Southeast on a wasteland roughly ten million kilometres on an inhabitant grassy plain, space twisted and bent fiercely. Spatial energy pulse chaotically.
However, despite that, the energy within the void didn't seem to be causing any damage to the environment. A single crack appeared in space; the fracture was small, almost insignificant that it would be unnoticeable to the eyes.
However, the seemingly unnoticeable crack seems to hide a vast world, the space continued to crack like a fragile glass window, fragments of broken space would disintegrate and crumble away occasionally.
In the centre of the seven continents, also known as the seven great lands, stood a large mountain.
The lush trees of the mountains were filled with beautiful red leaves. The branches swayed noisily as the leaves scattered in the wind. The mountain was known as the sacred mountain, home to the Phoenix empress, a being spoken of in legends.
In the centre of the sacred mountain, a pillar of crimson flames rose up, giving the image of the mountains covered in red leaves the appearance of a volcano on the verge of eruption.
As the pillar of flames rose up into the sky at a single point, it stopped roughly several thousands of kilometres above ground. "Such pure energy of space." A soft, yet almost indiscernible voice resounded from within the pillar of flames.
Suddenly, her crimson eyes narrowed slightly, she stared straight ahead, until she spotted the sight of the disturbed spatial energy rippling chaotically several million of kilometres away.
"... I see. The opening of a miniature world, and one of an extremely high grade. How unusual." She murmured those words under her breath.
The pillar of crimson flames burst open, revealing a young woman who seems to be in her mid-twenties. She had long, waist -length red hair. And wore a fiery-red gown. Her smooth long legs were exposed from the split ends of her dress.
A pair of wings made from flames extended from her back. The woman was naturally the Phoenix empress. From behind her, a pillar of bluish white flames suddenly rose up into the sky.
"My lady!" A beautiful woman with long black hair called out to her. The woman also had a pair of blue flaming wings burning softly behind her back.
"Kira, why did you come? I told you to stay back." The Phoenix empress said sternly.
"My lady, forgive me, but… I couldn't turn a blind eye when I wasn't sure if something could happen to you."
"Are you saying I'm incapable of taking care of myself?" The Phoenix empress asked annoyedly.
"Eh? Ah, no, that's not what I meant." Kira said frantically, clearing up the misunderstanding. "Well whatever, I have no interest in a miniature world anyway." The Phoenix empress said, expressing her disinterest.
"Are you sure? I mean this particular miniature world seems to be one of a high grade." Kira asked dubiously. She was confused why they weren't going to explore it. After all, there could be something of great interest there.
"The fellows of those goddesses should be making their way over there anyway. I'd rather not get involved with the conflict of those goddesses." The Phoenix empress explained. Her beautiful ruby-like eyes flickered with uncertainty as though she was pondering something.
"... My lady, are you concerned about the dragon emperor?" Kira had been serving the Phoenix empress for a very long time, as such she could easily see through the concerns that weighed heavily on her mind.
"Indeed, I'm certain he will also take action. While he probably won't go there himself, he'll most likely send his own subordinate to explore that place. I'm sure he can easily sense this spatial energy as well." The Phoenix empress murmured those words. But Kira's senses as a Phoenix allowed her to hear perfectly.
"Beings like us who have already long reach our full potential, aren't easily tempted by ordinary treasures, but—"
The miniature world that had appeared was one of an abnormally high grades, while she didn't know why it had suddenly appeared, there was no doubt it held quite a lot of resources. Even someone like the dragon emperor could easily be tempted by its treasures.
If the dragon emperor recovers completely back to his peak, he could easily launch another assault against the sacred mountain, which would be a bother. Both of them had an extremely large amount of energy capacity.
With his durability as the dragon emperor and her regenerative abilities as the Phoenix empress, a battle between them could last several decades without a winner. The Phoenix empress's beautiful facial features contorted into a bitter grimace at the thought of having to face him again.
"... Sigh, it can't be helped. Kira, I want you to go into the miniature world, if he sends any of his subordinates there, keep a close eye on them." After brooding over the matter for a moment, the Phoenix empress gave her orders.
"Yes, my lady!" Kira saluted as she responded happily.
…
Meanwhile, in a certain palace fit for an emperor, a handsome red-haired man stood on the balcony of the royal palace. His sharp golden draconic eyes stared off into the distance. He was the feared dragon emperor; powerful ripples of energy would revolve around him occasionally.
His muscles, which contained incredible physical strength, were hidden behind white royal robes. "This spatial energy, a miniature world." He mumbled to himself.
Although he wasn't particularly interested in miniature worlds, he could feel a terrifying amount of spatial energy which even made him shudder.
"If the grade is this high, then it must be containing some wondrous treasures or resources." For a moment, a smear of undisguised desire appeared in his draconic eyes.
Dragons were greedy being to begin with, if this miniature world had some rare treasures he wanted it by any means. "Clarck, take a few dragonkin's and go explore the miniature world, if that world contained some mysterious treasure, you must obtain it." He ordered.
"... Understood. But what about the Phoenix empress, and the servants of those goddesses?" The green-haired man, clad in armor who goes by the name Clarck asked.
"Those goddesses, the Phoenix empress? Hmph, who gives a shit? If they get in the way, don't show them any mercy." The dragon emperor said coldly. After absorbing the energy of the dragon crystal his strength was gradually returning, it wouldn't be long before he returned to peak condition.
'Once I return to full strength, even those goddesses would think twice before getting in my way.' The dragon emperor snorted, dragons were the most prideful being, as the dragon emperor, his pride was even higher than most true dragons.
"As you wish." Clarck bowed his head as he responded, green draconic wings appeared from his back as he flew off.
"... For the spatial energy to be this strong, it doesn't seem like a miniature world created naturally. Someone must have created it artificially, but… Just who was it that could've created such a powerful miniature world?" The dragon emperor was curious, but there was no one who could answer his questions.
"At any rate, I wonder if the god beast king and the elven empress will also be making a move as well."
The elven empress, from the elf's continent, the god beast king, from the god beast continent, the demon king, from the demon continent, the fairy queen, from the fairy continent, the giant king, from the giant continent, the Asura emperor, from the Asura continent were ancient being who stood at the same height as the Phoenix empress and dragon emperor.
"Either way, once my strength returns, I'll be subduing them all eventually." The dragon emperor's eyes shone with a cold light.
…
On the southeastern part of the grassy plains, the spatial fracture had widened enough that a small child could easily enter the miniature world, the fractured space was widening with each second, it would probably take a full day for it to widen enough for an adult human to enter.
However, a little away from the spatial energy, space distorted for a second as a door appeared, it seems to be fused with space.
Several figures flew out of the spatial gate and appeared before the spatial energy. The first to appear was a beautiful black-haired woman who had donned a silver female style armor.
After her was a young blonde-haired man clad in silver armor, along with a young blue-haired girl. Lightning flickered violently as a man with long golden hair flew out, golden lightning shrouded his figure.
Several lower ranked servants of the goddess, Udea also appeared one after another.
"The entrance to the miniature world is over there." A young man with long waist length black hair said. He wore black armor with skulls going across from his waist belt. He was also a general and wielded a black scythe several times larger than his body.
He was known as the reaper, no one knew his real name. His name was something very personal to him.
"It seems it will take a while to open up." Ethan said, as he furrowed his brow slightly. "... We don't have all day, let's create an opening." Reaper suggested, pointing his scythe towards the spatial energy.
"Is that really a good idea? If we attack, the chaotic energy inside the void will become unstable." Monica spoke her objections; she had a slightly hesitant expression.
"Do you really have the patience to wait an entire day for it to open, lady Monica?" Reaper frowned as he asked. However, Monica glanced at the lower ranked servants who had joined them, while all the generals may be able to take care of themselves, she was concerned about those without a means to protect themselves against the chaotic energy.
Ethan held onto Charlotte's hands carefully. He could at least protect her while covering them in barriers. "I'll be the one attacking, Monica, you prioritize protecting those without a means of handling the energy." Reaper said, his voice was cold and indifferent.
"... I… Understand." Monica frowned and moved her soft, glossy lips, but she eventually heaved a sigh as she prepared herself to create defensive barriers.
However, at that moment, another spatial gate appeared, and several figures emerged from the opening. Once these figures appeared, the atmosphere became tense, heavy murderous intent from both sides swelled.
"Kuhahaha! I was wondering why the air felt so disturbing, it's no wonder, to have my vision filled with a flock of pigeons!" A burly man with short brown hair, and several scars decorated the left side of his face.
It was the right fist of the goddess, Maurice. A pair of feathered raven wings spread out from his back. Once Ethan heard his voice his expression became icy as he grabbed the hilt of his sword.
"I recognize that face, so it's you blondie. I see your back in top condition, good, it would be boring otherwise, hahahaha!" Maurice's loud laughter boomed across the vicinity. All the servants of the goddess Udea and the goddess Eva were glaring at each other as though they were looking at their most hated enemy.
Among them, Monica and Isaac made eye contact, both wore frowns on their faces. "Tsk." The one who averted eye contact first was Monica. "You're just as loud and vulgar as I remembered. I see you have healed that missing arm that was disintegrated during our last battle. But it's good that you showed up, now I can make good on the promise I had made at that time." Ethan said with a cold smile.
"Oh, is that so? Then why don't I take you up on that offer!" Maurice kicked off the ground and launched himself towards Ethan at a tremendous speed, a pair of gauntlets appeared on both his fists.
Ethan and Charlotte were in his path of trajectory, however, Ethan quickly stood before her to prevent her from getting caught up in the attack.
He promptly manifested his spirit sword, Grim, while strengthening his physical body, he dared not underestimate Maurice's physical strength.
In the blink of an eye, Maurice had appeared before Ethan and swung his arm which was covered in destructive energy. At the same time, Ethan also swung his sword.
Just as both blade and fist were inches apart and about to make contact, a figure appeared between them.
BOOOOOM!
A violent windstorm swept across the vicinity, roughly sweeping the grassy plains. All the generals quickly took action to contain the shockwave to protect their own comrades.
Once the violent windstorm had dissipated, Ethan narrowed his eyes at the person who currently stood before him while grasping the blade of his sword.
It was a handsome young man with short silver hair and crimson eyes.
It was the war lord, Levi. Ethan furrowed his brow slightly as he felt a tremendous amount of oppressive energy emanating from Levi, the energy was so dense, so immense that it made him shudder.
He had only ever felt this intimidated by one man, the one who held the title 'overlord', 'Don't tell me, has this man already reached his level?' Ethan's expression became stern at these implications as he drew back his sword and took distance.
"Tch, Levi, why are you getting in the way? This was my chance to eliminate one of the enemies." Maurice said with a bitter grimace. Currently, Levi had grasped his fist firmly, Maurice had released a large amount of energy onto his fist, but Levi had completely suppressed it to the point that the energy could not be released into the surroundings, with nowhere to go, the energy was burning Maurice arms as a consequence.
"Maurice, I know your one to let your impulse drive you, but have you already forgotten our main objective for coming here?" Levi asked, his eyes narrowing.
"Eh? Ah, of course not." Maurice responded painfully; the energy was already becoming so hot that it was unbearable.
"... I will overlook your actions this time, but let me warn you, there'll be no mercy next time." Those words were said with heavy killing intent, Levi casually released Maurice clenched fist, showing no signs of discomfort from the heated energy.
"Ngh." Maurice's face turned pale as he used healing magic to soothe his injured hand. Levi didn't pay any particular attention to the servants of Udea and only kept his guard up against one. He glanced at Reaper sternly before heading back to his teammates.
"I figured you'd also be coming here as well, Levi, we hadn't seen each other since that war roughly two hundred years ago. I must say, I'm surprised how much stronger you've already become since then." Reaper showed a slight smile as he spoke.
"... Why are you so surprised about that? Did you think I'd become lenient after that man died?" Levi said indifferently.
"Well, wasn't Ellard the one who you aspired to surpass? He had already met his end, so what's really driving you to keep pursuing strength?"
"Enough! Why are we wasting time on pointless chatter? Didn't we come here to enter the miniature world?!" The one who uttered those words annoyedly was a woman with long waist length black hair, and black feathered wings, Valeria. Dressed in a pale blue gown, she was truly an exotic beauty.
Currently, her beautiful face was twisted in displeasure as she was completely uninterested in pointless conversations.
"Valeria is right, let's not be bothered about this for now, our main priority is to enter the miniature world. We can settle past scores after we enter." Monica added, agreeing with Valeria.
However, her last words were unusually sharp. Naturally, they all understood the hidden meaning of her words. Their cooperation will only last until they enter the miniature world, as for what happens after they enter, everyone has already figured it out.
Many of them were enemies standing on opposing sides after all, everyone prepared themselves for getting attacked once they had entered the miniature world.
"At its current speed, it will take a whole day to completely open." With his body clad in flickering lightning, Aratiri voiced his concerns.
"If we use an attack strong enough, we can prematurely force its opening." Reaper added.
"... Yes, I'll also launch an attack as well." Levi said, agreeing with Reaper.
"Oh, you want to cooperate with me." Reaper raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"Only this once, we are both trying to open the entrance to enter that place. Once we're inside I'm sure you know what will happen next."
"Hahaha, very well. I'll kindly accept your generous offer." Reaper nodded readily. He saw no reason to refuse under the current circumstances.
"In that case, allow me to offer my assistance as well." A sweet voice resounded from the sky along with the cry of a Phoenix. Everyone subconsciously shifted their line of sight towards the source of the voice.
A young lady clads in a black gown with bluish white flaming wings flapping softly behind her back. Flying behind her were several young women with flaming wings.
"Kira, it's you. Even the esteemed Phoenix empress is interested in the miniature world." Monica's eyes widened slightly in surprise. The Phoenix empress was someone who never interfered in most things happening with the world as long as it didn't concern the sacred mountain.
"My lady isn't exactly interested in the miniature world; I'm merely here as a spectator." Kira responded bluntly.
"So, you're the one she sent here, little bird. Isn't that woman greedy, with the resources of the sacred mountain, she is also after the miniature world as well." A young green-haired man with draconic wings appeared. He wore heavy armor that exposed his limbs.
"Humph, it seems you want to lose your head, lizard brain, I won't tolerate any disrespect towards my lady." Kira growled indignantly. As though her instincts were stimulated, her killing intent surged fourth. Phoenix and dragons naturally didn't mix.
All the Phoenix's behind her glared at the dragons who had come along with Clarck.
"Heheheh, is that so? We dragons were always the superior race, it disgusts me to think a little bird is looking down on me like this." Clarck said, his voice became icy. His killing intent was not at all inferior to Kira.
"You dragons superior? Hah, since when? The only thing superior is your stupidity." Kira retorted sharply. Her bluish white flaming wings burning intensely.
"Watch your mouth!" Clarck clenched his fist; green draconic scales covered his arm as he punched forward towards Kira. Compressed destructive energy was hurled towards her in the shape of a dragon fist. The fist was several meters large.
"Hmph." One of the Phoenix who stood behind Kira stepped forward, pinkish flames burned softly around her body. With a wave of her hand, flames compressed and struck the draconic fist Clarck had hurled towards them.
BOOOOOM!
The air shuddered as both attacks collided. Their collision created a powerful energy storm. "Tsk, quickly suppress the shockwave!" Kira exclaimed, her long black hair danced wildly in the wind.
The Phoenix and dragons promptly used different techniques to suppress the shockwave wreaking havoc in the sky.
However, aside from the powerful ripples of energy of both sides, their attacks were successfully nullified.
"You, a mere subordinate, actually interfered." Clarck's body was sent flying a few meters backwards from the residual energy of the shockwave, as he glared at the Phoenix with long waist length pink-coloured hair.
"Hmph, you were the one who attacked first without warning, so what if I had interfered? Lady Kira doesn't have to stain her hands dealing with someone of your level." The pink-haired woman said, she gazed at him with a mocking smile.
"Heh, it seems you're courting death." Clarck said, his murderous intent rising further.
"Sigh, it got noisy again." Watching the exchange between the Phoenix and dragon, Valeria mumbled to herself.
"If you're also going to help, I'd like to begin now." Levi stated indifferently. A powerful presence surged from his body, both Kira and Clarck stiffened when they sensed this presence.
'This man, his energy wasn't this strong the last time I saw him.' Kira furrowed her brow as she observed Levi warily. Among them, Arthur's expression also stiffened.
He had been forcefully dragged here by Valeria from the sun clan against his will.
"For better results, let's attack at the same time, what do you say?" Reaper proposed.
"Then let's use a strong attack. Create barriers capable of withstanding the chaotic energy inside the void." Levi ordered.
Monica, Valeria and several others promptly cast their greatest defensive type spells. Once the barriers were constructed, Reaper, Levi, Kira and Clarck each used a high-tier technique at the same time.
Reaper slashed with his scythe, releasing a large mass of darkness, while Levi swung his great sword, the tremendous amount of energy enshrouding his blade was hurled towards the spatial energy, Kira used her Phoenix flames and Clarck attacked using his dragon breath.
The energies compressed into one and slammed against the spatial energy. At that moment a devastating storm of energy swept across the surroundings. The grassy plains were gouged out and a cloud of dust was raised.
The sound of violent wind resounded loudly as space collapsed, the fragmented space shattered, releasing the chaotic energy within the void.
During that time, a large spatial rift was forcefully opened from the combined attack.
"Now's our chance!" Reaper yelled, without hesitation, he created a barrier around himself as he jumped into the rift.
Monica and the others followed along, Levi and his team promptly went after them, followed by those from the dragon race and Phoenix race.
The rift was closing at a visible speed, as though the world was repairing itself. Once the spatial rift closed, the grassy plains returned to its peaceful state once again.
…
Meanwhile, inside the dragon clan.
After his conversation with Suzu and finishing his dinner, Alan went back to practicing his control over his spiritual energy.
Spiritual energy in the form of orbs of light circled around his figure like suns orbiting planets.
When Alan opened his eyes, his usual emerald, green eyes were tinged white as spiritual energy swirled violently within them. He casually extended his hand which was clad in spiritual energy.
A sword made from spiritual energy appeared in his hand. The sword radiated pure energy as he held it firmly.
"As expected, I can only use soul destruction four times per day." Alan murmured. Four was his limit, any more than that he could seriously damage his soul.
"That's to be expected, in your current state." Akane materialized into her physical form as she sat on the bed next to him.
"Four is already incredible. Let's not rush things." She said in her usual soothing voice.
The spiritual energy flowing from Alan's body receded as he stopped his training. The orbs of light circling his figure also disappeared along with the sword.
"But you know, Akane, isn't it strange how I have limitations on my spiritual energy? I mean, I had already strengthened my soul in my past life, didn't I?"
"Don't forget you were a demi-god back then, the main issue is that Alan's soul is still immature, both Ellard's and Alan's souls may have completely integrated, but their strength differs." Akane explained.
"Oh, so that's what it was." Alan furrowed his brow slightly. It was true that there had to be a perfect harmony between his souls for them to coexist, but this was the first time someone had reincarnated into the body of another being, since there was no precedent of such situations before, it was hard to understand the logic behind it.
"... It's so complicated." Alan mumbled bitterly.
"Fufu, don't worry you'll be fine, after all you—" Akane smiled sweetly as she uttered words of encouragement. However, as though sensing something, her expression changed abruptly.
The space around them shattered, no it didn't merely shattered, it was forcefully ripped open by an invisible force. "Whoa?" Alan was taken aback about the sudden situation. A large spatial rift opened up around his bed.
With his current strength, it was naturally impossible for him to resist the suction force of a spatial rift, Akane was also in a weakened state.
As such, both Alan and Akane were pulled into the spatial rift.
The invisible force lingered inside the room, although space was forcefully torn open, the energy from within the void did not escape.
Or rather, the invisible force had prevented it from rampaging. It proceeded to carefully mend the fragmented space back together like needles threading a thread through a cloth.
Once the space had returned to its original state, the invisible force gradually disappeared. The room seemed as ordinary as though such a thing hadn't occurred. The only difference is the absence of Alan and Akane.