Now that the void defenses were ready, it was just a matter of getting the people ready for the invasion that was to come. Leowynn. I thought to the elven goddess, calling her. How are things going on your end?

We’ve made a lot of progress getting the Fallen God population increased, dad. Fallen Godhood may not be as accessible to normal people as divinity, but a large number of the officials of my church have taken this step.

I nodded my head. Until there were more methods publicly available for people to safely become Fallen Gods, this was the best that I could hope for. And how has the preparation gone, in terms of awareness and willingness to evacuate?

That… Leowynn’s voice sounded troubled. That one has had notably less success. The people aren’t so willing to just give up on their homes. More than half showed strong resistance, even when the idea came from the churches of the Greater Pantheon. Even if temporary, the thought of abandoning their homes caused a great sense of anxiety.

That was… less than ideal. While I could understand the idea of not wanting to give up on their homes, this was quite literally a matter of life and death. Without knowing the exact strength of the void monsters being sent this time, we can’t know for sure whether or not our defenses are strong enough to protect them.

Unfortunately, this was the sad truth of the matter. And, it was not feasible to try to move entire planets to Fyor for protection, even if we were given a century to prepare. However many are willing to evacuate, just make sure that there is plenty of lodging for them in Fyor.

That’s already done, dad. Leowynn reported, a touch happier about that. The evacuation policies haven’t spread throughout all of the Metong network, due to the difficulty of such a large-scale transportation, but the primary worlds of each realm have been notified, and lodging has been prepared on the upper floors of Fyor.

Right… speaking of. Bihena? How has the progress come with breaking through the maze floor?

There was a pause before Bihena replied with a sigh. At this point, they have basically confirmed that there is a danger on the sixty-first floor. However, they can’t verify whether the danger is related to the layer’s climate, or if the portal is simply located near the den of some great beast.

About eight months ago, they set up a new method of exploring the maze. Before entering, everyone would place a device on the wall of the maze, which would lock the portal open after they passed through. If they went through, and found that there was nothing on the other side, they could simply pass through and deactivate the device.

Sadly, they have yet to have anyone lucky or unlucky enough to open the gate to the sixty-first floor in the last eight months. Once they have another person make it through, they will have a proper understanding of what is on the other side.

That was better news, at least. Progress was being made, even if it was slow. The only thing that I could do was hope that all of our defenses would be enough to protect people. At this point, the only thing that more time would give me was additional Fallen Gods. While nice, it wasn’t particularly worth fast forwarding even further at the given time.

Looking at the time, we had a total of fifteen days before the invasion. That… wasn’t much time to take care of things. At most, I had a couple of weeks to brush up on my training while making sure that everyone was ready to act.

“It looks like the battle isn’t too far off now.” Udona said as she hovered in the void, positioned outside an area that had been converted into something akin to a Fallen God’s sanctuary. There was a very thin void barrier surrounding an artificially created, lush landscape. Within this sanctuary, there were dozens, if not hundreds of docile void beasts roaming.

At the center of the sanctuary sat Aznod, focusing on creating the feed necessary for these creatures. Although he was not a Fallen God, he had learned several methods to manipulate the void over the years, allowing him to reach his current level. His kitsune ears twitched when he heard Udona’s voice. “Has it been decided?”

“It seems like.” Udona nodded her head. “He doesn’t want to fast forward again, from what I can tell. Whatever progress you’ve made here, it’ll have to be enough. Is it… enough?”

Aznod hesitated to answer. His farm here was not for the purpose of raising fighting beasts. Rather, it was an experiment to try to perfect the method of taming void beasts. “That will depend on what comes. I’ve made enough feed for a variety of beasts, but I can’t guarantee what will arrive from beyond the Keeper’s realm.”

Udona simply sighed, nodding as well. “Have you tried to prepare them as a dish yet?”

When Aznod heard that, he paused, but nodded his head. “They can’t be processed directly with my divinity, but my Saint Energy can be used on them. However, a dish made from void beasts can only be consumed by either another void beast or a Fallen God. Otherwise, the void’s influence would become a poison in the body of the consumer.”

“At least you know that void beasts can be tamed.” She pointed out, Aznod nodding his head. In fact, as he perfected the method of creating the ‘feed’, he had created a legend that allowed him to break his level limit as a farmer and a monster tamer. Granted, he had long since made a legend as a chef, so this wasn’t his first time getting such an achievement, but it was surprising nonetheless.

“Do you have any preparations you need to make?” Aznod asked, turning his head to look at Udona. She thought it over, before letting out a long sigh.

“My main consciousness can’t be present for these invasions, or things may be easier. Thankfully, this body’s true owner has grown accustomed to me, and shares a lot of my thoughts. There shouldn’t be any problems leaving things to her when the need arises. The only sad thing is that we can’t move forward with the evacuation plan.”

Aznod nodded his head in agreement. He was well aware that the safest place to be in this invasion would be Fyor, where void monsters were incapable of attacking normally. “Have the protocols been put in place?”

Udona gave another nod. “That’s right. When the Greater Pantheon announces a ‘Void Crisis’, everyone willing will go to a designated relay point to teleport to Fyor. At the same time, the world keys will be removed from the fairy rings, and they will all be moved to Fyor as well. This way, nobody from other worlds will be able to access the rings until Fyor makes first contact.”

This plan was created in order to prevent the void beasts from taking control of the local population and sending them to Fyor or another world as an attack force. If such a case happened, the locals would have nowhere to go now.

Aznod smiled, glad that plans were at least in place to protect as many as they could. At the same time, between working in Olympus and in his new pasture, he had not had much time to keep track of certain news. “I assume that the hyperlane network has expanded to cover the occupied worlds, at least.”

“That’s right. Oh, there are some that we’re having trouble with. The Sylvans can’t always grasp where their planets are in the galaxy, assuming that they’re even in the same galaxy. There are currently three groves that we haven’t managed to include in the network. Philia talked to them, and they’ll be temporarily evacuating to Fyor with the others when the time comes. If something does happen to their trees, other groves have volunteered to take them in.”

Within the Ashtanu Research Institute, Nora and Thea sat facing one another, their eyes closed. The twins had always practiced a complex energy, one that required two bodies operating in harmony to perform. Even as twins, they had a near perfect match. If not for their hair colors, they would be indistinguishable for one another.

Thea’s black hair began to shimmer, while Nora’s white hair gave a brilliant glow. Nearby, Chel had a worried look on her face, glancing at James. “You sure this is a good step for them?”

James nodded his head, eyes focused on the duo. He was already operating his own energy to peer through fate, watching and making sure that they were not going to have any major failures. “It’s the natural conclusion to their training up to now. If everything goes well, these two will be able to rival any god.”

“Yeah, it’s the ‘if’ there that worries me.” Chel pointed out, Triesha nodding her head in agreement. In all this time, only the twins had never stepped onto the path of divinity. Instead, they had always walked the path of perfection.

In his free time, James had often speculated on an evolution to their shared energy. Destructive Balance was an energy that he had long been familiar with in his old world, though he had never specifically cultivated it. He did, however, have enough of an understanding after working with these two for so long that he could theorize the evolution.

A white circle began to spread out beneath Nora, a match black circle beneath Thea. The two circles grew, soon reaching one another. When the circles connected, they remembered the instructions that James had given them beforehand. They did not allow their energies to clash, instead passing by one another in a spiral pattern.

The result was what one could consider an almost hypnotic spiral, only with two exterior circles, one on either side. “Nora, three parts ki. Thea, two parts spirit, one part mana.” James called out, the two responding immediately and letting their energies flow into the mix. “Nora, two parts mana. Thea, two parts ki.”

Every few seconds, James would call out instructions, the spiral between the twins flowing faster and faster. Soon, James knew that the energy was at its peak point. “Now, both of you relax. Remember, don’t fight this.”

The two nodded their heads firmly, their bodies seeming to melt into the pools of energy beneath them. The black and white circles faded away, the spiral spinning faster and faster. As it spun, the spiral began to shrank, a new figure rising up out of it.

This new figure appeared identical to either Nora or Thea, the only difference being her hair. The right half of her hair was pure white, the left pure black. Similarly, her tails reflected this, four white and four black, the ninth tail a spiral mix of the two.

This figure kept her eyes closed as the spiral completely merged with her body. Chel waited impatiently, before stepping forward and asking in an urgent tone after she was sure that the process was completed. “Uhm… so… which one are you?” She asked, chewing her bottom lip. This was what she had been most worried about, the possibility that this fusion would result in one of the twins disappearing.

There was a moment of silence from the figure as her eyes opened, pure white. “It’s both of us.” She said with a smile, her eyes immediately shifting to black. “This is weird, but also… it feels right.”

James let out a sigh of relief. “White eyes should mean that Nora is talking, and black is Thea, right?”

Thea nodded her head, quickly switching with Nora again. “Our energy has changed. We’ll need to find somewhere to properly test it, I think…”

Chel brought a hand up to pat her chest. “At least the two of you are fine. You had me worried.”