“We did it! We did it!”

“The four Payircis had been conquered! The barrier has been lifted!”

“Can we finally attack the Tree of Darkness now?”

Members of Guardian Sword raised their voices in disbelief. All of them had been expecting a hard fight, one that would see them lose at least half of their manpower. However, everything was going far smoother than they could ever anticipate. The members of the Alliance all held their breaths as they watched the barrier that barred their path disintegrate away, leaving a straight road towards the final destination.

At the same time, ten figures were levitating solemnly over the New Land of Dreams. Some of them looked like warriors, others, scholars. Some of them had weapons attached to their hips, others had artefacts that looked somewhat mystical. It was an odd band of people that had gathered but make no mistake… At this current moment, that force was the most deadly one the world had seen in years.

Back in the New Land of Dreams, Raphael and the other Spirit Saints were watching the scene unfold with bleached eyes, particularly Saint Geom. His all-out attack said to be the strongest single-target ability in the world, failed spectacularly against the energy field protecting the Tree of Darkness. Now that it was gone…

“I’m going...” Saint Geom declared. Reaching to his waist, the Spirit Saint unsheathed the Samingeom, and an arc of swordlight dripped down onto the darkened ground. “We’ll end this war right now!”

“I’m coming with you!” Saint Longyu Tian wasn’t one to hold back either. The Golden Sovereign Koi unleashed its familiar time aura while the black-haired woman’s eyes mirrored her Spirit’s colour. Longyu Tian was there that day… When the Allfather single-handedly took on six Spirit Saints and handed them a spectacular defeat. This time… It was going to be different.

“Hold on!” Raphael, being the least brash one of them all, felt the same suspicions that Shin and the other raid members were feeling and held his hand out to pause the Spirit Saint’s agitation. “We can’t just run into the area without confirmation from the teams we’ve dispatched! We should stick to the plan!”

“What are you talking about?!” Longyu Tian hollered back. “After they cleared the Payircis, we would raid the Tree of Darkness! That was the plan!”

In the Saint of Time’s mind, Shin’s job was done. Now, it was time for the Spirit Saints to take over and attack the Allfather’s base, drawing the supposed world’s strongest man out into the open. Should Shin or any of the Lantis Republic’s young talents were to be caught in that crossfire… It would only prove to hold deadly results.

The other Spirit Saints felt the same way, particularly those from the three superpowers. Many of them were in from the previous generation and were willing to die for the peace of the world. The youngsters that led the charge, on the other hand, had their whole lives left before them. They just couldn’t risk their young elites’ lives anymore. Now that the path had been open, all that’s left for them was to trailblaze their way to the apex of the Tree.

“No, we can’t be hasty! We should wait for them to send the green light and analyse our situation!”

“What are you talking about? The path is open! We should just...”

OMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!

While the Spirit Saints were busy bickering away, lightning crackled, and thunder boomed. Winds returned back to the Neutral Lands, and the Darkness-Elements spiked exponentially. Hearing the change, every Alliance member ran out into the open and turned their attentions to the black clouds that hung overhead. Ever since the Black Masks took over the Neutral Lands, both the ground and sky had been taken over by their presence.

Umbras wandered the lands, and with the presence of the defensive Payircis, they were relatively unhindered. Meanwhile, the skies were also ruled by the Black Masks, or to be more exact, the Allfather. His domain spanned high and wide, sending heaps of Darkness-Elements heavenward and overcrowding the sky with dark, ominous clouds. None of the Alliance members, be it Spirit Saints or Primordial Beasts, could do anything about the altered environment and they could only sigh in helplessness as they watched the Allfather turn the entire Neutral Lands into his home court.

However, something was changing in the sky… Something that no one in the Alliance had ever seen before.

The blackened clouds which covered the sun and moon were now swirling around like a whirlpool, sucking in all spiritual energies that the world could provide it. It was like a glutton with a bottomless stomach, sucking in everything that came by its path. The Allfather’s mana, the Alliance’s mana… and more surprisingly, the world’s very own essence.

“That vortex…” Raphael unconsciously gulped. The other Spirit Saints were in a similar state. They couldn’t breathe without wheezing, and their eyes were on the verge of popping out of their sockets.

“...” Idun Himmel, the strongest Spirit Saint in the Alliance, was also silent. He folded both his arms, quietly observing the never before seen phenomenon.

Little did they know… That it was just the beginning.

Once the whirlpool had spread far enough to cover the entire Neutral Land’s skies, thousands of odd rocks escaped out from the Tree of Darkness and floated up into position, as if moved telekinetically by an astral being. Furthermore, those rocks weren’t just regular items that could be found on any canyon floor. Every single one of them were gleaming with spiritual energies, creating a sparkling light show that was unfathomable by human imagination.

“Those are all Aether!!!” Lady Seph instantly recognised the rocks and screamed with everything that she’d got. In the past, the Divine Healer had fought in a battle to control an Aether Mine, the very same battle that propelled her to stardom. However, even if they were to dig up all the Aether in that same mine, it would pale in comparison to the number of Aether rocks that were floating about in the atmosphere.

By this time, all of the Alliance raid members had escaped from their respective positions and retreated a few kilometres back. Therefore, Shin and the other members of Guardian Sword were given a front-row seat to the bizarre sight that stood before all of them. He could see the Aether flying about and the gluttonous whirlpool which sucked all manner of spiritual energies into its epicentre.

“The Allfather… What is he planning now?” Shin thought out loud. He was long in his battle stance, ready to move out if need be.

“The Payircis! Look at them!!!” Ella quickly shouted out.

Following the master archer’s outstretched finger, Shin saw what he dreaded the most. The five remaining Payircis that were believed to be inhabited, were now radiating out new waves of elemental energies with each passing moment. They were burning up, like a volcano ready to erupt, until finally…

Five beams of light surged out from the tips of the Payircis. They all slammed onto the clouds overhead, creating a pentagon shape that were powered by each one of the elemental energies.

Black, white, blue, purple, red. These five distinct colours painted the sky, turning the distinct dark of the Neutral Lands into a vibrant light show for the ages. However, it wasn’t only for the glam… The energies that erupted from the Payircis fed the spinning whirlpool, giving it more and more spiritual energy that was readily absorbed without breaking a sweat.

The same couldn’t be said about Shin thought. His face was already dripping with sweat, and his entire battle robes were drenched to the bone. Shin clearly knew what the whirlpool represented… He just didn’t want to believe in it yet.

“No way… Are they trying to open Heaven’s Gate already?!”