After finishing my tests on the Skill Proficiency System, I went back to the Admin Room and prepared to fast forward the world. While it was nice watching things develop in real time as they prepared for the golems to attack, it simply wasn’t feasible to me right now. In the worst case scenario, this attack from the golems would last some time. If, by chance, the attack was not over by the time my next invasion began, I would have to deal with two galactic empires at the same time.

As such, my only real option here was to speed things along. With any luck, there would be plenty of time following this event to prepare for that invasion. Taking a deep breath, I mentally activated the command.

Really, couldn’t he have just done this a bit earlier? Petra asked as she sat atop the flying jet, clearly not bothered by the wind buffeting her face. Her eyes scanned over the surroundings, but she wasn’t really paying attention to much at the moment.

The new system update had come in while her expedition was in the midst of their search. All things considered, they had not made all that much progress towards the next gate when suddenly the update introduced a new skill system and a new ability for scouts.

As adventurers that had fought their way through Fyor, reaching the highest level permitted by the world, it was natural that each of them had a high level as a scout. Thus, they were quick to determine what had changed.

In fact, scouts originally had a form of mapping feature available as part of their class. However, this feature was limited to details which the scout actively focused on and recognized. Because of this, many scouts formed the habit of analyzing every detail within their field of view to the best of their ability. Yet, even with that, there would naturally be things that were overlooked.

This new system, however, only required for the landscape to enter their field of perception. There was no requirement for them to focus on individual details. In fact, it was enough for them to casually walk through a forest with their eyes closed. The details picked up by their other senses alone would map out a large radius around them.

For someone like Petra, this was even more exaggerated. The moment the update hit, her minimap had instantly acquired the entire map of Fyor, reaching every level that she had entered, aside from the twenty-sixth floor. The shadow power she cultivated was regarded as one of her ‘senses’ by this new system, granting her a much increased ability to perceive the world around her.

As Petra mentally glanced at her minimap, there were numerous red dots whizzing by in the forest below them. Each one was a creature regarded as an enemy in her perception, while six blue dots sat within the aircraft she was sitting on.

After the update had hit, their expedition reached a rather awkward period. It did not take long for them to realize that they no longer needed to run through this dangerous forest where life and death could be decided in an instant. Nobody present had been afraid of danger, but there was a difference between accepting that danger and realizing that there was a better way.

Their morale shaken, they returned to the original city of the twenty-fifth floor and reorganized their forces. Of the few dozen people that had been involved in the initial expedition, all that was left was Petra herself and the six people in the jet beneath her. Of the six, four specialized in defensive magic, one was their pilot, and the last was a priest of Aurivy.

The only true ‘fighting force’ of the crew was Petra herself, which was why she had chosen to remain on the exterior of the ship. Well, that and the fact that she didn’t want to let anyone know that her energy had already mapped the entire layer. It was a simple matter for her to detect any enemies preparing to attack their vessel.

Naturally, nobody blamed Petra for the first expedition’s ‘failure’. She had done a remarkable job leading them before the system update was implemented. Furthermore… it was the Keeper himself that caused this change, something that Petra could have done nothing to predict. Even if she was the daughter of Ashley, that did not mean that she knew when the Keeper would make big changes like this.

However, there was one good thing that came from this change. Originally, their expedition would have taken a minimum of a year to complete. Now that they were able to simply fly towards their goal through the air, they would be able to complete the task within a week.

How is the mapping coming on your end? Petra asked internally, knowing that Thelsa was still working on understanding the layout of the twenty-sixth floor.

There was a long sigh that sounded in her mind. It’s difficult. Our shadow powers are at a disadvantage here, and the walls recover too quickly for us to mine out a path. Garland suggested we try to keep the stones to sell them, but they evaporate into raw mana minutes after being removed from the wall.

Also, we’ve started to find creatures within the crystal passageways. So far, every monster we’ve found has been able to use various magic abilities, so they’ve clearly evolved to fit an environment like this.

Given the height of the crystal maze, and the likelihood of additional floors above us, I think this isn’t a floor that anyone can conquer within fifty years. If they do, it will be because they have some special ability related to detection and teleportation.

Did the new update not help our scouts find a path? Petra asked after hearing Thelsa’s update. It had to be known that there were a lot of benefits to this new ability for scouts, so she couldn’t overlook the possibility that someone would be able to learn something good because of it.

I tried, but no. Their perception is restricted due to the density of the walls. Out of our people high enough level to withstand this floor’s gravity, none of them could map more than twenty meters away from themselves.

Petra let out a helpless sigh when she heard that. If there was nothing that they could do, there was nothing that they could do. Once we get more people there, maybe someone will have a way to siphon off the mana to gradually open up a habitable space. Nowadays, anybody would be happy to have such a large, renewable source of mana to harvest, right?

One month passed as the combat deities of Deckan trained. In that time, numerous satellites had been launched into orbit, particularly in the last week. As the deadline drew ever closer, people began to consider more and more whether or not they should evacuate to other worlds.

Unfortunately, there was no time for such a large-scale evacuation, even if they wanted to. Several nobles within the world’s government decided to go on ‘vacation’ at this time, but there was nothing that could be done about the sheer number of people in the world. Nothing but praying that it would all work out in the end.

Chel stood atop a massive tower, one over a hundred meters wide and ten kilometers tall. This was itself a project that had required the aid of over a hundred druids and architects working tirelessly for the last two weeks to construct. All to serve as the stage for these few deities who would hopefully save the world.

The tower was stationed quite far away from any city, and there were a grand total of six like it throughout the world. After all, it was hard to say for sure exactly where the fleet would appear in relation to the planet, so they had to make sure that they were prepared for anything.

Currently, they had determined that the fleet of ships were less than an hour away, and had thus settled on their current position. “Jace, how are you holding up?” Chel asked, looking towards their first line of defense, the God of Storms.

Jace sat with his legs crossed, eyes closed in focus. “I’ve set up warp storms like you said… but it’s difficult to hold them. I won’t be able to hold on until they arrive.”

Chel shook her head, smiling slightly. “You won’t need to. Once they see that the space around this planet is unstable, they won’t approach too close with their hyperdrives. They’ll need to rely on sub-light engines to make up the rest of the distance. Even if the storm goes away afterwards, it will be hard for them to quickly jump closer, for fear of triggering another one.”

Jace didn’t entirely understand the mechanics behind what Chel was talking about. It had taken him most of the month simply to comprehend the idea of a ‘void storm’ that could shake the stability of space. It would take all of his focus simply to maintain this storm until their targets arrived close enough to detect it.

“Alright, that means that it will be time for you two to act soon.” Chel glanced towards Phisher and Thessa, who both nodded gravely. It was no understatement to say that the survival of the planet rested in everyone’s ability to perform their roles. Granted, the new skill system took some of the pressure off of their shoulders, but it was still a great psychological burden for them.

Soon, James’s voice spoke up from the back, where he was focusing on detecting the enemy fleet. “They’re here.” The others were surprised that they had arrived ahead of schedule, but in the end it did make sense. After all, they likely had access to these new skills as well. “They’re outside the storm radius, moving in at sub-light. It will take them thirty minutes at their current speed to reach our perimeter.”

Thessa gulped, quickly grabbing her bow and standing at the ready as a circular window appeared in the air before them. Through this window, they were able to see the enemy fleet… massive ships numbering in the dozens, some of which were as big as an entire planet. Behind them, hundreds, maybe thousands of smaller, city-sized ships flew in formation.

“James, find the core reactor for one of the lead ships.” Chel called out with a grin, the view changing to show a spiralling core of mana suspended in a large sphere. “Thessa, this one’s for you.”

Thessa’s grip tightened on her bow, and she pulled one of the arrows from her quiver. This arrow had numerous tiny, blue runes carved along its shaft, and a red crystal serving as its arrowhead. As she nocked the arrow on her string, she whispered to herself. “What I desire is an arrow that can pierce all restrictions.”

She took a deep breath, pulling back the string, before letting it fly. The moment that the arrow left her bow, it vanished into the void. The view in the window changed, showing the fleet again. However, one of the largest ships began slowing down. Various patches on its surface started to glow orange as cracks formed, before the ship itself exploded.

The blast of the explosion was such that over a hundred ships trailing behind had been shattered in an instant, and even some of the other massive ships had been rattled by the blast. Seeing this, Chel nodded her head, turning to look at Thessa. “How’s the consumption?”

Thessa let out her breath, shaking her head. “On my divinity… not much. But the void arrow consumed a lot of my mana.”

“Take a few minutes to recover, then. Phisher can fire the next shot.” After she said that, she turned towards Phisher, who gave a small nod.

The kitsune god pulled out his sword, holding it in front of himself. As he gathered his power in the blade, it emitted a brilliant, golden glow. Turning the blade, he held it horizontally, such that it rested between himself and the window that James had created. “One blade to sever creation.”

A golden blast shot out from the blade of Phisher’s sword, sweeping across the horizon. It swept across a towering mountain in the distance, causing the peak to crumble and collapse. However, it also swept through the window. Phisher’s face went pale as his power, which had been gathered into a thin line, slashed through the fleet.

Two more of the planet-sized ships fell, Phisher’s sword having been angled to cut through them in his vision. However, such a massive release of power had almost entirely drained his divinity, making him fall to one knee.