Amidst the blazing torches, a pillar of bluish-white light shot straight toward the surface of the sea.
With a dense rustling sound, a path of light reaching to the heavens was born amidst the countless bubbles rising through the Quantum Sea.
And then—
"Thrum."
Starships numbering over ninety percent of the Imperial fleet's total, along with an equal number of followers of other Astral Gods and their vessels—this combined expeditionary armada appeared majestically in the middle layers of the Quantum Sea.
And... a sacred sphere that illuminated the entire deep-sea region:
The Monarch's true body.
"Gurgle."
Amidst the sound of churning bubbles (these were all world fragnts that had failed to beco world bubbles), Cheche, having deactivated her Collapsed State (Armant State), slowly approached the Monarch.
"Little Bai."
"Where are the other Astral Gods?"
Cheche's form was already several tis the size of a Sovereignty-class super-titan, but compared to the sphere before her, she was still as small as a speck of black ink on rice paper.
The spherical image of the Monarch that usually appeared on [The Throne] was rely a wisp of his will. To sustain the enormous energy consumption of his true body, the Monarch usually hid himself in the crevice between the quantum mbrane and Imaginary space.
Here, the Monarch could ensure a supply of both Imaginary and Quantum energy without placing too great a burden on the universe.
"They dare not be so quick," a faint, elusive voice answered Cheche's question in the Monarch's stead. A chaotic black mist drifted around the golden sphere. "They will appear naturally once the target is found."
IX, the Astral God of Nihility, was the only Astral God to have followed the Monarch into the Quantum Sea.
"..."
After a brief silence, the Monarch suddenly cut to the chase.
"IX."
The Monarch addressed the Astral God of Nihility by na, proof that their relationship—for better or worse—was not a new one.
"Did you agree to Preservation's proposal in the hope of burying yourself here?"
In fact, the first eting between the Monarch and Qlipoth had been personally arranged by this very "IX," who, in the public's impression, never interacted with other Astral Gods.
"Order, you know full well how I will answer: Astral Gods must walk their Paths. There are no exceptions."
Far from its holand, in the depths of the Abyss, the Astral God of Nihility was more talkative than imagined—sothing its followers, [The Self-Annihilators], had never heard... Of course, they lacked the ability to eavesdrop on a conversation between Astral Gods anyway.
"But you cast your gaze upon the [Chaos Doctors]. They are the first 'Inverse Followers' in the star-sea universe to extract Imaginary energy from a Path and successfully ensure their civilization's survival."
The [Chaos Doctors] did not recognize the [Path of Nihility], yet they still received "IX's" gaze and drew power from that Path.
The na "Inverse Followers" had since appeared throughout the star-sea universe.
"Who dares say," the Monarch continued, "that this 'experint,' which subverts all common sense, is not your way of escaping your destination?"
The topic, which had just seed like a casual chat between friends, suddenly grew much more serious with the Monarch's words.
"..."
"IX" did not answer the Monarch's question imdiately. The silence was particularly unsettling in the deep sea.
"Order, do you know what you are suspecting?"
"Yes," the Monarch replied, making no attempt to hide from "IX's" guess.
"You need not tell if you have made a similar 'deal,' because no matter what, 'An Astral God will not betray their Path'—"
"Is that not so?"
"..."
Silence spread once more. Unfortunately, there were no witnesses to this secret. Not even Cheche knew what Little Bai and "IX" were discussing.
"I have to wonder just how much 'mory' you inherited from 'Order'."
"My answer is the sa as before: none at all."
"..."
"Order, I need you to witness the death of 'Nihility'," the Astral God of Nihility said abruptly, a statent without context.
"Of course," the Monarch replied. "From the very beginning, that was the duty of an 'old friend'."
IX, the Astral God of Nihility, was ancient. But just how "old" this "old friend" was, no one knew besides the two of them.
"Many thanks."
"There is no need. I never refuse a win-win situation... As an 'old friend,' you should know that better than anyone."
---o---
To an ordinary person, the exchange between the Monarch and the Astral God of Nihility did not even last an instant.
The massive expeditionary fleet was rapidly reorganizing its vanguard. A new formation centered around the Monarch was assembled in just a quarter of an hour.
"Weigh anchor, load munitions."
"All hands, level-one combat readiness."
The plan for this expedition was divided into three steps:
Step one: "Establish a stable spatial anchor point with the vanguard." This had already been completed (this plan was contingent on the 'Fourth Quantum Frontline' failing to respond).
Step two: Led by Order and Nihility, assist the joint expeditionary force (all Astral God followers) in breaking through the mbrane between the middle and lower layers of the Abyss to enter the deep sea region, and provide a reliable anchor point for the arrival of the other Astral Gods. To ensure Qlipoth's plan could proceed without interference, all the participating Astral Gods were currently on standby in a "subspace fault."
Step three: The mont the target Outer God is discovered, gather the full power of all Astral Gods to annihilate it instantly.
To prevent the Outer God from escaping, this operation had to be executed with absolute surprise, which was why they had not simply overwheld the area with a massive army from the start. Countless civilizations in the star-sea universe had already been corrupted by the Abyss; the "Interastral Peace Conference" held by the IPC had provided cover for the Astral Gods' true "Abyss Expedition Conference."
Orders were relayed to the spreading fleet.
Though spherical in formation, the fleet's dispersal volu was enough to cover several star systems. The expeditionary force would inevitably be attacked by the Abyss as it approached the deep sea, and encounters with other Outer Gods were unavoidable. This formation would effectively prevent them from being annihilated in a single blow.
After all, among the Outer Gods, there were "individual" powerhouses on the level of "Aha." "IX's" defensive prowess was self-evident, but even so, there was no guarantee they wouldn't encounter multiple Outer Gods before finding their main target.
"Activate the Fault Space Engine."
The starships turned, their lights illuminating the path forward through the chaotic and disorderly seawater (data stream).
"Towards the deep—"
"VMMMM—"
The light from the ignited reactors beca a single sheet of brilliance. The flare from the engines blew away the dark clouds and trepidation hanging over the fleet—as if the pure white of a warm sun had pierced the sunless seabed for the first ti in ten thousand years.
"Depart!"
"SWOOSH!"
---o---
There is no concept of ti in the Abyss.
The anomalies that possess "ti," world bubbles, can hardly survive in the deep sea. Even if a few once existed, they have now beco food for [Calamity Beasts] or "templates" for the Abyss's creations.
Regardless of the thod of transition, even to the perception of an Astral God... it was but a fleeting instant.
"SWOOSH!"
The mont the jump was completed—
"Should I say this was expected?"
"Although it's not the first ti I've seen them, this is the first ti they've appeared in such large numbers."
This conversation was sparked by the boundary mbrane between the middle and deep layers of the Abyss.
On the only path into the deep sea region (a coordinate in the partition where quantum energy fluctuations allowed ordinary Imaginary creations to enter), a silver-black fleet, far smaller than the Imperial fleet but with an extrely "serene" aura, had appeared silently at the anchor point.
"This is..."
"A specialty of the deep Quantum Sea. We usually call them: the Lost Fleet."
[Lost Fleet]
This fleet hailed from the Quantum Sea, the creations of a civilization from so unknown cosmic cycle that had fallen into its depths. All traces of life had long since vanished. These starships, their interiors long ago reford by the Abyss with only their exteriors retaining the marks of civilization, were what the Monarch called the [Lost Fleet].
The Empire had indeed salvaged many "lost starships" and had even seen small-to-dium fleets of dozens or hundreds of them, but a scale like today's was truly unprecedented.
Incidentally, much of the starship technology currently used by the Empire had been reverse-engineered from salvaged "lost starships." The biggest obstacle to this reverse-engineering—quantum energy corrosion—was not much of a problem for the Empire.
This was a key reason why the Imperial fleet had been able to freely navigate the middle layers of the Quantum Sea and even cut into the deep layers in recent millennia. "Exploration" missions that previously required the Monarch or a Saint to lead could now sotis be conducted without even an [Imperial Apostle] at the helm.
And from the looks of it now...
"It seems the welcoming party is more than just this."
"Indeed," the Monarch affird "IX's" statent.
Directly above the motionless Lost Fleet, a subtle distortion slowly swirled, and enormous creatures poked their heads out from the ink-like blackness.
Another four new [Calamity Beasts]. But this ti, they were not alone—
"Thrum."
Four bizarre-looking beings appeared right behind the [Calamity Beasts]: a three-faced tal head, a sheet of paper pierced with forty-nine fine holes, a jellyfish with no discernible body, only tentacles, and a conch ship. The reason they were described with a respectful classifier was that their "rank" was high enough to make one overlook their grotesque appearances—
Outer Gods.
The beings that had appeared before the expeditionary fleet were existences born in the Quantum Sea, on the sa level as the Astral Gods: Outer Gods.
"They're stronger than I thought."
"It's beyond 'strong.' If a new-generation Astral God faced one of them one-on-one, they'd probably be devoured in an instant."
The standard combat power of an Astral God was "universe-class," aning that given enough ti, destroying a single-dinsion universe was not difficult. The new generation of Astral Gods (with lifespans asured in tens of thousands of years) did not yet et this "standard," and those among them who were not skilled in combat were mostly at the Grand Monarch level.
These four strangely shaped Outer Gods... although they had not reached the "individual" level of "Aha," capable of destroying a universe in a single blow, the aura they displayed had already surpassed the "standard" level.
"You take those three," the Monarch said, staring at the "three-faced tal head" at the very front.
"It won't be difficult to tie them down. No matter how bizarre the Paths these Outer Gods use, they are all the sa threat to . But you—"
"No problem."
The "head" that the Monarch had singled out was clearly a cut above the others in terms of aura. Although it was still far from the "individual" level, it was by no ans sothing a "standard" level Astral God could contend with.
"Give 900— no, 300 seconds."
The Monarch cut his estimated combat ti by two-thirds.
"I leave the fleet to your protection. You understand what it ans for the Outer Gods to ambush us here, IX."
"Understood."
"BOOM!!!"
The mont IX's voice fell, the sphere that illuminated the entire expeditionary fleet with a golden halo shot straight toward the "three-faced tal head"... hmm, this creature's official na was likely [The Wailing Astral God · The Lost One].
That's right. In terms of classification, this being was also an "Astral God." The term "Outer God" was rely the arrogance of those from high upon the Tree.
However, regardless of the enemy's true na, it did not change its status as an enemy of the Monarch. Crushing his foes was the Monarch's best response.
"CLANG!!!"
After a violent sound of displacent, a terrifying impact that seed to want to scour the entire Quantum Sea clean followed—the Monarch and The Lost One had collided violently!
At the sa ti, a void of Nihility lit up the deepest depths with starlight. A silver-gray star transford into chains as "IX" launched an attack against the other three Outer Gods simultaneously!
The two fleets, anwhile, transitioned from stationary to mobile in less than five seconds, firing up their engines and charging toward each other!
"CRUNCH—"
One of the three faces of The Lost One was instantly crushed flat by the sudden impact!
"SKREEEEE!!!"
A piercing sonic wave churned through the sea.
A semi-spherical curtain of violet-gold light materialized, blocking all the shockwaves!
"Hmm?"
The Monarch imdiately sensed that sothing was wrong.
The Path of this Outer God was still unclear, but in the brief mont of contact, it had already displayed two special rule-level abilities. The flattened face ant it had lost one-third of its power (including both quantum energy and Path power), but this was no result to boast about.
The [Immortality] and [Destruction] Dominions he had used for the attack had half of their Path power sealed the mont they struck The Lost One. And while the [Beauty] and [Preservation] Dominions used for defense had blocked the counterattack without difficulty, half of their Path power had fallen into a "weakened" state.
In other words, this Outer God nad The Lost One was likely a pure "support class." [Immortality] and [Beauty] already possessed considerable resistance to debuffs, yet they were still weakened to such an exaggerated degree on contact. If an Astral God with a single Path were to encounter this Lost One, it was not impossible that they would die on the spot.
However—
"Only one face left?"
Two of The Lost One's faces had already activated their special Path powers. This creature should only have one more type of Path-draining ability left.
And the Dominions the Monarch commanded... there were still a full thirteen of them!
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