Chương 282: Sector Pioneer

The silence of the 'Ancestral Drafting Rooms' could wait. Before I fully submitted to the spatial pull dragging me out of the boss room, I triggered a manual safety abort, yanking myself back to Floor 99 using a quick [Void Walk]. I needed to debrief first. I stumbled into my command tent, dismissing the Veil.

The heavy, comforting presence of my Anima immediately surrounded me in the Spirit Space connection — a new addition to my Singularity provided by the Veiled Path's evolution; a remote inner world of sorts where I could communicate with my Anima discreetly from within my Sanctum, wherever they were.

"That was… stressful to watch," Jeeves' voice noted, projecting into the room. He didn't sound anxious, but the tempo of his speech was slightly accelerated.

"The physical data you were transmitting bordered on the absurd, Master."

"Tell me about the Gray," I ordered, pouring a bottle of pure essence water over my head.

"When Vasud cast it, what did the sensors show?" I sat on the floor, calling up a tactical map from Jeeves' memory banks. I projected it in the air between myself and the hovering spectral forms of Kasian and Zareth.

"The problem," I started, pointing at a representation of the boss' Core, "is that it didn't just absorb my magic like how my Hunger works. It felt like it uninstalled the concept of ambient mana from reality. Except… my Core was still full. I still felt my Flame. I felt the Hunger churning. But the environment? The 'Essence'? It all became gray. I couldn't even grip the Lattice to cast within the Void."

"It sounds akin to an Anti-Magic Zone," Zareth offered, studying his eldritch tomes.

"But on a conceptual level. Usually, to neutralize an entire local reality, the opposing Domain must physically out-mass yours by hundreds of magnitudes."

"It's a known phenomenon," Kasian murmured, hovering close to the projection. His spectral fingers flipped through glowing pages of history.

"The Records hold a few instances of beings achieving a State of True Nullification. Usually through ancient curses or high-end mental degradation magics. But a widespread application… is immensely difficult."

"Because nature abhors a vacuum," I stated.

"If you create a space without mana, the universe rushes to fill it."

"Precisely," Kasian nodded.

"To maintain an area completely deprived of ambient connection implies either staggering Ascendant output or… it is not real."

"Not real?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Because when he cast it, he put a spear through my chest in the simulation, and the physical force definitely didn't care what it was bypassing."

"A high-tier Illusion or mental suggestion," Kasian hypothesized, finding a record.

"There is an archaic skill path referred to as the 'Causality Sunder.' It does not eliminate the mana; it tricks the target's Soul into believing the mana is gone. If the Soul is convinced it cannot connect to the environment, the bridge is severed subjectively."

"That makes sense, I actually did think of it as an illusion since it didn't feel real…" I mused, the tension loosening slightly.

"When it hit, my [Glimpse of a Path] wasn't broken by lack of fuel; it was broken by my simulated 'death'. If it were a true reality-erasing anti-magic, my probability Time-skill, which operates largely on environmental awareness of causality, should have snapped instantly when the zone activated."

"Mental trickery from an Ascendant?" Nyx's voice joined from the shadows, scoffing softly.

"Tactically smart and effective, but cowardly."

"Effective is all that matters," I corrected.

"And I need a hard-counter for it, regardless. Illusion or not, if my connection to external spells can be jammed for even a microsecond by a sufficiently strong trick, I'm dead in high-tier engagements. I need to start working on expanding my skillset…" I reached into the stone holding the Demon, dialing down the resonance so only the trapped demon could hear.

"Kharonus," I projected the thought.

"Lord," the groggy voice rasped.

"I felt your echo of the False God's demise. A crude victory, but functional. What demands the time of the Victorious?"

"When I fought Vasud," I asked.

"He unleashed an ability called the 'Gray'. Cut off all ambient interaction. Kasian thinks it might have been an illusion targeting the Soul's perception. What do you know about it?" A brief pause followed, feeling like a demon was rolling its non-existent eyes.

"I am a lord of Destruction and Fire, Lord, not a Scholar of theoretical Arcana," Kharonus replied irritably.

"But such… parlor tricks… exist among beings who specialize in mental subjugation. Why do you fret over what you already consumed? Your Hunger swallowed his illusion before it could manifest anyway."

"I fret because relying solely on Gluttony overworking my Hunger to 'eat' every debuff that comes my way isn't a strategy; it's a gamble. I want to know the mechanics. Next time, it might not be a fake Ascendant testing me, but a real one trying to delete me. Do you have anything comparable in your arsenals?"

"No," Kharonus answered definitively.

"In my tribe, True Demonic strength is tangible." I cut the connection, irritated. It was a problem I had to solve through mechanics.

"Regardless," I told Kasian and the Anima.

"This is at the top of the agenda. A skill that severs external casting. This could also be a blindspot on our sensory networks. I want to learn more, maybe even replicate it for my own use, but perfect it and integrate the Void…"

"If it is indeed an illusion targeting causality perception," Kasian offered gently, "your Nullifying Veil might offer passive protection against direct identification, but the area-of-effect suppression is what circumvented it. Perhaps… a counter-domain is the path? Something that asserts your sensory truth over the environment." I stared at my Status window, glowing in the dimly lit tent.

"That's the idea. He just overpowered my Domain, but I still need more contingencies and back ups. I've gotten too used to my Glimpse and punching down. I need more cards up my sleeve in case I have to face someone stronger and couldn't rely on my Soul ability. I need a fifth Mythic for the Ascension keys anyway. What if, instead of just trying to mix my existing legendaries... I force my [Nullifying Veil] and my [Mana Authority] together under a Void focus and then mix those?"

I wasn't looking to create an illusion.

"What if I don't just tell my opponents their mana doesn't work… What if I force an actual Null-Zone where only my Reality is factual? The Domain dictates entropy; what if a new Domain dictated Absence? My own version of the 'Gray'… Actually, I don't want to experiment with my Veil yet since it was purely a System gift and I don't fully understand how it works, but the idea isn't…"

"A Conceptual Void Zone," Zareth whispered reverently. It was a terrifying thought, a goal worthy of focusing on while I worked my Legendary skills upwards. I had slots. But filling them wasn't an issue. Picking the perfect culmination of my affinities was. I put it to the side for the moment, bringing up the glowing golden log of the announcement message. [Be Warned: The Countdown to the Faction Integrations — The Great Crucible — will commence when all active Nodes clear a primary tower.]"Explain this," I said to the room.

"Integration wave. Other nodes. I want to know everything about what this means before the Prime starts organizing play-dates." Kasian accessed the deep connection allowed by his Chronicle existence, delving into the unfiltered logs of the local cluster network, information suddenly available since Ferra became the 'first' registered cleared Node. It took him fifteen minutes to synthesize the abstract data packets into communicable speech. When he looked up, his spectral form seemed agitated.

"It seems, Lord Sovereign," Kasian started slowly, his voice carrying the gravity of interstellar shifts.

"The Confluence… the merging of our different realities… was not an isolated incident meant to forge a singular strong planet to offer to the Kyorians as I originally thought. We were merely a side effect." You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. He waved his hand, projecting a star-chart of the Orayen Cluster Peaks.

Thousands of small green dots appeared, spanning numerous systems, surrounded by vast oceans of neutral grey — the pre-existing various galactic empires like the Trade Federation or even smaller worlds like the Zenith, with massive oceans of red depicting empires like the Synod and the Kyorians much farther away.

"Integration Wave," Kasian specified, pointing to a sprawling area that dwarfed the known Kyorian territories.

"Our Sector, Z-99, is only a fraction of a repeatable grand experiment organized by the Prime System that happens every few millenia."

"An experiment?"

"The creation of multiple… nurseries," Kasian whispered the translation, horrified by the terminology used by the System.

"Planets across thousands of systems underwent their own versions of the 'Confluence'. A systemic uplifting event intended to force evolutionary leaps across localized populations."

"Like throwing gasoline on a fire," I mused, the implications chilling.

"The system wasn't destroying our worlds by combining us. It was actively forcing thousands of species into an accelerated timeline of conflict."

"Yes," Kasian continued, projecting images synthesized from faint system echoes — a planet covered entirely in crystal jungles being swarmed by robotic insectoids; a world of perpetual twilight where gargoyles fought multi-headed sea serpents for control of glowing spires similar to our Towers.

"Other worlds," Lucas summarized grimly, watching from a connection in Bastion.

"Other people trying to climb. We were dealing with the Kyorian extraction squads... did they all have empires attacking them?"

"It varies," Kasian noted.

"Many empires utilize the early instability of Integration to establish claims, harvesting raw resources before the local populations form organized Faction Dominions, just like the Vorr House did here. Others seem to be placed under a specific Quarantine or Veil earlier on."

"And the message implies?" I asked.

"It means," Kasian brought the focus back to Ferra.

"Once a 'First Tower' — a central administrative Nexus — is fully conquered on each of the remaining integrated worlds in this wave... a new Phase will activate." The Great Crucible.

"A tournament," Anna surmised.

"Or a war. They are forcing the victors of a thousand localized conflicts to meet."

"Or be drafted into one," I reasoned.

"The System acts with violent intent to enforce progression. This isn't just about determining Planetary Lords. It's raising an army." I slumped back in the tent.

"A larger pond. Great. And they are giving me 'First clear' advantage access." But even with a major head start over countless civilizations… a sense of impending weight settled on my shoulders. I was dealing with political bickering among elves, humans, and Dweorg while literal cosmic gladiatorial games were being orchestrated on an interstellar level. If Ferra was to be ready for integration with thousands of other hardened survivor worlds… we were moving way too slow. I was suddenly teleported mid thought.

The spatial transition wasn't rough. It was entirely absent. I was in the tent, and in the very next subjective moment, I was standing in a boundless expanse of silver mist. There was no sky. No floor. Just an ambient, diffused light that tasted like sterile possibility. [Welcome, Pioneer.] The voice didn't echo; it simply manifested perfectly within my cognition, a sterile yet warm notification born directly from the Prime System itself. [Initiating Orientation Protocol for Planetary Lord Eren Kai.] [Verification: You are the first recognized leading faction to successfully pacify the local planetary Ascendant simulation matrix within your operational cluster.] A translucent projection blossomed in the silver mist. It showed Ferra. It was tiny, hovering amongst millions of other glowing, mostly blue orbs — each one representing an entirely different world, all swirling in a massive spiral pattern resembling a galaxy but made entirely of clustered planetary nodes.

"An integration wave," I realized, stepping closer to the hologram. [Affirmative.] The System confirmed softly. [You belong to the Expansion Sector designated: Z-99.] [The initial localized conflict period has been monitored. Your planet is approaching functional equilibrium. This stage is considered the end of the Nursery Phase.]"Nursery?" I scoffed.

"We were dodging literal planetary harvesting by ancient empires and nearly died to Undead proxies." [Adversity promotes necessary adaptations. You have succeeded where eighty-one percent of similar Node clusters in your batch have currently failed or stagnated.] The spiral of planets began to coalesce in the projection, shifting from disorganized individual nodes into clustered formations, grinding together.

The image conveyed an aggressive blending, similar to the initial Confluence of our world, but on an interstellar scale. [Notice: Prepare your Faction. A grand Crucible approaches. Worlds from your sector that succeed in pacifying their primary Nexus towers will be organized. Resources will merge. Survival paths will converge.]"You are planning a war between all these surviving planets," I surmised, tracing a finger across a cluster of fifty orbs slamming into each other in the projection.

[It is an evaluation mechanism.] The voice offered no apology, only factual data. [Strong elements consolidate; weak elements decompose to fertilize the successful traits.] I narrowed my eyes. It wasn't over. This was a battle royale across the cosmos designed by a system that believed trauma was the only legitimate teacher. But the System was, above all, transactional. [Acknowledging First Completion.] [Designating Void Star as the Pioneer Faction of Sector Z-99.] A heavy weight settled onto my Soul as the status embedded itself into my authority. The text flared brilliant gold. [Reward Parameter Alpha: Systemic Tides.] [Applying modifier 'First Blood' to planetary body: Ferra.] [Ferra base-Essence density permanently augmented by a factor of three. Ambient mana quality purity rating increased. All living inhabitants aligned with the 'Void Star' Dominion flag receive enhanced physical and spiritual regeneration metrics in correlation with the prevailing density rate. Growth bottlenecks smoothed out. Note: Once the Crucible begins, the Pioneer Faction will be made known. The Pioneer title can be claimed by those who eliminate or subjugate the Pioneer Faction.] My eyes widened. The benefits were amazing, but the target this puts on our backs... I couldn't see my city right now, but I could imagine it. The very air back home must feel thick enough to swim in now. If Zenith was a rich mana environment, Bastion just became a competitive second place on a planetary scale.

It would allow every cultivator there, down to the lowliest scribe, a significantly higher chance of naturally leveling and progressing just by surviving another day. [Reward Parameter Beta: The Administrator's Cache.] [Planetary Lord Eren Kai is granted a personal boon selection from the High Vaults for breaching operational protocols through superior tactical and lethal dominance.] Five crystalline pedestals materialized out of the mist around me.

On each pedestal sat an item, protected by a bubble of hardened causality.

"Choose one," the system echoed simply. I walked to the first pedestal. [Elixir of the Primordial Draft.] [A thick, sludgy gray potion swirling with galaxy-patterns. A permanent qualitative boost directly targeting Soul Strength potential. Drinking this forces the Soul-Vessel to expand permanently without shattering, forcefully removing all subsequent Class bottleneck evolutions prior to the Ascendant step.] I moved to the next. [The Obsidian Hearth.] [A pulsing, black and orange crystal the size of an apple. A cornerstone for an 'Inner World'. Merging this object grants the host the foundational, spatial framework necessary to build their personal projected Dimension long before accumulating the mass or knowledge usually required, allowing their active Domain to safely bridge toward reality manipulation at immense efficiency scales.] The third pedestal was simpler. Just a floating blue shard. [Fragment of Potential: The Eleventh Mark.] [Consuming this crystal forcibly modifies the physical essence lattice of the Cultivator, adding one entirely permanent empty skill slot beyond the systemic limit of 10. You can never normally have 11 active core skills at your tier.] My heart raced. An extra skill slot could help a lot with my current limitations. I peered at the fourth object. [Catalyst of the Weaver's Synthesis.] [A glowing, tangled knot of rainbow thread. A 'Joker' component for Skill refinement. Allows the instant combination of up to three targeted existing Skills without fulfilling systemic epiphany quests or deep conceptual logic parameters. Forces an absolute conceptual union for Evolution purposes.] That was almost a direct answer to my immediate plans. The [Armory], [Perception], [Walk] combined, but I wanted four… And the final pedestal held a weapon. [Excalibur-Variant Model: Edge of Absolute Division.] [A beautifully crafted sword vibrating with conceptual erasure. A registered Mythic weapon directly from the System's Prime Forge. Forged purely to deal non-regenerable damage directly to a victim's lifespan instead of their health or essence shields. Bypasses over ninety percent of all active armors below Ascendant Tier.] It was an incredible arsenal, and an incredibly difficult choice.