Elisae had a relieved smile on her face when she felt the spread of her new energy. As long as she could improve the lives of the people of Kross, she wasn’t really that interested in taking their land. After all, unlike other kingdoms, Kross had been quite resolute in their refusal. Without overthrowing and likely killing the King of Knights, there was no real way to absorb the land as she had done with the other nations.

However, at the same time, she knew that such a conflict would be inevitable. The fact that she was spreading her energy to all that would accept it now was merely a prelude to prevent the wanton destruction that she had foreseen previously. The more people that inherited her energy, the fewer would be pulled into the battlefield when the time came.

Hopefully, it will be reduced to just Kross and his knights, though that is rather optimistic, even for me. Elisae knew that there would still be sacrifices, that no matter what course of action she took, she could not avoid this conflict.

“Finally…” James rolled his shoulders as he landed on a planet, looking at the wasteland surrounding him. “It’s not ideal, but what could I expect from my circumstances…”

Thankfully, all James really needed was somewhere that he could gather his thoughts. He swept his perception over the planet, finding it barren, and shook his head. With a stomp of his foot, the surrounding earth was smoothed out, becoming a plane of solid stone.

“Let’s see…” James ran a series of mental calculations, looking for the ideal configuration for the energies that he needed to fuse. He had the theory in his mind, and only needed to bring it into the real world now.

Along the stone floor, lines began to carve themselves into the ground. These weren’t fourth-tier spell diagrams, but rather third-tier. Although the popular belief was that higher tier magic was undoubtedly better, the same result could often be achieved with a lower tier, unless you were reaching for the limits of complexity.

Ten, fifty, a hundred, in a matter of ten minutes, more than three hundred spell diagrams were imprinted in the ground. Next, lines began to carve themselves, connecting these diagrams in a massive array as James stood at its heart. Each time a diagram was finished, his senses swept over it, ensuring that there weren’t any problems with the engravings.

“Now… let’s sever this karma, shall we?” He spoke up with a smile, lifting one hand and snapping his fingers to activate the first of the spell diagrams.

Dale, we need you back in the Administration Room, now! Chelsea’s voice called out to me as I was working on modifying my new summons. My eyes widened, startled by the sudden shout.

Without delay, I immediately ascended to the Admin Room, finding Chelsea sat on the couch with an anxious expression. “Is it time?” I couldn’t help but ask, and Chelsea nodded her head in confirmation.

“He just set up a massive array of spells on an uninhabited planet. James knows that he won’t be able to get what he wants the first try, so he made fifty separate experiments, all with slight modifications. With his expertise, there is an infinitely high chance that one of these fifty will produce the energy he wants.”

My lips twitched when I heard her words. “Isn’t he worried that the shockwaves of one failure would disrupt the others?” To my surprise, Chelsea shook her head in denial.

“This is James we’re talking about. Part of the spell he set up will transfer the energy to another region if it doesn’t meet the parameters he set. Although the spells were all created in the same area, there should be minimal interference between them.”

I gave a small nod at that, moving to sit down and begin purchasing the ‘lifeless world’ that would serve as a sacrifice for James to destroy. The modifier for a lifeless world wasn’t expensive at all, so this was only a drop in the bucket compared to what James had helped me earn through his many innovations.

When a new world appeared in the void, there were bound to be those curious, wanting to check it out. It might even attract some void beasts, but there wasn’t much that I could do about that. Even if someone identified the new world, they would most likely report it back to their superiors before making a move themselves.

As long as it is enough time for James to do his thing, it’s fine. I muttered inwardly, turning my attention to the screen.

Numbers one through thirty-seven all failed at the early fusion stage. James thought to himself, caressing his chin. Having observed the fusion of energy via his World Sight, he slightly adjusted the spell diagrams of the final set, issuing an order for the next batch to run.

Thirty-eight… progress, but still a failure. Same with thirty-nine. Forty… looks like it’s the sa-- hmm? James had almost given up on one of the spells when he saw an instability in the energy fusion, only to pull his attention back to it. Forty has stabilized… Was my karma trying to get me to overlook it by inducing the tremor? If that had happened, the ‘failure’ would have been sent off into space.

James focused more of his attention on this spell diagram, which became more steady after the initial tremor. First stage, complete. Second stage fusion… complete. His eyes widened, watching as the three energies began to integrate with one another. Although there were almost constant signs of rejection, it never exceeded the threshold that he had set.

Karma is not meant to be controlled. Fate is ever-shifting. It makes sense that this energy is inclined to revolt before it settles.

James lowered his stance, bracing himself. According to his calculations, this energy would have an extremely short period of stability after the spell had completed. In that period, James needed to rush forward and bind it to himself.

The moment he sensed that the spell was completed, his figure blurred, charging through the other active spells without a care. His body practically flashed to his target, blue light crackling over his frame as he grabbed the clear gem it had formed in his hand. As soon as he had touched it, the gem turned pitch black, an obvious sign that it had been bound to him.

Void! New world target! Now! Chel’s voice echoed in James’s mind once he had obtained the energy. His eyes widened, stomping the ground to destroy the remaining spell diagrams, and then tore open a gate to the void.

When James passed through the gate, he scanned the surroundings with his energy, cursing under his breath at how far away the new, undefended world was. He wanted to charge over, but found that his location was being locked onto by a large number of void beasts. Looks like the dinner bell rang. I’d rather be off the menu.

Ignore them! Chel ordered again, and four more figures appeared in the void around them. James instantly recognized these four, being none other than Chel, Thea, Nora, and Treisha. All four of them released their powers at once, launching a series of attacks at the charging void beasts.

Treisha became a beacon of magic, prismatic beams of energy firing out to burn or freeze the void beasts. Thea and Nora stood side by side, a circular pattern forming around their bodies, composed of light and darkness. Any creatures that entered their range seemed to dissolve into nothing. As for Chel, she took a deep breath and released an ear-piercing scream into the void that staggered numerous beasts at once.

James hesitated, realizing that this brief interference would taint their karma as well. Hurry up, you idiot! Deal with ours when you’re done! Chel’s mental cry snapped him out of his moment of hesitation, and he turned to charge at the new world.

Although he had just obtained his new energy, he had countless speculations on how to use it. First, issue an order to gather all negative karma at a single point between my fingers. He focused, holding one hand forward with his index and middle finger extended. A pitch black light gathered between his fingers, and he knew that the energy was doing its job.

Holding this energy, he flew to the new world, waiting until he was right outside of it. Only then did he slash his hand out, creating a black blade that tore through the void. And release! When Chel had yelled for him to come to this world, he knew what their plan was. The only surprise was that Chel and the others had personally appeared to block the beasts attacking him. He could have dealt with those beasts personally, but it would have taken some time.

No… if I had fought them myself, I would have used this karmic blade, even if I lowered the output. Was she aiming to avoid that? James thought to himself, seeing the black blade create a massive gash in the shell around the world.

Turning back, he found that the others were in an increasingly desperate battle. James held a hand out to manifest the gem he had created before, finding that it had once again turned clear. Now that he didn’t have the negative karma burdening him, the void beasts had instead been drawn to Chel and the others, who had shouldered a portion of the karma by helping him.

He reached a hand out towards the four, adjusting his perception of space so as to let his hand wrap around them, even from this distance. They were startled, before allowing themselves to be pulled to his side. Without a word, he focused on the gem, drawing in the negative karma from these four until the gem turned black once again.

With that done, he fired off a second blade of negative karma into the already broken world, sending a helpless glance to Chel. Was that strictly necessary?

Chel crossed her arms, rolling her eyes. Karmic information void clone. You tell me if it was necessary or not?

James blinked, before his eyes went wide. He hadn’t thought about that, the fact that his karma contained all of his information. So that’s why you had him make this world for me to target.

Yup! Now, you going to deal with those guys, or not? She asked, jerking a thumb behind herself towards the void beasts that were charging after their escaped prey.

James thought about it for a moment, before his right eye turned pitch black. I got this. He responded, a beam of energy shooting out and attacking the leading void beast, causing it to begin dissolving.

Chel watched with a wide smile as he dispatched the void beasts with the Eye of Ruin. Once the last one had fallen, she tore open a portal for them to leave through, one that connected back to their lab.

“It’s a long time coming, but welcome home, boss!” Nora grinned when she stepped through the portal. “Finally, no more malfunctions, no more getting sprayed or blasted in the face, no more randomly breaking systems, we can be a functioning institute again!”

“How long was I gone?” James blinked, looking around. “I couldn’t really grasp the passing of time. It’s been at least a few years, right? And… where are Three-Fifty and Sirius?”

“They ditched a decade in.” Treisha shrugged her shoulders. “And you were gone… about thirty years. It’s about time we get back on track with our research, isn’t it? All of our old projects were shredded to wipe out your name from the lab.”

“It was that bad?” He asked with wide eyes, to which all four girls nodded their heads.

“The perfection chambers on-site broke one after another.” Chelsea commented in a casual tone.

“The stored pilot bracers caused an energy storm that destroyed the warehouse.” Treisha grinned, the twins looking at each other mischievously before finishing adding on.

“And the divine forge spawned a metal demigod out of nowhere that wanted to eat us!” When James heard that, he paused, lifting a hand to speak, but couldn’t find the words.