survived multiple strikes of MOABs after all.
"Why don’t you simply destroy your enemies directly? With this subordinate you have," he gestured toward the Winter Beast, whose domain abilities had created their current private eting space, " and your own power, you could easily eliminate any opposition that threatens you."
Arthur clicked his tongue in dismissive negation.
"Not yet," Arthur replied with the patient tone of soone whose plans operated on scales that others couldn’t perceive. "Their ti has not arrived yet. Everything has its proper mont, and premature action creates complications that serve no useful purpose."
The statent suggested that Arthur’s enemies would indeed face consequences for their actions, but according to a carefully planned timing rather than imdiate emotional responses to provocation.
Arthur then turned to the Winter Beast with calm authority. "Remove the domain," he commanded with simple directness.
The Winter Beast acknowledged the instruction with respectful obedience, its ancient consciousness recognising that the private eting had accomplished its intended objectives. The supernatural cold that had defined the domain’s interior began dissipating as reality reasserted normal laws within the barrier.
Outside the ice do, the assembled Australian forces had been engaged in increasingly desperate assault attempts that were producing no visible results despite representing the combined offensive capability of their nation’s elite supernatural defenders.
Two S-rank awakened coupled with tens of A-Rank awakeners had joined the original five A-rank operatives, their presence indicating that Australia’s leadership was treating this situation as a national ergency requiring maximum response.
They completely ignored the other portals and left B-Rankers and a few other A-Rankers to deal with it. They had enough power to hold them off for a short period of ti without incurring major losses.
Sarah Windcaller, one of Australia’s S-rank champions, had been channelling her wind manipulation abilities to create pressure differentials that should have shattered any conventional barrier. Tornados of compressed air struck the do’s surface with the force of natural disasters, their winds carrying debris and energy that could obliterate buildings.
The ice absorbed every impact without showing the slightest indication of stress or damage.
Marcus Stormforge, the second S-rank awakened, had been employing his legendary talworking abilities to create projectiles from tal that possessed supernatural penetrating properties. Spears of tal launched at high velocities.
Each projectile simply embedded itself harmlessly in the do’s surface before being turned into an ice sculpture.
The A-rank operatives had been cycling through their most devastating skills in coordinated waves designed to overwhelm defensive capabilities through sheer volu and variety of assault types.
Lightning strikes that could vaporise boulders simply dispersed across the do’s surface in harmless electrical displays. Earth manipulation that created massive boulders launched with catapult force resulted in the projectiles being absorbed into the ice without creating even minor surface irregularities.
Fire with incredible heat simply evaporated upon contact with the supernatural cold, creating steam clouds that obscured vision without accomplishing any objectives.
"This is impossible," Sarah whispered with growing horror as she witnessed her most powerful skills proving completely ineffective. "No defensive capability should be able to absorb S-rank attacks without showing any indication of structural stress."
Marcus’s expression reflected similar disbelief as his own abilities failed to produce even scratches on the do’s surface. "It’s just unbelievable. Just what kind of beta player is able to produce such a thing! We have tabs on the most powerful ice users, but they don’t fit with the description or power of the person who created this."
The A-rank awakeners were showing signs of exhaustion from their sustained assault efforts, their enhanced stamina depleted by repeated activation of their most energy-intensive abilities.
"What kind of person could possess such overwhelming power?" one awakener asked with obvious fear undermining his composure. "We’re using techniques that could destroy military installations, and this barrier isn’t even acknowledging our attacks exist."
The shock and fear among Australia’s elite forces was palpable as they realized they were facing an individual whose capabilities exceeded their understanding of what was possible within their world’s power scaling systems.
Their combined assault—representing the pinnacle of Australia’s supernatural military capability—had proven utterly inadequate against soone who treated their most devastating attacks as minor inconveniences unworthy of serious attention.
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