‎The Immortal Emperor, meditating in a forest, frowned as he received a stream of red notifications.

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| VOID TIDE ALERT!

| ALL SYSTEM FUNCTIONS ARE NOW FUNNELED TO PROTECT THE ALLIANCE!

| THE ALLIANCE'S NEUTRAL FORCES ASK THE ONES INVOLVED IN CALAMITY TO END IT QUICKLY AND ASSIST WITH WHAT MATTERS!

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Those were bad enough, but they weren't even the worst ones for him.

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| Neutral A-ranks away from the front lines will now be forcibly assigned to a Node

| You've been assigned to Ushur

| You can choose whether to forcibly teleport your world's Guardians to your Node

| Present yourself within 1 Standard day

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Ushur was the Cultivator Association territory. Not officially, of course, as no Node belonged to no one. However, it was a common place they went to serve, and countless conscripts from the Association had been sent there.

That felt like a scheme to get rid of him and his people. When he checked and found Ushur was part of Cluster B of Universe 12, he became sure.

Carl had thoroughly investigated the Alliance. The information was likely incomplete, but it was the best he could get. Each Universe had 33 Nodes, and the Alliance had at least 33 Universes. That meant over 1,000 Nodes. Due to various factors, like losing some Nodes that were too hard to recover or not having an interest in contesting some Nodes unless needed, only about half of those Nodes were deployable. That was a little over five hundred.

Usually, there were around 24 A-ranks in the front lines at any given time. 14 were permanently there for whatever reason, and 10 A-ranks were always in rotation, be it serving their obligatory time in the military, raking up AP, hiding from civilian trouble, paying for a favor, scheming, or even helping out of goodwill.

In other words, in theory, each of the 24 A-ranks was responsible for almost 21 Nodes to cover everything. That, however, was impossible. Covering 9 Nodes was the best an A-rank could do. Most couldn't cover more than 3. Therefore, the Alliance selected more important or dangerous Nodes in specific universes to have A-rank cover and let B-ranks defend the others. It wasn't a significant danger because the Alliance had turned it into a highly precise science.

Nodes were inevitably lost as time passed, that was the nature of their war of attrition against the Void, but everything was more or less under control.

A Void Tide, from what the Grand Senator had learned, meant the Void would attack every single Node at once with a lot of force for an extended period of time. More Subnodes would get Voided, and Voided Nodes would decay more quickly, increasing the strain on high-rank fighters.

Hence, the reason why neutral A-ranks were forcibly conscripted to take control over a Node. The ones in the Calamity would also come after the Calamity was over.

Still, the Alliance did not have five hundred A-ranks. The best count he found was a little over one 190 pre-Calamity—a number that, honestly, shocked him. The Alliance was so big and with so many things happening everywhere that it was hard to understand its actual size and locate all its undercurrents.

Even so, that was one A-rank for every 2 or 3 Nodes. So, Nodes had to be grouped together, and a group of Nodes was called a Cluster.

One Node acted as the headquarters, where an A-rank was stationed and could quickly defend the others. The other Nodes were also protected, but the A-rank intervention was slower in them because of limitations caused by how Reality protected its Nodes.

Universe 12, also known as Luminous Expense, had only five Clusters in standard times. That necessarily meant multiple Nodes were poorly or not protected by an A-rank despite being officially under their purview.

Now, there were very few neutral A-ranks, so, despite the conscription, the Cluster division hadn't yet updated to accommodate for all A-ranks that would man the front lines once the Calamity was over.

The Emperor's issues stemmed from the fact that 3 of the 8 Nodes that belonged to Cluster B already had an A-rank, and Ushur wasn't the headquarters. That many A-ranks made sense because some universes were under more significant threat than others. When that happened, the A-rank stationed in the headquarters could demand the A-rank in a subordinate Node to attack or hold the line despite their personal take on what they should do. Some synchrony was required to protect the entire Cluster instead of a singular Node.

All 3 A-ranks already in Cluster B belonged to the Cultivator Association's factions that had been waging war against the Republic before the Calamity forced wars to be put on hold.

The Emperor was being sent to ultimately be used as cannon fodder for the Cultivator Association, probably by an S-rank on their side, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

But he could save his people.

"Send a message to Long Hei," he said. "Prepare to accept the Republic in Samir. Do it for them, not for me. I'm being sent to a trap. I'll send them to you as soon as I can."

Long Hei was one of the A-ranks who hadn't learned about Clusters, either because he wasn't trusted enough or didn't have the connections to get proper clearances. The Emperor had also used some influence to keep it that way. Being ignorant about it was bad in some aspects, but it also meant that he couldn't be ordered by the Cluster's headquarters to do anything. That was Long Hei's and Samir's greatest defense right now. The dragon would probably be introduced to the knowledge in this Void Tide, but the later it happened, the better.

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| Message sent

| Samir's Commander (A): I can do that. For them.

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The Grand Senator sighed, relieved. He would be considerably weaker without his people because Karma demanded connections among living beings. He had already put the ones in the Republic under his influence but would have to ask his subordinates in Ushur to allow his Realization to "infect" them, and he had no doubt they would refuse.

But for all his faults, he had Realized Karma for the good of his people first. Even if he died, he would have accomplished something by having them survive.

"Teleport me to Ushur," he said. "Force my people to get there, too. But we all must arrive together."

He had to be able to send them away as soon as he got in charge of Ushur, which would happen when he arrived. If he got ordered by the Cluster Headquarters to immediately defend or attack when he stepped on Ushur, it would be a dereliction of duty, bordering on treason, to send his troops away.

While getting teleported to his trap, he started sending messages to prepare things for his eventual death—or glorious survival.

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"I'm useless here!" Liya insisted. "Meanwhile, the Drow Maiden and another drow are alone in Samir! They need support!"

She had just learned about how she had been lied to about drow presence in Samir. It irked her. It was the part of being drow that made her consider leaving the Triarchy, despite all the support she got there.

The issue was that Shen belonged to them, and he wasn't B-rank. No drow could leave before B-rank and not get hunted—unless they permanently joined the military.

The three Autarchs were sitting in their small abode as usual. One of them shook his head. "You're our link to Discontinuity," he said.

"You're more important here than us three," a female added.

"You can go to Samir if you convince us to betray Disconuity and go with you," the third female finished.

Throughout the Calamity, the drow had managed to bring Shar'Talon to the war. It was a tool powerful enough to barely defend against an A-rank for a few moments, even without the Mists, and drow B-ranks had a greater efficiency in dealing with the things in there. It was also better for logistics to receive allied B-ranks there, as it was a world built for war. They had been paid a lot to share the secrets of their homeworld with their allies—and already knew how to deny all that intelligence as soon as they left.

Liya spat, "You had told me I'm free, but now you're forcing me to stay here?"

The male smiled sadly. "You came to ask for permission."

"You're free," a female said.

"Free to choose where you belong."

"You chose us," the three concluded in unison.

Her Realization of Karmic Justice allowed her to either leave or stay. The choice was hers—for now.

The thread to Shen weakened the longer she subordinated herself to the drow for him. Meanwhile, her links with the Triarchy had long turned from her owing them to them owing her. She was their connection to Discontinuity's camp and had gained them many benefits.

Shen's thread wasn't yet so feeble that she had to either be repaid by the drow or leave. She could remain here for a little longer. She just feared that if the Calamity didn't end soon enough, she would have no choice but to leave Shen in the Triarchy's claws.

"You're making a bad decision," she warned. "I'm sure you'll come to regret it."

Neither of them relied. Liya left without looking back.

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"She'll leave soon instead of killing us," the male Autarch said.

"That can't be allowed," a female replied.

"We'll hasten the plan."

"It might hurt her Realization. It's related to justice. If she finds we manipulated her into killing us..."

"It'll break or make her."

"She's our best bet. If her Realization breaks, she'll be replaced with the fallback plan. If she becomes stronger, she'll lead the drow beyond what our old wisdom can offer."

They had had that discussion multiple times, trying to reach a different conclusion, but it always came to the same point.

"We'll hasten the plan," a female repeated.

"We'll hasten the plan," the others agreed.

One of the things the very first Triarchs had concluded and passed on was that it was very likely for the Triarchy to antagonize an outstanding B-rank. One with a significant likelihood of reaching the A-rank. If the B-rank left, it was unlikely for them to come back and care for the drow. Burned bridges weren't easily mended.

Therefore, if an outstanding B-rank ever appeared but looked like they would leave, the Triarchy was to force the B-rank to take control over the drow. By whatever means necessary. Only that could tie the B-rank and the drow together in a sure way so that when the B-rank became A-rank, all drow would benefit.

The Triarchy would become a thing of the past after an A-rank appeared, anyway. The Triarchy disappearing at the right time, in the right way, would be the best for everyone.

That had been done in the past, though the B-ranks had failed to reach the A-rank. The memory was erased from the drow, and the failsafe ensured the Triarchy's return. Now, it was those three's turn to give Liya absolute power over their race.

Liya wouldn't take control over the drow willingly. She didn't want to be tied down. So, the Triarchy had decided that the best way to force her hand was by using her Realization against her. Soon enough, her sense of justice would force her to replace them.

On top of serving their purposes for the drow, that would also teach Liya an essential lesson about her Realization and how not to be manipulated through it—or whether to accept the manipulation because it was for the greater good, for the justice she believed in, thus further cementing her belief in her Realization.

"Send a message to all B-ranks," a female said. "The Calamity is ending, and so is our chance to profit. Decrease your care for your safety. Attack more aggressively. We'll obtain all benefits to be had in this war."

That was an order that contradicted their core beliefs. Benefits were secondary to the drow's survival. It was also unfair to them, as the Triarchy had lowered how much of the obtained benefits it shared with the troops for a while. Having her find out she had been kept in the dark about Samir was only one of the many steps they had taken in the past year, after they decided she had a good chance of reaching A-rank.

Liya would have to act—and until she did, they would keep making things worse for the drow.

The Autarchs looked at each other and sighed in unison.

Soon; she would come for them soon.