"Was that your new friend?" a beautiful lady with long lavender hair asked Theos while gazing at Z, who was at the edge of the gate surrounded by knights from The Knight Order with her deep lavender eyes.
"Come on, Val," he said with a look of disbelief. "He is a self-centered, selfish person who only wishes for him to rise, malevolent and mischievous. Disgusting."
"Ow? You seemed fond of him," Val teased.
"In any case, he will be a useful spy. I am sure that in the beginning, he would give us trustworthy information. I just need to watch it as he would surely use us too."
"Why would he do that? If he screwed us over, we would just turn him in."
"He's way too crafty. I have not thought of that. I am sure he already has a plan. Also, watch your language."
While the two members of The Integrals were fawning over Z, the latter was inwardly cursing at them, too.
'What a self-righteous poet he is. "Well, I just want to help the others climb up the ladder and give them opportunities," disgusting. Why does he not just admit that he was unhappy with his life and wanted to get power, whatever the cost? Why justify his folly? Disgusting,' Z thought as he glanced over Theos' direction with a sticky look.
"Hey, Z. Are you listening?" Noel asked.
"Ow, yes. We are waiting for reinforcements from En Dives to arrive, right?" Z responded as he snapped back to reality.
"Yes. In the meantime, we avoid confrontation. If you charge head first into the battlefield again, I will be the one killing you," Noel threatened.
'Well, I do not think that is what you should be concerned about,' Z thought, but he maintained a stoic expression.
(You are too devilish.) Lumen said with genuine concern.
(Am I supposed to be kind and gentle? Come on, Lumen. The things I lived in the Dream Realm of Lady Emilia are far too gruesome for me to think that this world would give me treats and candies.) Z replied, which earned a sigh of sadness from Lumen.
(I have seen this nightmare before, Z. I am just concerned.)
(Thank you. I will be fine, Lumen. I have you.) Z said with a soothing tone.
The lot was still caught up in the moment and was calm relative to the situation when the sky suddenly turned dark.
From the made-up base of The Integrals, a giant pillar of Arcane was erected from the ground. Runes filled with Space Laws glowed around the pillar, every so slightly consuming the Arcane to create a portal.
"They are trying to set up a Space Rift! We need to stop them!" The captain of the knights in the area said as he led the charge.
Riding their Diamond Horses, the lot rode their way to the enemy camp, commanding their allies to part the enemies to pave their way. However, waiting for them before the portal was a group of armed individuals who looked no weaker than them.
The captain of the knights adopted a solemn look on his face and immediately pulled a Transmitter Token and spoke, "The enemies called for backup. We will not be able to stop a Space Rift from appearing. Raise the barrier of the fortress!"
As he said so, a translucent violet light enveloped the entire fortress, covering it in a hazy mist of clouds and lighting that made it seem impossible to pierce. Then, a blinding radiance pierced through the clouds like the sun after a rainy day, revealing the brilliance of the fortress once more.
"Tsk," the members of the opposition could not help but sneer in scorn after seeing what happened.
"Damn it. Brace yourselves! We need to last until the backup from En Dives and The Knight Order's headquarters arrive," Noel said with an annoyed look.
Just then, two people came out of the giant space rift. No one in the vicinity knew who they were, but everybody was aware of how powerful they were. It was as if a dark storm was looming at everyone's faces.
From the balanced battlefield where neither side was winning nor losing, those two people, by their presence alone shifted the tides. One was an old man with long gray hair, a unique tattoo on his ears, and a clean face, holding a straight brown cane. His eyes were dark and empty as his eyeballs were nowhere to be seen. A strange and eerie vibe was felt by everyone who looked at him as if they were being sucked inside his empty eyes.
Beside him was a young girl, a child. Everything about her screamed youth and nativity aside from her eyes that seemingly contained endless wisdom and knowledge.
'A Potens. No wonder The Integrals had the audacity to charge Libertia. If they are powerful enough to rope a member of that race to their arsenal, they must also have Supremes in their lineup,' Z thought with a hidden smile. 'Here I thought they would just be rolled over by The World Force. I guess, things will get easier for me.'
It was not just him who thought that. Noel and the other knowledgeable individuals around were wary and tense. They all stitched in their minds that The Integrals had at least one Supreme in their lineup.
'They purposely showed the Potens to us! Here I thought they launched an attack because of the corruption of The Quartet. Now, it seems like they are confident in contending against The World Force. This is a stern message to us. Damn!' Noel cursed in his thoughts.
A sudden force caught everyone's attention as the old man from the portal widely opened his eyes. Maybe it was the sudden shift of Arcane or the innate Laws that the old man possessed, but for that brief moment the battlefield was silenced and everyone gazed at him.
"The World Force, surrender spots in the mountain of Celestial Constants and we will cease our attacks!" he said with a hoarse voice.
Just then, four pillars of Arcane erupted from some hidden locations in the battlefield. "You are out of your minds!!"