Sylas stood in front of the world's core, staring at it calmly while the fiery pits of hell seemed intent on burning him to ash. At least that was what it seemed like; he couldn't feel much of it at all. And why would he? He was inside the core and hadn't had to cross through all of that to make it here.
The World Scepter was the World Scepter, after all. It could teleport to any location on a world… including its core.
Did that mean that Sylas could have made it here any time after he succeeded in allowing the treasure to work here?
Yes.
Did he still go out of his way to deal with most of Earth's lingering dangers, kill Ulrik, and prove himself against Lorien?
Also yes.
It was all more than worth it. He felt aligned with his Will and Demonic Will now in a way he had never been before. Much of the suppressed angst and rage had been alleviated, and he simply felt light… as though he could tiptoe his way to the very clouds themselves.
But then he remembered all the pressure still weighing on his shoulders.
Earth would complete its Summoning soon and enter the wider galaxy… Cassarae's Quest was still an unknown variable… he was surrounded by enemies from all sides no matter where he looked and even from places his gaze couldn't even reach.
What did Legacy want? Who was targeting Earth? Who put the Greed Seed inside of him?
And those were just questions about his enemies; none of it even began to touch the questions he might have about other things like who the first Overlord Race of Earth was or what the Madness Key was…
'Be Strong… Be All-Knowing…'
This was the only answer that could solve all questions.
Sylas reached a hand forward, a suffocating Will lighting forth.
In order to light a world's Progenitor Flame, one needed a Will at the Sparking level at the very least. But that was just a baseline. Depending on how a World felt about you, the bar could be higher by a substantial degree.
The more Merits you had, the easier it was. The more Demerits, the more impossible.
If you met all the requirements, the toughest part was just making it to the core of the world. The heat, the danger, the concentrations of Aether… they were all off the charts.
But for Sylas?
Almost immediately, a feeling of euphoria washed over him.
—
[Progenitor Quest Cleared]
**
Earth had been in a silent state for an entire day and a half. In this time, no one seemed to be able to level up, Dungeons closed their doors and made many worry about breaks occurring, and no one could seem to replenish their Aether whether they were in the Aether Plane or on Earth itself.
And then there was a sudden flash. Everyone received the same notification at the same time.
—
[System-Wide Message]
[A Progenitor has been Crowned]
—
[System-Wide Message]
[The Royal Line System has been modified. The Progenitor Line has been established]
—
[System-Wide Message]
[Congratulations, Overlords of World Earth. You have successfully completed the Summoning. Your world will now integrate into Grade 4 Silver System Skai 11331 Galaxy.]
[Time Remaining: 364:23:59:59]
—
[System-Wide Message]
[Contribution Rewards will be distributed—ERROR]
[Rewards have been modified]
[Adjustments completed]
[World Earth will be upgraded from Grade 10 Bronze to Grade 5 Silver. Grade 4 Galaxy Skai 11331 will be upgraded to Grade 5 Silver]
—
[System-Wide Message]
[World Earth will undergo a period of rapid growth separated into six stages]
[Time to First Stage: 29:23:59:59]
—
One message after another came in rapid succession, overwhelming both those that knew a great deal about what was happening and those that knew very little.
Every man, woman, and child of Earth received this news. But because this was a System-Wide Message and Earth had yet to integrate with others, the Skai Galaxy didn't know what was happening just yet.
And honestly… even if they did know, it was hard to say that it would matter. This was because while Sylas was stressing over the next steps and exactly how to manage Earth being completely surrounded by enemies, he had no idea about one very important thing…
The system's rampage.
The current Skai 11331 Galaxy wasn't the one that Sylas was familiar with. Although Sylas' familiarity couldn't be said to be great, it was at least decent enough to understand the large players…
But not anymore.
Almost all the Ruin Master Guilds had been wiped out, leaving the bazaars, and likewise the treasures they held unmanned. The powerhouses of several notable factions had died overnight, never to be seen again. And suddenly, there were vast vacuums in power that had to be filled but had yet to…
This seemed simple enough, but just recently, something had happened to exacerbate the situation.
Legacy.
The organization was quite used to acting with impunity, but it had no idea that the system had just gone on a rampage. And yet, during that time, not only did they contact someone they shouldn't have in the middle of a Quest, they had even directly interfered with a message the system was sending…
And not just any message at that…
A message about Demons, a Race that the system detested to the absolute limits.
In a single day, Legacy lost half their branches. Their entire faction would have been wiped out had it not been for just how deep their foundations were.
But what no one could have expected was just how deeply entrenched they were in the Skai 11331 Galaxy.
While the first rampage of the system had gutted quite a few, the main issues were actually caused by the mad scramble for power that happened after the fact. The bazaars were huge opportunities that couldn't be wasted.
Other than that, the ones that mainly suffered the most were the Sylphs, a mostly inconsequential Race.
But now?
Neither the Thryskai, the Florineth, nor the Trakar escaped unscathed.
Bloody hell rained down on the universe that day as the system reminded the world it was not to be trifled with.