[~3 Hours Later]
Sixteen Divine Cored Hunters arrive back at the central headquarters of the Association.
One of the orange cores is a young man who wields wind magic, dressed in green metallic association-branded armor.
He uses a transmission tablet and a spatial magic-imbued item box linked to all 15 of the other scouts to collect their findings from the extensive scan of the 8 Great Regions, Dark Continent, and Raven's volcanic base they've conducted.
Once all of the information is collected, he makes his way into a private S-Grade shielded room with many similarities to the Big Three's, though there are no special decorations and the thick outer layers are not as densely fortified, as it is made specifically for meetings between the red and orange cored guards.
After sifting through the information and noting down the key points of today's mission, he opens up a private line with his employer.
"Redgrave, I have the survey report ready for you as requested."
A click is heard on the other end, and the fire user's voice channels through.
"Send over the haul to Beckman, and provide me a summary. The others are on this line."
The wind user nods, activating the spatial magic enchantment on his item box, sending it directly to its creator in the dark confines of his bunker.Once there's a click back, the orange core speaks up again.
"Done. Now, for a summary; you were correct in believing two True Cores have created a partnership. It appears Raven is in excellent condition, with a core capacity 10.22% greater than our last assessment of her three months ago. The reasoning behind this rapid jump seems to be the use of a unique healing magic used by her new allies. We have not pinpointed exactly what skill or item was used just yet."
There's a pause between both of them, and once the orange core assesses that Redgrave has nothing to add, he continues.
"In addition to this, it seems the assumption that the 8 Great Regions would fall into chaos with their leader being assassinated is not entirely correct. It seems the assistant of Mr. Freeman, an A-Class hunter named Rodrigo, and his biological sister, a former Black Market trader, have taken control of the region and kept the nation under control, sending out orders and fulfilling necessary protocol during the surges after the throne's awakening."
There's another pause, but the red-haired True Core responds with a question back.
"How is that possible? I remember permitting two other divine core awakenings in that nation; they are far more powerful than that assistant. Were the top A-Class hunters all assassinated by the Flame Emperor as well?"
"No, Sir. They are alive and well, following orders from the two new overseers of the 8 Great Regions for reasons we couldn't assess in a simple area scan. There is reason to believe the Flame Emperor has ties with them, as large-scale construction projects are taking place with Association workers, 8 Great Region citizens, and Dark Continent citizens all together. They are tearing down the wall that separates the Dark Continent from the outside world and making a trade route to connect the nations. We have surveillance of expansion to the west and south as well; they are moving into Sebastian's old territory and filling the dead zone of Sector 2 in the direction of Raven's territory."
Another long pause occurs before Redgrave replies.
"This is all within expectations. Once the world is ours, it's better we already have functioning societies and a well-connected grouping of nations to inherit rather than nations at war and chaos among citizens... Let the ants play."
A laugh echoes through the channel before Redgrave speaks again.
"What of the Flame Emperor himself, what is this man like? And his divine power level? I want an accurate reading of him and those close to him. What are we truly dealing with?"
There's another silent moment of anticipation as the orange-cored guard sifts through his notes and replies.
"Yes, we did in fact get an accurate scan of him. He was hovering above the abyss when we did so, using his full power to attempt to move closer to the throne..."
Redgrave's full attention is captured now, and even Elara's voice reaches the secure line.
"He was trying to approach the throne? Now? Is he crazy?... I'm starting to like this guy..."
Instead of mindlessly swirling the pool of white energy in her room, Elara smiles and her eyes lock on the transmission tablet as the orange core responds.
"Yes, it's true. The Flame Emperor's True Core strength looks to be about even with Raven's. It was approximately 5% higher when we conducted the scan, so the prediction of Beckman's battle calculations was spot on. He barely won their fight and decided to save Raven's life afterward. During our time there, the man sensed our approach within the Dark Continent, but did not retaliate and let us conduct a thorough survey without any questions or resistance."
There's a pause, and no one speaks on the line, wanting to hear more, so the scout continues.
"He managed to make it deep into the abyss. Hundreds of kilometers even. Our highest-level orange core scouts tried to follow, but the pressure became far too immense. Many who had to return reported the sensation of a silver flash of light in their vision, and no recollection of the events that led them to retreat from approaching the tower. It seems the Flame Emperor himself witnessed this too, as at one point he stopped his flight closer to the tower and turned around a few minutes later. We're unsure if he faced the same mental effects, but we do have reports of him flying back toward his primary base, the Crimson City. We have detailed readings of five other divine cores in the vicinity: four orange and one yellow."
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Beckman's yellow crystal glows bright next, and all that comes through the receiver is the sound of tapping as he sifts through the recording crystals and complex data from unique spatial magic readings within his room. He finally replies after a few seconds.
"The four orange cores are nothing to worry about. Two of them are far stronger than average, but they are not much stronger than a newly awakened yellow core... The current yellow core within that city, however... all of the readings we've received are corrupted. I cannot analyze the data properly... The pressure it emits on the environment is not nearly as extreme as the Flame Emperor's, so it is unlikely they are a True Core... but..."
More tapping and sifting sounds come through the receiver for a few more seconds.
"This is fine. Redgrave put it nicely, the ants may build in their sandbox if they wish. The tsunami that approaches will wipe them out no matter how tall the castles they build become."
Elara laughs and responds.
"How poetic of you, maybe there is some emotion under that tough outer shell after all."
His tapping continues for another few seconds, and he replies in a stale response.
"You know I have emotions, I merely find them limiting while using my analysis perk."
The tapping continues for another few seconds before he speaks again.
"With all of their forces combined, the odds they injure even one of us is still below 0.1%. However, I must know all of the data before we make our own approach to the Dark Continent. This unregistered yellow core with corrupted data is troubling. We shall send out another group of scouts to survey the area in 60 hours and 24 minutes. We do not want to spook the residents too much, but I want an accurate reading of this anomaly in your next outing."
A sigh comes out of Elara's crystal, then it clicks off.
The orange core immediately responds afterward.
"Yes, Sir, I'll relay the message and schedule another outing. Is there anything else you need from me?"
Beckman's line clicks off, as he feels there's no need to answer.
Redgrave speaks last.
"Alan, that is all that we needed. The Flame Emperor is no match for us, thank you for confirming what we already knew."
He laughs to himself, then the final line on the private link between the big three is cut completely.
The scout then leaves the S-Grade shielded room and goes on with his duties for the day, preparing the other divine guards for their next mission.
–
Back in the Dark Continent, I sit on top of the guildhall with all of my divine aura retracted within my purple barrier.
The sun is showing signs of setting in the next few hours, and I continue to replay the events of today in my head while hundreds of citizens walk through the inner city going about their days without a care in the world.
My memories are fairly blurry, as the last crystal clear image I have is sensing the presence of new powerful buffs on Luna and Arie's status, then I set off to do an analysis on the throne. However, the sensations I felt were relayed to my doubles in real time... So I can look back on a perfect depiction of what's occurred as many times as I wish.
–
[A Stitch Body Double of Memories, ~3 Hours Ago]
As I hover above the darkness, I think about diving in to see what lurks below. However, logically I come to the conclusion that there was no reason to dive into the dark depths of the abyss, as training with demonic monsters right now would only set me on a path that is not congruent with my goal.
What I decided to do was attempt to examine the black tower at a much closer proximity to see if what The Saint said about the throne containing silver divine energy was true.
The upgrade of my All-Seeing Eye skill has given me a peek into the very fabric of the universe when I imbue my True Core's full power into it, however, I'm unable to get an in-depth look at the tower from hundreds of kilometers away.
As I approach the tower, however, an eerie pressure fills the air.
If I were to relate it to anything, it would be similar to the pressure I felt when coming face to face with the green serpent for the first time within the divine construct.
However, there is no physical change in the atmosphere. I just feel the gravity itself getting heavier the closer I fly, and to an exponential degree.
Once I'm less than 100 kilometers from the tower, it's hard to breathe, and every airstep forward is moderately painful; it feels like the air is a heavy liquid. Though, visually it doesn't change at all.
I power through, getting about 30 km deeper into the odd gravity-rich air, but the intensity becomes hundreds of times greater.
I'm positive no one below the status of a True Core could survive this close to the tower, yet there are still about 70 kilometers of distance to travel...
Even so, I use the ⅓ of my power that I've decided to allow the central government's scouts to witness, and send a pulse of perception into the throne using all of my buffs and my All-Seeing Eye to attempt to peer into the tower.
However, all I see in return is a glimpse of what's beyond the outer black layer, and that is an infinite wall of pure silver divine threads...
It's as if the material that made up the Lich King's core is layering the entire tower.
I perceive the entire outer layer, but it is impossible to see through.
Every millisecond I leave my perception activated, my mind screams at me to look away.
The longer I try to peer within, the brighter the silver threads become in my vision.
Less than a full second passes before I have to deactivate all of my perception buffs, and I reflexively turn around and fly away back to a less dense and dangerous area of the abyss with a pounding headache.
The further I get away from the tower, the more my mind tries to forget what it saw, but I keep the fragmented memories intact by sharing them with my doubles. It is no different of a feeling than staring into Ember's or the Lich King's core... just far more intense and menacing, like it has a mind of its own.
I feel the presence of the scouts as I make my way back to the city and think about what I've seen while monitoring the real-time memories of my doubles for the next 3 hours or so.
–
While I continue to ponder the events of examining the tower, memories of the double that is farming mana from the artificial mountains and siphoning them into the Crimson City labyrinth is one I'm very focused on.
I grin and turn my sights toward the canyon of dungeons, then begin to float toward it.
The labyrinth has reached 99 floors.
There's only one more before it has reached its max, and the demon inside will want to bring the mana back to its realm.
This is not what I want to happen right now... As I still need this labyrinth to train. I have my suspicions it can grow further, as mention of a larger labyrinth in Central was brought up by Raven many times before.
I'd like to see if I can broker a deal with this demon, and in the process, get more information from an outside source like itself on this mysterious throne that allows its race to rank up From Arch Demons to Demon Lords.
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