Ray of Judgment looked at the declaration of battle on his table.
When was the last time Dawnlight had received a declaration of battle?
It had been many millennia ago.
Sending a declaration of battle represented entering a direct conflict with Dawnlight. The option to have an all-out war always had to be present in the declaration of battle. Otherwise, it would not be a declaration of battle.
Sending one to Dawnlight meant that the attacking force had to fight on Dawnlight's home turf. By itself, Dawnlight was already almost unbeatable, but with the help of its Formation Arrays, it would actually become unbeatable.
Dawnlight didn't specialize in Formation Arrays, but the ones it had were still of outstanding quality. Keeping several Fulfilled Crushers busy wouldn't be an issue.
If one wanted to have a mere chance to win against Dawnlight on their home turf, one needed to have at least ten Fulfilled Crushers more than them while also having at least one Unique Crusher.
By now, two of the other members of the Big Five could fulfill these requirements, but the battle would still be extremely risky. The existence of these Formation Arrays was the reason why none of the Big Five had attacked each other yet.
They needed to accumulate more power. They needed more Fulfilled Crushers.
And yet, here it was, a declaration of battle.
Someone was willing to fight Dawnlight on their home turf.
As Dawnlight's leadership looked at the declaration of battle, they mostly felt confusion.
Azure Comet.
Members: One. One Fulfilled Crusher.
Options: Two. War and refusal.
This declaration of battle was unreasonable. It was illogical. It made no sense.
Azure Comet had just managed to keep Dawnlight at bay with the help of the Four Dragons. He had been safe. He didn't need to fight them.
What was going on?
Why?
Wouldn't it have been better to send a diplomatic notice to Dawnlight, telling them that he was willing to enter a conflict? With his permission, the Four Dragons might have allowed Dawnlight to send a declaration of battle.
At that point, Azure Comet could've fought Dawnlight on his home turf with the help of his outstanding Formation Arrays.
Also, he was only a Fulfilled Crusher, and he was alone. If he were a Unique Crusher, this declaration of battle would be believable.
Dawnlight tried to find some hidden scheme in the declaration of battle.
There had to be one. After all, it would be suicidal for Azure Comet to come here by himself. He couldn't be that stupid, right?
The first suspicion was that the Four Dragons would secretly help Azure Comet, but that suspicion was quickly thrown out of the window.
Declarations of battle were not only protected by the Karmic Laws but also by the rules governing the Secondary Sector as imposed by the Contrast Empire. If the Four Dragons got involved without being named in the declaration of battle, the Contrast Empire would dissolve the Four Dragons and declare all their leaders criminals.
But then, what was Azure Comet's plan?
What was going on?
The second suspicion was more realistic. What if Azure Comet had advanced and had become a Sage?
Sages were not allowed to enter the Secondary Sector without explicit permission from the Contrast Empire, but Crushers inside the Secondary Sector could also advance. Of course, according to the rules, the newly advanced Sage was not allowed to enter any conflict and had to leave the Secondary Sector as quickly as possible after advancing.
Any new Sage had to leave the Secondary Sector within a single day after advancing via Teleportation Formation Array.
If Azure Comet had become a Sage, he had already broken several rules by sending this declaration of battle, and he would be deemed a criminal.
When Dawnlight saw the declaration of battle, they became unsure. Had Azure Comet become a Sage? Was he willing to essentially kill himself just to kill them?
But then, why would he even send a declaration of battle? Attacking them without notice would make more sense.
The third suspicion was that Azure Comet simply gambled on the assumption that Dawnlight would refuse to declare battle due to its crazy, illogical nature.
What if Dawnlight overthought and decided to refuse, just to be safe?
If they refused, Azure Comet would receive an absolutely massive amount of Karmic Luck due to their power and size. As someone who was suffering from Sin Flames, he was in desperate need of Karmic Luck.
Yet, that felt too far-fetched. Azure Comet couldn't be that stupid.
The last suspicion was that Azure Comet had reached his limit. What if the constant pain of the Sin Flames made him crazy, and he just wanted to kill himself in a blaze of glory?
That was the most likely reason for this declaration of battle.
"There are a multitude of possible reasons for this declaration of battle," Ray of Judgment told the other people in the room, "but none of the reasons will affect our response."
"No matter the reason, the only correct choice is to accept the war."
The other members nodded, and within moments, Ray of Judgment sent a positive answer to the declaration of battle.
That sealed the deal.
Since they had accepted, Azure Comet had to attack within a month. All of Dawnlight would enter a lockdown, as was normal during a war. If Azure Comet didn't attack, he would lose so much Karmic Luck that it might push him into condensing a True Sin Aura.
No sane person wanted to condense a True Sin Aura.
As Ray of Judgment saw his answer to the declaration of battle flying into the distance, he felt like fate was helping him.
He felt like all the people in the world were trying their best to keep him from realizing his potential, and just when it seemed like he would never become a Legendary Crusher, the world had handed it to him.
"As long as you keep working and never give up, the world will provide an opportunity," Ray of Judgment quietly spoke to himself.
Since Ray of Judgment wanted to make a name for himself by killing Azure Comet, he ordered all of Dawnlight to publicize and spread the declaration of battle.
People had to know that Azure Comet was coming to Dawnlight, and they had to know that it was Dawnlight that killed him.
It would be Ray of Judgment who got rid of the bane of the Secondary Sector.
The news traveled across the Secondary Sector, and everyone became excited. Even the other members of the Big Five became excited.
If Ray of Judgment managed to become a Legendary Crusher by killing Azure Comet, he wouldn't need to attack any of them. Due to his limited longevity, he would quickly leave the Secondary Sector. The Big Five would turn into the Big Four again, and they could still fight each other to create another Legendary Crusher.
The normal people cheered for Dawnlight. Azure Comet had ruined the Secondary Sector for them, and they wanted Dawnlight to kill him.
The Big Five cheered for Dawnlight. If Ray of Judgment won, Dawnlight would become a shadow of its former self since Ray of Judgment would leave.
Several days passed, and everyone waited with bated breath for the war.
The atmosphere became tense.
And then, Ray of Judgment got a message.
"A Planet is rapidly moving towards us!"
Ray of Judgment wasn't sure if he had heard right before more messages arrived. "Azure Comet is on the Planet!"
"It's moving faster!"
"It's far faster than any of us!"
"It's speeding up!"
"It's moving right towards our headquarters!"
"We can't stop it!"
Ray of Judgment flew out of his home and looked upward.
A blue ball of fire!
Its speed!
It was even faster than him!
How was Azure Comet going to stop this?!
How could any Crusher stop this?!
Ray of Judgment could only find one answer.
Nobody.
Nobody was going to stop this.
Ray of Judgment fled from his Planet, and all the other members of Dawnlight followed.
If they stayed, the collision would kill them!
Meanwhile, Kyle laughed madly.
"I'll show you what it means to make a large impact!" he shouted.
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