Chapter 212 Preparations

While Kiba and his newly found companions rushed towards a cave to hunt for lizards, important events were taking place outside Desolate Blood Forest.

Central District, Delta City.

A large business park formed the headquarters of Sky Fiend Group. The group dealt with defense and pharmaceutical products.

Their popularity was above average and in the grand scheme, their influence was only limited to Delta City.

The buildings were sparsely located in the park with special care given to greenery between two infrastructure. One might even blame them for wasting so much land space for unneeded greenery when the prices in the area were sky high.

Hundreds of staff members moved in and out of the various glass buildings, carrying out day to day activities. Each staff couldn't help but appreciate the relaxing environment in the group.

It was hard to get a job here, but if one can get placed, then their life was set. At least that's what they thought.

Inside a seven-storied underground facility, on the lowest floor, dozens of men in white were standing over a metallic bridge. In their hands, there were files and tablets showing various genetic data in the forms of charts.

The faces of the men in white were filled with nervousness as they looked under the bridge.

A large stasis capsule, filled with crystalline red liquid, was placed horizontally. The capsule's length was no less than a ten-storied building.

In fact, the other buildings and infrastructures above were just a smoke screen to provide space for the capsule.

At the end of the bridge, an elevator opened up with a ding sound. An elderly bald man, in a black suit, walked out of the elevator and stepped on the bridge with the support of a walking stick.

His face was filled with pockmarks and some beard hair.

"Sir Joshua," one of the white men greeted the elderly man.

Joshua ignored the greeting and moved to the other end of the bridge.

"Start the awakening of the Esteemed One," Joshua said as he glanced at the giant being inside the capsule.

"Yes," The men in white nodded their heads and started the arrangements.

Joshua has a stern expression on his face as he supervised the preparations.

"World government, Atlantis, Lizenea, Dharma Chakra...your days of ruling the world are numbered," Joshua thought with a hideous smirk.

"In just a few months, Sky Fiend Group will topple you with the support of Esteemed One and the power source in BSE79 meteoroid."

------

Bermuda Triangles.

Inner Zone, Paradox Dimension.

Dark and stormy clouds engulfed the sky. Rain droplets in the form of lightning fell on the ground, creating chaotic turbulence on the land.

The alien species ran for their lives as the rain carried a corrosive force targetting their very life force. As chimera and giants in the vicinity died, their vitality, in the form of beads of blood, flew towards the chains tied to the flying castle.

Inside the giant hall.

On the throne made of darkness, the man retraced his vision from Delta City. His right hand tapped on the armrest.

The darkness seethed in excitement at his actions. Like fire, it coiled around his fingers as he continued to tap.

"The second set of preparations need to start now that he is away," The man muttered in an emotionless tone.

At the end of the hall, among hundreds of skeletons, a skeleton of a three-headed male creature stood up as he heard the words.

Each head of the skeleton has a single eye while its lower body resembled of a human, except for the talons on feet. On each head, there was a strange crown placed, radiating endless energy.

The skeleton's hollow eye sockets were filled with fury as it looked at the man sitting on the throne of darkness.

"Cosmic Emperor, stop this madness," the creature spoke in a language not known to anyone on Earth, not even Rhea. "Your previous actions have already defied the rules of this world. If you continue, the entire universe would pay the price."

Cosmic Emperor titled his head towards the skeleton. In same emotionless tone, he said, "Did anyone as for your opinion?"

As he said this, the darkness from the back of the throne expanded like the mouth of a giant beast. The darkness then soared towards the skeleton.

"Cosmic Emperor... don't!" The skeleton cried out.

This creature has died out long ago and along with death, its sense of fear had died. What remained now was just a fragment of its past self, a fragment that existed due to the deep hatred inside it.

But as the skeleton saw the darkness soaring, the fear was reborn. Its anger was replaced with horror.

The darkness was incorporeal, carrying a menacing power that corrupted everything within its vicinity, regardless of dead or living.

Its entire existence was ominous and contrary to the rules of the universe, cursed with might that could end this world in no time.

The other skeletons trembled as they witnessed the three-headed skeleton being consumed by the darkness.

Sss

The darkness slowly retraced back to the thone, leaving behind nothing but the strange crowns.

Cosmic Emperor placed his hands on the armrest before leaving the throne and walking down the dais.

The darkness from the throne no longer hid his body as he stepped ahead. The light from the crystal walls fell on his face, revealing his handsome and refined facial features.

His eyes and hairs were as dark as the darkness of the throne, forming a contrast with his pale skin. He was naked, without any clothes or ornaments, exposing his well-framed and envy-worthy body.

The throne, in the meantime, dissolved into a pool of dark liquid. Like water flowing ahead, the dark liquid rushed towards the feet of Cosmic Emperor.

The dark liquid enveloped him from his feet to his shoulders. Slowly, the dark liquid morphed into a robe.

~step~

The only sound in the hall was the sound of his steps as he moved ahead. His pace was very slow but in just seconds, he was at the end of the hall.

The remaining skeletons were angry at his actions, but none of them dared make a protest now.

Cosmic Emperor tapped a finger on the giant door of the castle. The door was a mixture of white and gray like it has suffered under the vicissitudes of time.

On its surface, there were vivid inscriptions of magical beasts and extinct lifeforms. The inscriptions flashed with blinding radiance as Cosmic Emperor retraced his finger.

Creak.

The door of the castle opened up, and as it did, terrifying waves of energy unconsciously swept out from him.

RUMBLEEEE.

Suddenly, the entire dimension shook heavily as if the end of the world has arrived. The dark clouds ripped apart, bringing out a clear sky the dimension hasn't seen in a long time.

But this gave no joy to the various races in the dimension. Even before they could make out what was going on, they viciously fell down on their knees.

It didn't matter if one was a giant, chimera, hydra, angel or any other race. Their fate was the same, kneeling down under the pressure.

Much less protest, they couldn't even scream. It was as if their bodies have lost their vocal abilities.

Dark blood streamed out of their orifices while their internal organs displaced from the original locations.

Millions of living beings internally cried in pain as a powerful force coursed throughout their bodies, inflating them like a balloon. Their veins shattered and bones cracked apart under the influence of this new power.

BOOM

Thousands of living beings exploded in blood and gore. Just like before, their vitality was devoured by the blood chains connected to the castle.

"Ants are forever ants, no matter the size and form," Cosmic Emperor said disdainfully. He then placed a finger on the middle of his chest.

From the tip of his finger, streams of dark energy shot out and covered his entire body. Like a seal, it stopped the dreadful pressure emitting from his body.

Swoosh.

A large column of dark particles engulfed him like a vortex and he disappeared from Paradox Dimension.

Behind, the surviving beings breathed in relief. They were trembling and sweating, unable to believe the sudden close encounter with death.

"Just what is going on?" A chimera asked, his voice low. "In these last few months, this is the third time we were attacked by this unknown force."

"No, the last time intensity of the force was comparatively weak. But this time, the force was as strong as just five months ago," A powerful giant said as he eyes involuntarily moved on the flying castle and noticed the door closing up.

"We need to leave this dimension otherwise we will be exterminated without even knowing why," The chimera said as he stood up.

"Yeah," The giant agreed. "But the dimension is sealed by the Forsaken Ones so we can't leave..."

"Damn," The chimera cursed before running towards its home.

-----

Delta City.

Somewhere in the city, on a skyscraper, a girl and a middle-aged man stood. The girl has long wavy dark pink hair, with two locks hanging down.

Her yellow eyes followed the stars in the night sky before moving towards the region where Dream Rise House was located.

She was none other than Alice. The one who secretly tried to check Zed's Strings of Fate, but failed due to the actions of the gray particle inside his head . (Chapter 146).

"My lady, we should return back to the family estate," The middle-aged man said in a polite tone. "This city is not safe since there is a breach of---"

"I can't," Alice's soft voice cut in before the middle-aged man could complete his words. "My fate is entangled with his."

"But Zed is no longer in the city," the middle-aged man reasoned.

Alice didn't respond and allowed the night wind to breeze across her face. Her eyes were radiating resplendently as she observed the primal nature of the world, trying to study more about the breach.

She saw the world as it was, in the form of energy and nothing else.

Suddenly, without any warning, her face turned deathly pale and she coughed up a mouthful of blood.

With horror on her face, she looked at the direction of Dream Rise House.

"Impossible," Alice's entire body was shaking. "How can such terrifying power even exist in this world?!"

----

Dream Rise House.

Inside the living room, Agatha was sitting across a table. She slowly finished her dinner while enjoying a romcom movie on a virtual screen.

[[Lady Agatha, would you like to have anything else?]] Claudia asked.

A humanoid droid took the empty plates and cleaned the table.

"No, I'm done," Agatha answered. "Thank you for the dinner."

[[It is my duty to take care of you so please don't thank me every time.]]

Agatha smiled in response before changing the topic, "Would he be truly fine in the forest?"

[[Yes. You can rest assured on that.]] Claudia answered. [[If anything, you should pray for the safety of everyone else there.]]

"Haha, I guess so," Agatha laughed at the words. "He really loves to play around."

Agatha couldn't help but think of what he did with her parents, friends, and relatives in a restaurant during the telecast of Hypocrite News.

[[Playing around is an understatement. He enjoys toying with others.]] Claudia replied. She tried her best to relieve Agatha of her worries.

"He is not that bad," Agatha disagreed.

She believed he was really good for those who were good to him. Of course, she also knew there were very few people who could be truly good to him if they know his real personality.

She was about to continue defending him when she let out a yawn.

"I'm suddenly feeling drowsy."

[[You must be tired.]]

"Maybe---" Agatha trailed off as she closed her eyes and entered sleep on the chair.

Claudia was startled. She activated the hidden sensors implanted in the walls to check her body. The sensors emitted beams of light which fell on Agatha.

A few moments later, Claudia read the report and found no oddities either with Agatha or the child in her womb.

[[Carry her to the bed.]] Claudia commanded two droids who were standing at a corner.

The droids stepped forward to carry out the command.

"There is no need," a strange voice suddenly reverberated in the room.

As soon as the voice appeared, the droids stopped in their path as if their command was overwritten.

[[What?]]