The best plans are the simplest ones. Most complex plans fall apart the moment they are conceived or require so many contingency plans that they make the eyes bleed. Simple plans are usually more direct, have slight variance, and rarely disappoint.

~Ogma, God of Eloquence and Inspiration

Otto left his room, following his instinct more than his jumbled thoughts. His muscles were tense as if expecting to be attacked at any moment, but the courtyard was empty. A light still burned in Song Xue’s window, and he could sense the movements from within as she cultivated.

Something was making him uneasy, but it became elusive when he tried to think about it. The only thing he could relate it to was the feeling he had when a storm was building. His body would practically resonate with it.

It gave him the same feeling, but it was different. Sky Torn Sect was north of Tioram, the desert in the southwest corner of the tower’s Basement. The Druid Order’s Keystone was located in the middle of that desert, which acted as a natural defense. However, Sky Torn was almost directly west of Skyfall Forbidden Zone, and the closest Keystone belonged to one of the central continents. Otto struggled to remember the names and people but gave up. All he knew was that most of the people in the sect were from that continent, and he disliked all of them.

Otto enjoyed beating the stuffing out of them so much that he didn’t let the smallest slight go unpunished. Not because he cared, but because his fists wanted to pound their arrogant faces.

The war ravaging most of the land seemed to target Keystones. While everyone knew about it, it only affected about a third of the Basement. Sky Torn remained untouched. The southern continent’s Keystone was roughly northeast of Skyfall, so Sky Torn was on the opposite of the world. It didn’t mean that it did not impact them, but only small-scale skirmishes involving a single Witch Doctor.

Otto’s eyes didn’t drift northeast but toward the southeast, more south than not. His clouded mind didn’t think others were also staring in the same direction, but how could they not. The massive disturbance in the surrounding mana charged the atmosphere with a lot of energy, like a storm. It was what Otto was sensing well before the others took notice.

It didn’t mean he understood what was happening. But as slow as he was, he understood the implications of such a ripple. This wasn’t some minor occurrence, and anyone with a Shield should have sensed it by now. All across the Basement, people were waking up and turning to the southern point of Skyfall.

“What is it, Otto?” Song Xue asked. She came out after feeling weird and saw Otto standing in the courtyard, staring southeast. Even without a Shield, she knew something strange was happening. Otto’s strange behavior confirmed it because she was well aware of how sensitive he was to energy fluctuations.

“Not know. Big.” His thick finger pointed toward where he sensed something. He couldn’t know that he’d right at Pineknot, nor did he know it was the same town that Crow saw before disappearing.

***

Song Lin glanced toward the east—more accurately, it was slightly north of due east. Her sensitivity toward mana had not lessened with the loss of her Shield. However, her power had diminished, which meant she couldn’t produce pills like she did in the past. She was biding her time and waiting for the Trial of Ascension.

The disturbance had caused her to ruin this batch of pills, so she got up to walk outside. At night, the desert’s temperature dropped as quickly as the darkness did. The cold air helped revitalize her focus. And she realized she wasn’t the only one looking toward the east. Based on the low chattering, it didn’t seem like anyone had any idea what happened.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spied several young men staring at her from a nearby alley. Usually, she’d have ignored them because, with her looks, it wasn’t unusual for men to stare. Except they had the same ethnicity as her, and their eyes weren’t lecherous.

“You sure it’s her?” One of them whispered.

“I’m sure. Look, she is working as an alchemist, too. It has to be her.”

“What do we do?”

“Wait for an opportunity.”

Song Lin didn’t know what they were saying, but she wasn’t stupid. They recognized her, which only meant trouble. She hadn’t wanted to start her journey yet, but maybe it was now time for her to head north and meet up with her sister.

***

Niall’s head snapped to the right. Seconds later, everyone with a Shield did the same. Almost directly west of them was a powerful pulse of energy that was impossible to miss. This close to the source, even the weakest cultivator among them should have felt it.

“What the fuck is that?” Niall growled. “I want answers.”

“Yes, sir,” Alys responded and took off.

“How much longer?” Niall asked another one of his aides. This man was in charge of logistics.

“We’ll reach the eastern continent’s Keystone in two days.”

“Make it one, hard march. Whatever that was—” Niall pointed west. “—cannot be ignored. If I’m not mistaken, that was the direction we last saw the Hex Vodun marching toward. In two days, I want my meeting with those Martial clan bastards, and in three days, we are heading west.”

“That isn’t enough time to negotiate.” The officer complained.

“Shut up. We both know they aren’t agreeing to shit. I don’t know what Gavin is up to, but I know that none of these nations will unite, not yet anyway. It is a damned miracle that the Beastlords joined us. Even Simbi isn’t really our ally. He is after something, so it’s a business transaction.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good, get it done. And whatever you do, do not underestimate these Martial clans. From what Song Lin told me, they might be more treacherous than the Hex Vodun. Especially the Xu clan.”

***

“It is starting,” Gavin said after stepping through the Keystone. Mugna appeared beside him.

“There is something you need to know.” The old man leaned heavily on his gnarled wooden staff. “Despite being thousands of kilometers away, Crow still entered.”

“What!?” Gavin never looked so put out, and if Crow saw him now, he’d be shocked. “How the hell did that even happen? What the fuck kind of situation could occur to make that happen? What the actual—”

“Unfated are unpredictable,” Mugna laughed so hard he cried. In all the years he’d known Gavin, the man had never lost his composure to this level. It was really incomprehensible, Mugna admitted that, so he understood Gavin’s frustration. A large part of their planning was to keep Crow out of the entire event. Still, it was a laugh or cry scenario. “Based on my source, Crow had the misfortune to come across an Astrologer.”

“Dammit!” Gavin shouted. “Didn’t we deliberately time everything they left the Basement? Wait, how do you know an Astrologer was involved?”

“I’m in contact with Nidhogg, the Astrologer’s guardian.”

“Isn’t he the one that devoured the Yggdrasil?”

Mugna chuckled and shook his head. “While he is a void dragon, and his nature is to devour, Yggdrasil isn’t something tangible he can devour. You may not know this, but the World Tree is not a physical entity.”

“Then why the story?”

“Time changed the narrative. Nidhogg really did devour a treant that reached the state of Yggdrasil, which is not unlike you gaining a Shield. For us, achieving Yggdrasil unshackles us from our tree. I’d become an entity equivalent to your gods.”

“Then you don’t harbor any ill will toward this guardian?”

“No. In truth, he devoured the entire Dragon’s Blood clan, but I’m not sure what their original seed was. They were rooted in a battleground in which hundreds of dragons were slaughtered, and their roots soaked it all up, corrupting them. Several of them even sacrificed their own tree for power. They should never have been able to reach the state of Yggdrasil, but one did. He became so powerful and evil that he helped his clan kill and absorb man and beast alike. Those Treants deviated from their seed. This doesn’t mean much to you, but it is the greatest taboo of the Treant tribes. This is why I forbid killing under my boughs. Absorbing the blood of innocents is a corrupting force, and it is easy to become seduced by the easy power gain it provides.”

“Yeah, but Nidhogg originally had nothing to do with the Treant people, right?”

“Ha! Do you think he did it out of altruism? That sly snake wanted the dragon’s blood. So don’t overthink his actions. He gained additional powers over time and space when he accidentally devoured the Dragon’s Blood Treant that reached Yggdrasil. That was accidental on his part and is why he is paying his penance as a guardian.”

“Okay, I think I understand now, but we are getting sidetracked. What happened with Crow?”

“Not all the Astrologers returned. One, in particular, was left, and you might find his situation too coincidental—I know I do. Nidhogg said he was what their people call a Dark Star, which only occurs when all the bonds they have with the other Stars in the Constellation disappear. A rare twist of fate. Most of those pirates are superstitious, so they felt he was an ill omen and practically shunned him. You can figure out the rest.”

“Yes, but how did they even fucking meet? That damned kid is killing me. He stayed away from the war and fighting like he promised and still couldn’t avoid this?”

“Are you upset that he was pulled in or that your plans were trashed?” Mugna laughed.

“Yes,” Gavin said with a smile. “Fine, I’m upset my plans were trashed. I doubt anyone is going to kill that kid. We’ll die of frustration before that happens.”

“The boy will find,” Mugna laughed it off. “One day, he’ll look back and wish things remained this simple.”

“Simple? Do you know where he is right now?”

“Calamity and rewards go together. If an Astrologer brought him along, that means they bonded. That boon is already significant, don’t you think?”

“You mean…?”

“Yes, he should be able to learn their ability to do short-range teleportation. Actually, Mara is even more suitable than him. I wasn’t sure about that girl at first, but she might be more fierce than Crow.”

Gavin sighed. “What do we tell Niall?”

“He’ll be fine with it, but you should explain why you are requesting alliances. Why are you doing that anyway?”

“What is there to explain?” Gavin laughed. “By doing that, we can justifiably avoid participating in the war.”

“You actually did it?” Mugna asked in surprise. It wasn’t that he didn’t have faith in Gavin’s ability with formations, but time was the greatest equalizer. In theory, Gavin should have taken years to figure out the trick, not six months.

“I did. The formation isn’t as good as Skyfall, and the Witch Doctors won’t be impacted as much, but none of the undead will leave Tioram if they enter.”

“You really copied Skyfall’s behavior?”

“We’ll need to power it with crystals, so we still need to have scouts sitting near the edge of the desert.”

“So the whole point of you asking the other Keystones for an alliance was to let them refuse? I’m not sure how that lets us remain out of the war.”

“When they beg us for help, we tell them no. What can they say? Since they already rejected us, we have the moral high ground. We can sit comfortably here and wait until the Trial of Ascension. It’s a short jog from the edge of my formations to Skyfall.”

“Such a simple plan?” Mugna’s beard quivered in shock. “Why act all mysterious then?”

“Because I felt like it…?” Gavin shrugged. “Still, Crow was out of my expectations.”