Inside a training space far away, Colonel Zenon, who had been about to go investigate why Atticus had scanned the island, suddenly paused.
His head snapped to the side with impossible speed, his gaze trembling as his eyes widened so far it should have been impossible.
"No way… it can't be…"
The voice was only an echo, Zenon was already gone.
The room he had been in exploded into debris, destroyed by the sheer force of his departure.
…
Back at the random island, as the intense light dimmed, the figures were revealed fully, one by one.
They numbered in the hundreds, exactly as many as the youths who had just turned to dust.
Cold eyes.
Colder auras.
And a killing intent so potent, it flooded the island like a storm.
Every single one of them wore a crazed expression, maniacal madmen, deranged and twisted.
Some stood with eerie smiles, others expressionless but deadly. The majority radiated an aura at the peak of Grandmaster+ rank.
But not all of them stood at that level.
Nine humanoid figures stood at the forefront, their mere presence enough to silence the entire island.
Not a single cricket chirped. Not a beast moved. Not a leaf rustled.
The world itself went silent at their arrival.
'Paragons.'
Carius's eyes glinted as he identified them. Each of the nine radiated a power that simply couldn't be contained, a profound force. The power of Paragons.
They were of different races: the Obliteri, Dimensari, Lucendi, Evolari, Regenerari, Dragon, Transmutari, and Requiem.
'They came with their best.'
From what Carius knew, the Obsidian Order had one Paragon overseeing their operations for each race. While not all had come, it was clear from the elite lineup before him that they had brought their best.
They stood calmly, radiating a pressure so deep it made the world still for them.
Yet… none of them were the overlord of this army.
For the first time since his battle with Atticus, Carius's gaze widened as it locked onto the last figure, standing like a statue among the Paragons.
'They brought one of them?'
He was stunned.
Of all the plans he had made, he had never accounted for this.
The figure towered at an imposing five meters in height. A grotesque humanoid with a disproportionately bulky torso and arms, dwarfing its smaller legs.
Its skin was an unsettling shade of sky blue, glistening with a slimy sheen. Its hands were nightmarishly massive, each bearing three thick fingers that ended in orb-like bulbs.
Its face was a haunting array of large, black eyes, each harboring tiny points of white that gleamed like distant stars in a cosmic void. A small, flat nose adorned its face, and beneath it, a round mouth opened, revealing rows of crimson, razor-sharp teeth, teeth that rotated with a soft, ominous glow.
At its presence alone, the mana in the air bent in reverence, as though it bowed under the creature's command.
It was the first time since entering this world that Carius had seen one of the beings that threatened its balance.
One of the beings whose goal was the enslavement of the entire planet of Eldoralth.
A Zorvan.
The alien stood like a statue, massive, unmoving, silent. It didn't speak.
It only observed.
Its numerous eyes glanced around, calculating, analyzing, as if everything around it were nothing more than data, statistics, calculations.
Its gaze locked onto Carius, still standing atop the boulder.
And in that moment, Carius felt like the most insignificant being to ever exist.
The way the Zorvan's multitude of eyes stared at him made him feel like he wasn't even a living creature, just another rock beneath its feet.
Carius clenched his fists, barely suppressing the anger boiling beneath his pride. The humiliation… the dismissal… it burned him to his core.
The alien continued to observe him in silence, noting every movement, every nuance. Then, at last, it spoke.
"Report."
Its voice was low, resonant, a vibration that seemed to hum within every cell of Carius's body.
Carius paused briefly, collecting himself, before replying.
"This is the military training camp of the Alliance," he stated.
"Your targets are all located at the highest island in the sky."
The Zorvan's eyes narrowed slightly.
"The human child?"
Carius's gaze turned sharper.
"He should have been captured by one of your sleepers."
"Outside interference?"
"Blocked."
The alien nodded once, its tone like the flowing of a cold river, calm, decisive, utterly indifferent to the deaths of the hundreds that had brought them here.
"Grandmasters, you will accompany the Dimensari Apex and retrieve the targets.
"Paragons, neutralize resistance. Eliminate all defense structures, powerhouses, and commanding officers."
Then, without warning, a pulse radiated from its body.
In a blur of unimaginable speed, they vanished, appearing high above the main island of the military camp.
Carius's eyes flickered.
'I couldn't resist it…'
The Zorvan had completely taken control of the mana in the area, forcibly teleporting him along with them. He hadn't even sensed it happening, it was already done before he could respond.
His gaze shifted to the side, multiple powerful presences were already racing toward their location at blinding speeds.
Carius's eyes hardened.
'There were multiple Paragons in the camp…'
Everyone believed Zenon was the only Paragon because he was the only one who openly displayed his aura. But now… it was clear.
It was far from only Zenon.
Streaks of light came from every direction, radiating killing intent so potent that the very air around the entire camp grew heavy.
'As expected…'
Carius had planned for this. And so had the Obsidian Order.
This was why they came with so many Paragons in the first place.
The Zorvan's voice echoed again:
"Do not fail."
Its command snapped Carius out of his reverie.
He turned to see the army of Grandmasters behind him, each one grinning with wild, crazed expressions, bloodlust overflowing.
His eyes narrowed.
And then, in the next instant, he shot downward toward the large building where the banquet was being held, with the army following behind like a wave of death.
But as he moved, his eyes flickered sharply to the side, a bright light had just shone in the distance.
'That aura…'
There was no way he could ever forget it.
'Atticus Ravenstein.'
Carius eyes turned icy, but ignored it for now. He had already taken measures for that problem.
They shot toward the banquet building, just as the streaks of light arrived and surrounded the Obsidian Order Paragons in a wave of terrifying power.