Chapter 593: Recap (1)
(The Cult of Ascension, A 3 Month Recap)
A week before the All Gods Summit took place, another major event unfolded within the universe, as the once in a decade Elder Elections took place within the Cult.
After three decades of predictable results and not many planets changing hands, this time’s elections were groundbreaking as several Elders lost their seats outright, while others found their influence slipping through their fingers like dry sand.
Of course, as was tradition, the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Elders remained untouched.
Their planetary dominion stayed intact, their ranks remained preserved through the sheer weight of legacy, influence, and undisputed authority.
No candidate dared to challenge them seriously, and even if they had, the outcome would not have changed.
However, for the rest of the Council, chaos reigned.
The Fifth Elder lost the elections in two of his territories and was consequently demoted to Eighth Elder, his pride wounded and his reputation fractured.
The Sixth Elder, in contrast, expanded his domain by one additional planet and ascended to the new rank of Fifth Elder.
The Seventh Elder endured an even harsher blow, losing control of all but one of his assigned planets and was reclassified as the new Tenth Elder.
While the Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Elders suffered complete electoral collapse.
Each of them losing everything including their respective home elections, and being stripped clean from the Council roster altogether.
As in their place, new blood emerged—ambitious, hungry, and eager to carve their mark into the legacy of the Cult.
But amidst the rise and fall of so many figures, one name achieved much more success than the rest.
The Twelfth Elder, a.k.a Chaosbringer.
Having taken over the identity of the Twelfth Elder, his star rose with staggering speed as his popularity skyrocketed in the aftermath of his now-famous confrontation with Dupravel Nuna.
The Twelfth Elder’s decision to protect the Dragon Candidate and stand his ground against Dupravel ignited support from other planet commoners who viewed him as a man of action, not just rhetoric.
The Cult admired boldness. They revered narrative. And Chaosbringer offered both.
So with the Twelfth Elder’s story and his own relentless charm on the campaign trail, he managed to win three new planets this election cycle, securing a promotion as the new Seventh Elder of the Cult.
No longer the runt of the Council, he now held tangible weight within the political ecosystem.
And although he was still leagues away from the power of the top four, he was no longer the deadweight many considered the Twelfth seat to be.
However, his rise came with immediate friction.
Before Chaosbringer could consolidate influence or even convene with his new allies, the First Elder pushed through a motion to launch yet another planetary conquest.
The proposal was sudden, almost predatory in timing, coming just a day after the elections concluded.
And while Chaosbringer might have liked to raise objections or delay the vote, his recent promotion left him politically vulnerable, still earning his footing among peers who had watched him ascend from obscurity.
The proposal passed with a majority.
And the very next morning, a new directive was issued.
Leo and Veyr were to prepare for a fresh conquest.
Target: Planet Nemo.
Timeline: One month from now.
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(Leo’s recap, past three months)
A lot had happened over the past three months for Leo as well, but the most important development in his life was that he, alongside Veyr, had mastered two new forbidden techniques.
One was taught by the Tenth Elder.
The other by the Ninth.
The first was a versatile skill, a brutal countermeasure that reshaped how Leo handled searching for battle openings and was called [Mana Disruption].
By channeling a refined pulse of mana into the air and vibrating it at a precise frequency, Leo could momentarily destabilize the mana field around him within a five-meter radius.
The result was instantaneous: anyone caught inside the radius would then find their ability to gather, circulate, or control mana temporarily severed.
And although the disruption only lasted two to three seconds, that brief pause was enough to disable critical opponent skills.
It was not flashy. It did not maim or kill.
But it could silence a domain, stop a charged spell, or cause a critical technique to collapse mid-cast.
And as an added bonus, it was also the perfect technique to break through unbreakable mana defensive barriers, as it could disable those protective spheres as well.
In contrast, the second move he learned was entirely offensive.
[Fade Step].
A feint disguised as a finishing blow, it allowed Leo to appear as if he were lunging forward in a final charge, only to vanish from the enemy’s line of sight just before impact, and reappear behind them mid-strike to deliver a near-unblockable attack.
It was a move that bypassed not just sight, but all conventional forms of perception, cutting straight through enhanced senses, motion tracking, and even perception spells like [Absolute Vision].
It exploited the narrow window between recognition and reaction, turning it into a blind spot.
To the enemy, Leo would seem to flicker out of existence, only to be felt half a second later—at their back, blade drawn.
It was fast. It was brutal. And it was difficult to stop.
But like all forbidden techniques, it came at a cost.
He could only perform the move twice in rapid succession. Beyond that, the spatial folding began to strain his nervous system, leading to vertigo, nausea, or blurred vision for up to several seconds.
Simply because his current Grandmaster-level body was still too fragile to handle more.
Even so, he had not lost a single sparring match since mastering it.
Together, [Mana Disruption] and [Fade Step] redefined how Leo approached combat.
One was a precise tool of control.
The other, a phantom blade of execution.
And with both now etched into his muscle memory, Leo found himself growing to become a much more stable warrior that had very little glaring weaknesses left to exploit in battle.