After the three teams finished their looting, they were sent back to the SAS Headquarters in the World Tree through a portal... the CSR Platform did its best to ensure the safety of its Rifters after each game, knowing that the Raiders’ locations were fully disclosed to the public.
If it wasn’t for their efforts, Bishop Na’thir would have already sent the Hound and his elites to camp out at each nest to ambush them.
Clap! Clap! Clap!... Captain Levi!!! Good stuff, lads!! You made us proud!!...
The moment Levi and his friends stepped through the dimensional mirror, their ears thundered with a massive wave of applause and cheers. Before them, a sea of civilians and Daywalkers stretched across their entire field of vision, their voices rising in a deafening, unified roar of celebration.
The ground floor, the branches, the roofs, the windows, and even those hovering in the sky... it was like the entire headquarters took a national day off to join the celebration.
"Just smile and wave... make their day."
Dominic stepped next to them with a wide, gratified smile.
Hearing this, Arthur immediately went in front and flexed his muscles like he was in a Mr. Olympia show... yet, the crowd’s happiness index was at its limits, making them incapable of cringing at him.
Arthur!!! Big Tank!! We love you!!! You’re my inspiration!!
The crowd showered him with love, making Arthur get wilder and wilder in his celebration... he removed his shirt and jumped on top of the railing, flexing with eyes closed and a pleased grin, soaking in the attention.
Nurah, Shia, and the recently recovered Jojo merely rolled their eyes at him and let him be.
"He is lucky I am too weak..." Jojo grumbled.
Although Levi had helped recover most of her wasted Lifeforce, she still felt like her energy was on the edge... consuming Lifeforce always came with nasty, lasting side effects.
Captain Levi!! Captain Levi!! Speech! Speech! Speech!...
Before long, Arthur was kicked out of the spotlight the moment the crowd noticed the captain standing in the back with a serene, quiet smile.
They knew that he was a man of few words, and if they didn’t force him, he wouldn’t hesitate to leave the area with a mere wave.
"Speech... really."
Levi smiled wryly as the chants got louder and louder... he even saw Tyrese’s and Evangeline’s squads joining in the fun.
"You can’t blame them..."
Dominic chuckled as he draped his arm across Levi’s shoulders. Then, he walked him to the front after Arthur cleared the way for his brother.
"You have given them something better than hope... you have given them a future they can actually reach out and touch," Dominic said, his gaze drifting across the thrilled crowd, whose eyes sparkled with an indistinguishable glint.
When he heard this, Levi couldn’t reject it even if he wanted... he could feel everyone’s frequencies synchronizing at a similar emotional wavelength.
His world was bathed in a soft pink light... a glowing hue of absolute trust and burgeoning affection that radiated from their souls.
They all believed in him to lead the new generation to a world of less suffering, a world of peace... a world that belonged to them, again.
Such a heavyweight behind those eyes was enough to cripple anyone from the pressure. The pressure of being seen as a Hero, a Leader... a Savior.
Yet, Levi remained unfazed... his heart wasn’t easily touched after what had been done to him by the corruption.
Still, even when his emotions weren’t as warm, he stepped in front and welcomed their gazes with a gentle smile. Then, he lifted his hand, and everyone quieted down.
It didn’t matter if it was a citizen or a Solarbound Daywalker... everyone gained a whole different level of respect after they witnessed his glory in the Faction War.
"First of all," Levi spoke, his solemn voice echoing across the entire plaza, as if it had a built-in speaker, "I ask that we all lower our heads for a moment of silence. We must honor the fallen Daywalkers who gave everything in this battle: Blake, Michael, and Nadal."
Tyrese and Evangeline were the first to lower their heads, followed by their teammates, and then everyone else... the pain of losing their teammates had never left them; they just masked their emotions until the proper moment of mourning arrived.
After a long, somber minute, Levi raised his head and gave a slight nod.
"We have mourned. Now, we must honor them by thriving and proving that their sacrifice was not in vain. We will show the universe that we are more than just survivors clinging to the lights of divine pillars; today, we mark the very beginning of our ascent."
Levi took a deep breath, his tone shifting into something far more resolute and stern.
"This victory is merely a taste of what is to come. I promise you here and now: the Great Campaign is ours to claim!"
As the last word left his mouth, a symphonic roar erupted from the gathered crowd, shaking the very foundations of the World Tree!
"Ours to claim!" they chanted in a thunderous unison that drowned out the whistling southern pole winds. "Ours to claim!"
The words became a mantra of collective ambition that echoed off the walls, branches, and leaves... Levi watched them for a heartbeat longer as the soft pink glow of their synchronized frequencies intensified until his world of frequencies was conquered by their thick devotion!
He could tell... every member of the SAS Headquarters had joined to save their world regardless of what it took.
This kind of devotion to their home left him more than gratified, as it made him feel like he wasn’t alone in this fight.
"Great speech."
Dominic patted him on the back with a faint smile and turned to face his friends and the other two teams.
"For the first time in history, we humans aren’t the ones trembling at the thought of the Great Campaign. After this game, every nightcrawler nest leader must be sweating bullets at the mere prospect of facing you in the tournament," Dominic grinned, his pearly teeth flashing in the dim light. "And I absolutely love that."
Hearing this, Arthur, Tyrese, and the rest laughed... they knew that the Nightcrawlers’ Nests weren’t really afraid of all of them, but mostly the monstrous Levi and Jasmine. Still, to know that they had put the seed of dread in their hearts meant everything.
After all, Dominic had told them before that joining this event was major because, if they won it, it would send a message to the rest of the nightcrawlers outside Earth.
Invade us and be put in the crosshairs of their fearsome Raiders!
***
The Next Morning...
The excitement had somewhat subsided in the World Tree as everyone had work to return to... it mattered more than ever since Earth was about to receive a massive boom in population after the event’s clips went viral and spread across the Dimensional Sector.
As for Levi, Arthur, and the girls? They had already packed up everything necessary to migrate to Jasmine’s territory.
Madam Naima, Hicham, Jojo’s Grandfather, and Madam Blackthorn visited the World Tree on their own after receiving news of their children’s plan to move out. None of them rejected their choice as they knew that it was no longer safe for any of them on Earth.
While the girls spent time with their family, Levi and Arthur sat on top of the World Tree’s highest leaf after receiving permission from Dominic.
The morning air at the summit of the World Tree was thin and crisp, providing a panoramic view of the southern pole peaks piercing through an ocean of snow.
"So, the Boundless Expanse," Arthur finally spoke, his voice carrying a mix of trepidation and curiosity. "It’s not just more games and divine pillars, is it?"
"No," Levi replied, his gaze fixed on the darkness. "Earth is an island, Arthur. The Boundless Expanse is the true ocean... It’s a place where entire civilizations and Noble Houses are born from a single being, who decided to climb to the top of the Platforms."
Arthur’s expression turned hopeful at such a fancy dream.
"Nocturnal Ring... what if we joined?" Arthur asked wistfully. "Do you think we can create the Larson Noble House and expand our parents’ legacy far beyond our planet?"
Levi turned his head to look at his little brother’s innocent expression... then, he chuckled and said telepathically, ’I am already a noble.’
’Huh?’ Arthur’s expression froze. ’What do you mean?’
’How can you be this slow?’ Levi’s brows twitched. ’Didn’t you bother for a second to search me up in the network and see if I have joined the Nocturnal Ring?’
’Why would I do that?’ Arthur shrugged. ’If you want me to know something, you just come and tell me... if you don’t, then it’s for a good reason.’
Levi smiled wryly, knowing that his little brother never bothered to dig into anything related to him because he was always under the assumption that he knew everything already... such blind trust, such tight-knit brotherhood was something that couldn’t be faked, only forged.
’Wait a second... doesn’t being a Noble mean you have to be at least at Baron rank?’ Arthur’s eyes widened a little. ’How many games have you played already? And what kind of identity did you choose?! Tell me everything!’
Arthur had already opened his dimensional network eagerly, waiting for Levi to tell him the name so he could search for it.
Levi paused for a moment and then lifted his head to gaze at the darkened sky... then, he uttered calmly, ’The Celestial... type the name and you shall receive your answers.’
’The Celestial? How grandiose... I never took you for someone to name your... huh?’
Before Arthur could finish his teasing, the rest of the words stuck at the back of his throat. Trillions of results flooded his entire screen the moment he typed barely half the name.
The dimensional interface stuttered under the sheer weight of the data being pulled from the Boundless Expanse’s network.
The screen was a chaotic mosaic of headlines, viral clips, and high-definition captures of the masked figure that had become a universal enigma.
-THE LEVIATHAN SLAYER: How the Celestial dismantled a Tier 6 Terror!-
It was accompanied by a grainy, high-altitude shot of the massive beast collapsing after Levi rode on top of it to win the race.
-The Promoted One: Analyzing the unprecedented strategy of the Celestial behind the Joker Game’s win and his promotion to Baron rank against abnormal prodigies!-
-The Three-Body Problem? A name once thought to be a joke, but is it the answer behind the Celestial’s peculiar origins? Radian, Oblivar, ???... Three bodies or souls trapped in one body, or is he an experiment born under the names of an ancient race to sow chaos?-
As Arthur scrolled, his eyes widened at the sheer scale of his brother’s hidden life. Thousands of threads were dedicated to frame-by-frame analyses of the Celestial’s movements.
One prominent image showed the Celestial wielding a gigantic sun against an actual freaking dragon. His three-star mask gleamed under the light of the sun, looking more like a solar deity than the brother Arthur shared meals with.
Meanwhile, the comment sections were a waterfall of fanaticism:
-I swear the Celestial is bound to rise and shake the upper ranks! No one does it like him! No one!- @VoidWalker99 typed hype emojis.
-I can’t believe I am showering while listening to the Celestial album of songs he used in life or death battles! I don’t know if I should laugh or cry... this shit is peak!- @StellarBountyHunter commented.
Arthur stared at a close-up of the Celestial’s mask, then looked back at Levi, who was still calmly watching the nonexisting horizon in his field of sight.
The gap between the "Brother Levi" he knew and "The Celestial" the universe feared was a chasm he hadn’t realized was so vast.
’Big Bro...’ Arthur whispered, his voice trembling slightly as he turned off the screen. ’You sure have been busy.’
Levi smiled a little.
’Always.’