The Champion looked with absolute horror at the vanishing Specter Core.
The Maw.
It was dead!
Why?!
How?!
They had sacrificed so much!
Excluding the two traitors, three Shields had died!
And then, they had finally done it!
They managed to suppress the Maw, the Specter that had suppressed Aegis for millennia!
But now, it was gone!
The Champion could tell that the Maw had been an Early Eternal, which meant this could have pushed him to become a Mid Savior!
Yet, all of this was taken away at the last moment!
The Champion gritted his teeth and clenched his fists in absolute hatred.
"JULIAN!" he shouted.
The other Shields just watched in horror.
It was gone!
Their friends had sacrificed themselves for this Specter Core, and now, it was gone!
Their sacrifices had been for nothing!
They also gritted their teeth.
The Trickster!
The FUCKING Trickster!
Meanwhile, far away from the chaos, Nick just looked towards Aegis' headquarters.
"The deed is done," Nick said.
"You have done well, Trickster," the Sun's avatar told him.
Naturally, Nick would not have killed the Maw if he hadn't gotten the Sun's permission beforehand.
Nick had been the one who had reached out to the Sun first.
He wanted to know if the Sun wanted more suppression or less suppression.
If it wanted more suppression, Nick had an idea that would help.
Some days later, the Sun came back to him and asked him about his idea.
Nick said that the Maw was easy to trick.
There were plenty of materials that could isolate its senses.
Additionally, the Maw only worked on instinct and didn't have any intelligence.
Since Nick already needed to deal with all of the technological progress, he could also deal with other parts of humanity.
Compared to the Maw, Nick actually understood the Sun and could be given complex orders.
Additionally, Nick's power was also nothing to scoff at.
Humanity would soon suppress the Maw and become even more powerful.
Nick had expected that Aegis would attempt to suppress the Maw as soon as the Champion broke through.
It was risky, but this was a unique opportunity.
After all, how were they going to find the Maw otherwise?
Sure, the Champion could see the entire planet, but the Maw had to be underground somewhere.
Searching through the underground was difficult for humans since the Nightmare's influence became harder and harder to resist the deeper one descended.
There would have been only one way to find the Maw.
The Trickster.
Aegis would need to make another trade with Nick.
And Nick was quite sure that Aegis saw him as a bigger threat than the Maw.
They would not allow Nick to grow even more powerful.
So, they would attack the Maw immediately.
However, this would also break the natural progression of power the Sun had planned for humanity to traverse.
First, they needed to suppress Nurse Alice.
Then, one or two more Saviors would appear, while the Champion became an Early Savior.
Only then would humanity suppress the Maw.
Humanity would continue to advance.
When the Champion became a Mid Savior and when there were five to ten more Saviors, the next logical step would be to suppress the Nightmare or the Null.
Yet, those two were never supposed to be suppressed, and there were no more Eternals.
With no more achievable goals in front of them, humanity would turn their eyes to the Sun.
To the stars.
That was when things would become dangerous for the aliens.
Because of that, this would be the moment this era ended.
However, since humanity suppressed the Maw this early, they would focus all their power on the Champion.
Only one to three more Saviors would appear before the Champion became a Mid Savior.
This was not great for Zephyx production.
The next centuries were the most profitable centuries of the era, and they needed to continue for as long as possible.
Naturally, Nick didn't argue in this way when talking to the Sun.
He asked if humanity was ready to fight the alien threat or if the Sun believed that it wasn't enough.
After thinking about Nick's offer for a while, the Sun decided to put him to the test.
If it turned out that Nick was right, he would be allowed to kill the Maw.
However, he was not allowed to kill any humans.
If Aegis didn't attempt to suppress the Maw, nothing would change.
In the end, Nick was proven correct, and he killed the Maw.
This would extend the duration of the current era.
This was in the Sun's best interest.
"You have proven capable, loyal, and creative," the Sun's avatar spoke.
Nick just nodded respectfully.
Naturally, Specters didn't need to act respectfully since there was no point in politeness between them.
Yet, there was also no reason to not be polite and respectful.
It might not help.
But it also wouldn't hurt.
"You are allowed to become an Eternal," the Sun spoke. "If we ever need another era, you will also be responsible for keeping humanity at a certain level of power."
"I can do that," Nick said.
"However, you must achieve the power of an Eternal yourself. If you are truly cut out to be an Eternal, this should not be difficult to achieve."
"Of course," Nick answered.
"Good," the Sun spoke. "If you find any more irregularities, tell me."
"I will."
"I wish you success, Trickster."
Then, the Sun's avatar vanished.
Nick's ability reactivated, and he looked at the world.
'This is the best-case scenario,' Nick thought. 'I believed that I would need to infiltrate the alien base as an Adversary, which would have been incredibly risky.'
'If I can become an Eternal before the era ends, my chances of success are much higher.'
Nick looked at the underground city.
There were thousands of Nightmen by now, and they were growing stronger rapidly.
The strongest one was already in the Sixth Realm, but their power couldn't compare to that of an Extractor.
The advancements of the Nightmen were still crude.
'I should leave them a couple more centuries to grow stronger. The more data they gather, the better.'
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