“Almost there!” Dantanian cried out as another of the markers he had created was burned into the surface of the world. “I’m getting closer. Just a couple more now!”

He drifted high above the clouds and looked down at the world. It was refreshing to be down here in person like this. It was simply too bad that he had only gotten enough control to come down in person after his other plans had all failed. If he had been able to simply descend before and find Cassy in person, then all of this could have been avoided.

Oh well, it wasn’t meant to be. He would still have her, eventually. There were just a few more steps involved, now was all.

Of course, he had hoped Gaia would be down for a little longer while doing her upgrades. He had almost failed to create enough of the marks in time to implement his plan. No doubt the arrogant spirit thought she knew what he was doing. He sincerely doubted that, since he himself barely knew what he was doing.

The voice he trusted the most among those few remaining inside his head was the one guiding him now. It had forbidden knowledge, information that he had certainly never known.

Like how placing those marks in a specific layout that were then connected under certain conditions would create a backdoor of sorts. One that would give him full control of the world spirit and her resources. The condition, in this case, was Gaia’s utter inability to focus on anything else, such as what happened when she was upgrading the system.

She had left herself completely open to his intrusion. Now it was just a matter of seeing if it worked.

There were only a few marks left to make, and then it would be too late for anyone to do anything to change what was to come. Earth, this solar system, and Cassy would all be his forever more.