Except for the frozen gates, we destroyed everything on the base.
The tower collapsed into dust. The surrounding structures were erased. Even the hollowed basin was sealed under layers of ice, not because it was necessary, but because we felt like it. The traitors were executed without hesitation, and this time, I made sure the system received nothing from their deaths.
I circled the entire dead planet afterward, my perception sweeping every fractured ridge and dead mountains, ensuring nothing of value had been overlooked.
Only then did we return to the four frozen portal gates.
I raised a finger, and the ice dissolved instantly, peeling away as if it had never existed.
"Let’s move on," I said. "Next base. This time, we make sure we capture the phantom who holds the information we need."
Knight glanced at the gate, his tail blade flicking once. "And if it tries to self-destruct?"
"I’ll handle it," I replied calmly.
Ash stepped forward then, his expression focused. Sealing runes flared around his hands as he approached the central gate. He adjusted the coordinates with practiced precision, anchoring them to the next destination. Additional sealing arrays layered themselves into the portal’s frame, stabilizing it and locking a return path in place.
"So we can come back to Feradros once we’re done," he said, finishing the final rune.
The gate pulsed.
Light surged outward, swallowing the frame in a blinding flare.
Without hesitation, we stepped through.
We emerged onto another base, but this time I didn’t bother hiding us. There was no reason to.
This base was built on a moon.
My perception spread the instant we arrived, sweeping across the surface in a single breath. The structure of the base, the flow of corrupted deathmist, the stationed phantoms and beyond all that, the massive planet the moon orbited, hanging close enough that its clouds were clearly visible.
"Whoa," Steve muttered, glancing toward the world below. "That’s... close. You think that planet’s important?"
"Maybe," I replied. "We can check later."
We were speaking casually, but the base had already noticed us.
Phantoms froze mid-step. Patrols turned. A few stared openly, their visors glowing brighter as they tried and failed to understand why enemies had appeared without resistance or alarms.
"All right," I said calmly. "Boys and girls, get to work."
I flashed upward, reappearing above the central tower.
The base was built vertically this time, a single massive spire anchored into the moon’s surface. I extended my hand, and the topmost floor exploded outward in a shower of debris.
A figure shot out like a meteor.
I caught it by the throat.
The Tier Three Hollow Star phantom slammed into my grip, its upper Transcendent aura flaring reflexively before collapsing under my hold.
"Before anything else," I said lightly, "let me take something."
I activated the Star of Origin.
The deathmist inside its body reacted instantly, churning violently as it was ripped free. Within seconds, the phantom’s humanoid form hollowed out, its glowing visor dimming as the mist was stripped away entirely. What remained was nothing more than an empty armored shell.
Ice spread from my fingers, sealing it midair.
I released my grip. The frozen husk remained floating, motionless.
Then I turned back to the tower.
I tapped the air once.
A silent ripple passed outward as violet runes bloomed into existence. Simple runes—corrode runes. Their function was straightforward: drain Essence, break structure, erase material.
One rune became ten.
Ten became hundreds.
Hundreds became thousands.
They multiplied until the air itself was crowded with them, a violet swarm blotting out the tower beneath.
I waved my hand.
The runes surged forward like locusts.
They latched onto the tower’s surface, burrowing in. The structure began dissolving from the base upward, material unraveling as its Essence was siphoned away. Flesh vanished first. Bone followed. Even reinforced alloys fared no better, corroding into nothing.
In seconds, the lower floors ceased to exist.
The runes didn’t stop. They drilled deeper, tearing through foundation layers, reaching the core embedded beneath the tower.
That vanished too.
Within a minute, the tower was gone so completely it was as if it had never been there.
I turned away and surveyed the rest of the battlefield.
Or rather, the playground.
Aurora was calmly instructing Silver, correcting his stance as they practiced kicks on a struggling phantom.
Ragnar was fighting another phantom with a single finger, laughing as he deliberately held back. "I’ll give you a handicap," he said cheerfully. "Otherwise it’s not fair."
Ash stood apart from the chaos, not fighting at all. His attention was fixed on the corrode runes still buzzing in the air, his eyes tracking their structure and decay patterns.
My gaze shifted to Steve and North, who were tearing through the remaining abominations.
I raised my hand again.
The violet runes surged outward once more, but this time they did not scatter.
They gathered.
Under my will, the runes stitched themselves together midair, interlocking, layering, shaping. Lines of violet Essence fused into a coherent form, growing denser by the second. Wings unfolded first, vast and angular. A sharp beak followed, then a streamlined body forged entirely from corroding sigils.
A giant rune-bird hovered above the battlefield, its wingspan nearly matching Steve’s natural form.
Then it moved.
With a single powerful beat of its wings, the construct dove.
It slammed into the abomination horde like a falling star, passing through bodies instead of colliding with them. Wherever it flew, flesh unraveled. Corrupted blood evaporated. Skeletons collapsed into dust as the runes devoured everything in their path.
"Damn it!" Steve roared from above, lightning crackling around him. "Those were my levels!"
I chuckled and didn’t even look his way.
My attention returned to the sealed phantom.
With a casual wave of my hand, I sent the frozen figure drifting toward Lyrate. The ice encasing it melted away midair, leaving the hollow armor restrained only by compressed space.
"Lyrate," I said calmly, "you know what I want to know. Work fast."
She caught the phantom without hesitation, her gaze flicking briefly to me before settling on it.
"I will," she replied simply.
Her tone carried no doubt at all.