I watched with wide eyes as black liquid began to trail out of Alena’s mouth. Despite being a goddess, she was forcibly using her artifact to activate abilities akin to those of a Fallen God. Naturally, it seed that there were repercussions to this.
Her health bar appeared over her head, swiftly depleting, but she showed no signs of stopping. I wanted to call out to her, to shout for her to stop, but then her health bar seed to deplete all at once before I could open my mouth. My eyes opened wide, worried that another incarnation would pass away before my eyes.
However, I then heard sothing like shattering glass. Golden light erged from Alena’s body, forming a familiar suit of armor, which imdiately shattered. As it did, her health bar was imdiately replenished. It took a mont to recognize the armor as one that Alena had presented to before the invasion began.
Once her health was replenished, Alena seed to lose the strength in her arm, dropping the pen. I rushed forward, catching her as she looked like she was about to fall. “Are you alright?” I asked, concerned. Alena rely smiled, nodding her head.
“Irena and I weren’t sure if the armor would be effective for you, so I had to use it myself this ti. Hopefully, we should be able to see so results soon.”
I wasn’t sure exactly what she had done, other than the fact that she had written so kind of void script with her pen. “Dana, how is the void battlefield going?”
Dana blinked, snapped out of her own thoughts. “Right! Give a mont… it looks like Alena summoned so form of tic super-monster. The monster is wrapped around the entire territory that the Thousand Eyes Guild is occupying, and it doesn’t seem to be doing anything. Ah! One of the universes just turned grey and shattered.”
Alena nodded her head. “The monster is one of death. This was the ultimate insurance that Irena prepared. She hoped that I wouldn’t need to use it, because there was a chance that the armor wouldn’t be enough. Additionally, activating this technique is a death sentence to all in the affected area, so it’s not sothing I can use lightly.”
“However, when I saw Terra…” She let her words trail off, and I nodded my head.
I wasn’t about to chastise Alena for her actions. Even before she stepped up, the battle was as good as won, it was just a matter of ti until Chelsea had eliminated the remaining enemy universes. Alena had simply sped up the process, while making sure that none of the tic monsters that they created had a chance to target our other universes.
Within his boundless forest, the Monarch looked devastated. He leaned back against the tree, his eyes devoid of life. “After all of this, it’s all gone anyways?” He asked, looking up at the avatar of Tsubaki across from him.
At this point in ti, the only survivors from the three guilds that had inhabited the void would be those that had infiltrated the various worlds. All others were either already dead or quickly dying under the assault of the newly born tic entity.
“I am truly sorry for your loss.” Tsubaki spoke, bowing her head to the man. However, the Monarch shook his head, bringing a hand up to his face.
“No… perhaps this is for the best. We’ve waited this long, we can continue to wait. I just wish that it didn’t have to end like this.” He said, closing his eyes.
Tsubaki hesitated for a mont, before her eyes narrowed. “Perhaps, it doesn’t have to.”
After Alena took action, it took roughly three hours for her tic specter to completely annihilate all of the Thousand Eyes Guild’s universes. Afterwards, the specter shattered into nothing, returning to the void.
From there, we spent about a week handling the cleanup, which involved rooting out all of the remaining spies that had gone into hiding. At least at this point, I was able to keep track of how many enemies were left, without being treated to so truly astronomical number.
The last enemy was a remnant of the Five Nation’s Guild, who had killed a young man in Fyor and assud his identity. He was the last to be found due to how well he had managed to cover his tracks. If not for the ninja network spread throughout the various worlds, we may not have found him for several months, perhaps even years.
Finally, with his death, the invasion ca to a close. To my shock, we were awarded with a full eight hundred thousand points. Clearly, the system recognized the difficulty spike once Origins got involved, not to ntion the many universes full of enemies. Still, this was an insane number for , more than the last several invasions combined.
However, I had to admit that I was relieved that it was over. With a long sigh, I sat back in my throne. As I did, there was a knock on the door. Groaning, I opened my eyes to see one of Tsubaki’s avatars standing there. “Co in…” I said, nodding my head.
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Tsubaki nodded, entering the room. Before she could speak, though, my eyes widened at another system notification that appeared before .
Keeper Sanction has activated a Forced Attack Ticket, targeting EarthForceOne. During the next ga cycle, Sanction will be attacking EarthForceOne.
I thought I was supposed to have a month off?! I thought inwardly, covering my face with one hand. Seeing this, Tsubaki’s eyes narrowed.
“He activated the ticket, didn’t he?” She asked, and I nodded my head. “In that case, the reason for my visit has beco even greater.”
“Go on.” I gestured for her to continue, letting out a long groan. All I wanted to do was go to the Admin Room and check on Terra… why did all of this have to happen one after the other, as soon as the invasion was over?
Tsubaki gave another firm nod. “I propose that we utilize our own Attack Ticket at the last minute, before the invasion arrives.” She said, causing to look at her in surprise.
“You want us to attack Sanction?” I questioned, and she nodded her head. “I an, the Monarch’s avatar is still alive, so we have quite a lot of information on him, but who would be the attacking force? With how many Origins he has at his disposal, this would practically be a suicide mission.”
Tsubaki didn’t seem to disagree, glancing back towards the door. “Co in.” She called out, and four people entered the throne room. The first was Dana, followed by the twin Lenas, and finally…
“Philia?” I asked in surprise, blinking at the unexpected Sylvan in attendance. “You want to get involved in this?”
Philia offered a small smile. “Lady Tsubaki inford of the plight faced by the forest dwellers. Furthermore, if we do not act, it would appear that the enemy will continue to target us? This ti, they destroyed Kione without us having the ability to resist. Who knows what they may take next ti…”
I couldn’t help but grunt, nodding my head and looking over the group. “You have all thought about this?” I asked, and they all nodded resolutely. “You know, if he has a defense ticket, this will all be pointless. He’ll be able to activate the defense ticket, end the invasion, and just smite you all out of existence as soon as he feels that sothing is wrong.”
Dana chuckled wryly. “Yup. We considered that already, boss. However, like Philia said, if we don’t do sothing, he’ll keep coming. He really seems to hate you.”
Lena nodded her head in agreent. “We’re not going in without a plan, of course. While everyone was focusing on the cleanup operation, we were talking. Once we get in, I’m going to use my powers to copy the local ga system onto all of us, and give us local identities. This will help us evade detection. We know that they don’t have an Origin of Darkness anymore, so Dana will be able to operate unhindered. As for Philia, she will be hiding in Dana’s inner world at first.”
I arched my brow at that, before turning to look at Philia, who nodded in confirmation. “Our first objective will be to make contact with the World Tree Guild. Since they were willing to forsake their main bodies for the chance to live freely, it is unlikely that they would refuse the chance to overthrow the Keeper. Furthermore, their cooperation would be essential in helping us achieve our goal.”
Although this made sense, I couldn’t help but hesitate. “This is an especially big risk for you, Philia. Even if your gamble pays off, and you all win, if there is another Origin of Cities in his world, there is a chance you will still lose your life and have your inner world absorbed.”
Philia closed her eyes, a small smile on her face. “This risk is sothing I would have to consider regardless. If such an Origin exists, it may well be in the next round of invasions, or the round after that. I can only hope that my domain is too niche to be taken in his world, or that we are able to eliminate the target if not.”
“Why was I not invited to this party?” Another voice spoke up from the door, causing us to look over and see Julia standing in the doorway, her arms crossed.
My eyes widened at that, opening my mouth to try to deny her attempt to join. There was no way that Aurivy would approve of Julia running off to go on an invasion. However, before I could speak, Julia shot a look. “I’m your greatest weapon against Origins, and you know it. In the worst case scenario, I can throw out my Apocalypse Blade, and directly destroy the primary universe where the Keeper resides. It would be stupid not to include .”
I really hated to admit it, but she was right. We had two ways to reliably kill enemy Origins. One of them was Blank, and the other was Julia. Anything else, and we’d be leaving it up to a gamble. Still… “Let her go, Dale.” Aurivy’s voice spoke up, walking into the room behind Julia, and holding the elf’s hand.
Even Julia seed surprised by this decision, let alone myself. “Are you sure, Aurivy?” I asked, and she nodded her head.
“Yeah. I’m not going to hold her back, not if she’s made up her mind like this. But…” She turned to look at Julia, her face stern. “You promise that you co back. No half-asures, no ‘I’ll do my best’. Co hell or high water, you will co back. Got it?”
Julia smiled softly, nodding her head. “Of course. I’m not going to run off to so random world just to get myself killed.”
Seeing that they had all made up their minds, I let out another sigh. “Okay… you have the rest of this Standard Month to prepare. Get as strong as you can, and make any necessary preparations. At the end of the month, we’re going to counter-attack Sanction.”
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