We shifted our base from the third layer to the core layer, settling directly beneath the headquarters in the core layer, the zone under Saleos’s direct control.
Once again, everyone gathered to discuss the next phase.
For now, we deliberately avoided testing whether the Eternal had noticed the loss of its anchors. I was confident it hadn’t sensed anything unusual, and until we were ready, it was better to let that silence remain untouched.
Above us, both forces had pulled back.
But today, they had pulled back far faster than usual.
The reason was sitting to my right.
Ragnar.
He was grinning from ear to ear, his massive frame still coated in dried blood, fragments of abominations, and scorched deathmist residue. Despite repeated requests, from Dravon, from Aurora, and even from Mazikeen, he had stubbornly refused to wash it off.
“It’s good luck,” Ragnar had said cheerfully. “Shows my achievement.”
No one had bothered arguing after that.
I glanced at Saleos and caught the moment his fist clenched. For a split second, I thought he might actually charge back into the battlefield himself. The carnage Ragnar had caused over the last two days was still fresh in everyone’s minds. Entire waves of abominations had been shattered. Transcendent Phantoms had been beaten back with brute force. Even their elite formations had hesitated more than once.
It had been excessive.
But it had also been effective.
Saleos’s restraint impressed me more than his anger. Any other commander would have either reined Ragnar in or thrown him straight into the deepest part of the fight. Saleos did neither. He watched, measured, and endured.
As expected.
All of my summons were far stronger than their apparent levels suggested. They could fight far above their rank, push beyond limits that should have crushed them. They didn’t rely on borrowed power or external boosts.
They pulled directly from me.
And as long as I stood behind them, they would not break.
“I’m surprised you don’t know about that, given your strength,” Saleos said.
He was answering my question about how he had noticed me hiding in the void when I was observing him and attacked without hesitation.
“My memory isn’t that good,” I replied calmly. “I’m sure I should know, but maybe I just forgot.”
Saleos looked at me as if he were mildly offended, clearly unconvinced by the excuse. For a moment, I thought he might press the point, but instead he exhaled and answered anyway.
“Soul fluctuation.”
I blinked.
“You controlled space, aura, Essence, everything, almost perfectly,” he continued. “But I use a sensory technique based on soul energy. You didn’t hide your soul signature.”
He paused, then added quietly, “Normally, I wouldn’t have noticed. But your signature… it’s too strong. It’s close to someone standing at the edge of Saint rank.”
His gaze sharpened, as if he were trying to look past my body and into something deeper.
That was when it hit me.
After my rank-up, I had already planned to look into soul-related techniques. I knew the soul played a critical role at Saint rank and beyond. But things had moved too fast, one crisis after another and I had pushed that thought aside.
Now I understood the gap in my defenses.
I could hide my presence. I could suppress my aura. I could fold space and slow time.
But my soul was still exposed.
Saleos’s words made that painfully clear.
I nodded slowly. “Thanks.”
He nodded once in acknowledgment, then his gaze shifted past me.
“So,” he said slowly, “is he another member of your organization?”
“Yes,” I replied, smiling slightly as I tilted my head toward Silver. “If we count the journey itself, he was actually the first one to join me.”
Silver, who had been standing quietly at my side with his wings folded, stepped forward and bowed slightly.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Commander Saleos,” he said politely. “You can call me Silver Ironhart.”
“Ironhart?” Saleos repeated, his eyes moving from Silver back to me.
“Yes,” Silver continued calmly, as if this were the most natural thing in the world. “Billion Ironhart is my elder brother.”
He said it not just for Saleos, but for me as well.
I froze for half a second.
My eyes slid across the table and landed on Aurora. She was nodding to herself with a deeply satisfied expression, as if she had just solved a complicated problem.
I let out a quiet sigh.
Of course. This had Aurora written all over it.
She was clearly trying to eliminate every possible loophole in our structure, probably so she could later argue that she deserved the vice leader position or as she liked to call it, “boss lady” of the Order of Absolute.
Saleos accepted the explanation without pushing further. He simply nodded at Silver, his expression unchanged.
I was grateful for that.
The last thing I wanted was to explain how a human and a Feran had somehow become brothers.
“Are the preparations finished on your side?” I asked. I could already sense movement above us, a subtle but growing stir from the Eternal army.
“Yes,” Saleos replied without hesitation. “We are ready to move.” His gaze shifted to me. “And you?”
“We’re ready,” I said, a slow grin forming on my face. “It’s going to be explosive.”
For a brief moment, something dangerous flickered in Saleos’s eyes. A spark of madness. Of hunger. It vanished just as quickly as it appeared, buried under discipline and control, but I had seen it.
“It’s time,” I said, rising from my seat.
My eyes moved across the room, taking everyone in.
On my side stood my summons, Steve, North, and Primus. Each of them carrying their own resolve. On the demon side were Dravon, Mazikeen, Korvath, and three demon captains assigned under Ragnar’s command. Every one of them was ready, their auras steady but tense, like drawn bows waiting for release.
Saleos stood apart.
He would not be joining us for this mission.
He had his role, and it was a heavy one. While we moved to strike and create chaos, he would remain behind, holding the battlefield together and preparing for what would come next. If things went wrong, he would be the one to bear the consequences.
Everyone in the room understood that.
“This operation changes things,” Saleos said slowly, his voice carrying weight. “Once it begins, there’s no turning back.”
I nodded. “That’s fine. We didn’t come here to turn back.”
We pulled on the cloaks of the Order of Absolute, deep hoods falling over our faces and hiding our faces. With a single wave of my hand, space folded, and I teleported all of us upward, arriving on one of the massive launching pads of the core layer.
===================
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