The Foreigner on the Periphery

The Kavite, Gedwok, felt a deep sense of despair.

"And so..."

He was currently attending a meeting of the Committee's representatives, sitting in as both a witness and an executive.

The densely arranged Magic screens displayed the faces of the senior executives and committee members of the three Ancient Races, alongside the grand committee members who stood at the very top of their hierarchy.

However, where there should have been three grand committee members, only two screens were active. The seat representing the Kavite race was currently vacant.

The grand committee member of the Endelions—the one who sat on the throne ruling their race—asked a question. A volatile anger simmered in her single eye.

"Are you telling me that the body of your grand committee member was never found?"

As an executive who had once served him closely, Gedwok had led the search for the grand committee member's remains.

"Bloodstains were left behind, but we could not find the body. Not even a fragment of tissue remained. We have to consider the possibility that he was obliterated without a single scrap of flesh left behind, but..."

The one who cut him off was the grand committee member representing the Todds. His skin brimmed with vitality, having undergone a body renewal right before their supply of Talents was cut off. Even though his previous body had been perfectly healthy, he had swapped it out early to prepare for any contingencies. This was a common behavior the higher up the hierarchy one went. It was also one of the reasons why the number of bodies consumed for body renewals kept increasing just to extend the life of a single old man.

"There is no way Asif-666 would simply kill such a high-value hostage who knows all our secrets! He must have taken him captive."

Gedwok thought the same.

Although the on-site supervisor of Yongreung had been found dead with his head blown off, the planet itself fell directly under the grand committee member's command.

The Endelion king spoke in a frosty tone.

"I do not know whether to call this tragic or absurd. The only reason the Endelion and Todd forces didn't assist in defending Yongreung was because of the Kavites' stubborn insistence. You swore your own strength would be enough, yet this is your second failure."

The Todd grand committee member chimed in with a sneer.

"And you lose far too much with every failure."

The first failure they referred to had occurred during the Second Ancient Race-Dragon War.

The worst blunder of that time: allowing the primordial race to be abducted by an infiltrating Dragon death squad.

The Ancient Races had been terrified, believing he had fallen into the hands of the Dragons. But as the war progressed and they interrogated captured Dragon prisoners, they learned something unexpected. The primordial race had seemingly slipped out of the Dragons' grasp right after being abducted. Thanks to that, the Kavites managed to recapture him after the war, earning the merit of turning him into Asif-666 and barely retaining their ownership of Yongreung.

However, this current failure was just as bitterly painful—not merely for the Kavites, but for all the Ancient Races.

At this point, the conversation had moved beyond Gedwok's place to protest. Instead, the Kavite committee members stepped forward to explain the situation.

"Since that incident, we drastically increased the number of Space Motherships monitoring the planetary orbit, a stance we have maintained from the end of the war until now."

"This was to completely block anyone from slipping through gaps in the perimeter and landing on the planet, just as the Dragons did back then."

"Furthermore, we expanded the Distortion Field that prevents Teleport to cover the entire planet, and its effectiveness has only been reinforced over time."

"Our failure to stop Asif-666 this time was largely due to a lack of information. It seems... he has regained far more power than he possessed when we first captured him."

"He must have absorbed a massive amount of Talents on that planet of fanatics. There is no other explanation."

In truth, the Kavite committee members also harbored suspicions regarding dragon blood, but they were not about to spill that secret here.

As the Endelion and Todd representatives grew agitated by the string of excuses, a Kavite committee member swiftly cut in to shift the flow of the conversation.

"Rather than wasting time assigning blame over the past, wouldn't it be better to focus on what countermeasures we should take going forward?"

"Since you brought it up, allow me to add..."

The one interrupting was the head of the Committee's sole military organization, the Tax Collection Command.

Commander Todd brought up a Magic screen for all the attendees to see.

"Thanks to the Kavites allowing our investigators in 'after the fact,' we were able to sweep the entire planet."

His tone dripped with sarcasm, mocking their behavior of asking for help only after their defenses had been breached and their property—the Dragon Hearts—plundered. Yet instead of protesting or showing displeasure, the Kavites merely urged him to continue.

While Gedwok and the other Kavites searched the interior of the Yongreung base for clues, the command forces led by Todd scoured the entire planet to trace exactly how the intruders had broken in.

"To start with the conclusion, we believe those 'two individuals' are capable of performing dimensional leaps without the aid of a Jump Ship, an Endelion, or an Ancient Dragon."

Heavy groans rippled through the attendees.

"This is a variable that will drastically impact our future strategies. Until now, we limited the entities capable of dimensional leaps to those three types. And since the dimensional shifting of Ancient Dragons is practically sealed away, we only had to watch out for the first two. If a massive object the size of a Jump Ship or an Endelion moves, it naturally gets detected. But those two are far too small. We must enhance our surveillance systems for dimensional leaps far beyond current levels and increase our radar output, which means our Mana Crystal consumption rate will skyrocket."

It was decidedly unwelcome news given their current situation.

The commander continued his explanation.

"In a similar vein, there is another point we must keep in mind. We have a great deal to lose, but... they effectively have nothing to lose."

Aside from the fact that they needed to expand their surveillance to more planets, this reality worked against the Committee.

"In standard warfare, it is common sense to leave at least a minimal defensive force at your main base. If they hijacked 158 Space Motherships, you would expect them to leave some behind and distribute their troops. The Dragons did exactly that in the past. They had even more to protect back then than we do now, since many planets in the dimensional center were their territory. However, right now, Asif-666 does not need to worry about any of that."

Todd brought up another screen. He explained the nature of the inhabitants of the planet Asif-666 seemed to have entirely conquered.

"I don't know what trick he used, but considering how the church members reacted during the invasion... it appears he is effectively acting as their god."

"...Did he brainwash all of them?"

"Asiph-1 shouldn't possess that level of power, so I suspect they planted the seeds and started preparing long before we ever anticipated."

That order had once carried out missionary work all across the cosmos, but their most critical doctrines were recorded in secret scriptures accessible only to the Lepatam race.

Yet even considering just the basic doctrines the Committee knew about, they could easily grasp the level of danger they posed.

"Those believers have very little interest in the world we live in. You can clearly see that just by looking at the current state of the planet they use as their order's headquarters. They believe this entire world will collapse and face ruin once their gods return anyway, and they think that dying in battle isn't a true death. In my estimation, Asif-666 will exploit that doctrine and abandon all thoughts of defense entirely."

It was a campaign that left zero safety nets behind, yet the zealots would welcome it.

Whether they were annihilated by the Committee's attacks or destroyed by the will of their gods, it was all the same to them.

Because the only thing that truly mattered was the eternal life granted by their gods.

"In short, it is a strategy where they only need to protect the encampment moving with their fleet. It prevents us from countering by flanking their main base to throw their frontline troops into disarray."

It was the exact tactic they themselves had favored during the latter half of the war against the Dragons.

"The problem is that, conversely, those bastards will be eager to strike at our rear, and they even possess the means to do so. Asif-666's abilities are just as headache-inducing as Asiph-1's. Even while they concentrate all 158 ships on the frontlines for an all-out assault, Asif-666 could pop up in our rear—either alone or with Asiph-1—wreak havoc, and vanish. We've all seen firsthand just what those two are capable of this time."

"If they target our rear, the most likely location would undoubtedly be the Mining Machine bases."

"Space Motherships are useless against those two. We can't just blow away our own garrisons with Photon Cannons, after all. We must concentrate our anti-personnel weapons and infantry at the Mining Machine facilities."

"That is already in progress."

Countless Todd and Kavite infantry troops were already being redeployed to the Mining Machine bases.

At that moment, the Todd grand committee member looked at the Endelion king and asked a question.

"Are you people planning to hide in the rear for this war as well? If even a few of you stepped forward, it would bolster our forces..."

The king firmly rejected the request.

"The old covenant remains valid, and we have no intention of surrendering the rights of the Endelions."

"..."

Sparks of fury flew in the Todd grand committee member's eyes, but he did not raise his voice any further.

He knew full well that without the technology provided by those tentacled monsters, waging war would be impossible to begin with.

The commander resumed his briefing on their operational plans.

"Despite the circumstances I've laid out, we cannot afford to focus solely on defending our main base. There is no reason to pass up an opportunity to whittle down their numbers while they march here. We need to make a decision regarding the 'first line of defense.'"

He was referring to the trap they would lay along the path Asif-666's forces were taking.

There were no plans to dispatch Ancient Race troops that far out. Whoever they used would simply serve as a disposable meat shield, destined to be used once and thrown away.

"They will need to make at least seventeen dimensional leaps to reach us. Of the available paths, these are the only realistic routes."

Over two hundred potential scenarios spread out across the screen.

Naturally, they didn't need to establish the first line of defense across every dimension connected to their central hub. The commander was focusing on a dimension that served as a midpoint bottleneck.

"Despite the numerous variables, the structure of the dimensional planes means there are a few specific dimensions they will have no choice but to pass through. Among those, the most suitable place to lay our trap is..."

The commander pointed to a single dimension.

The Endelion king looked at it and asked.

"What is the population distribution in that dimension?"

The screen shifted to display a graph.

"It's a structure where a small Dragon ruling class oversees a 99.9% mono-species slave population."

It was a common demographic in this era. That handful of Dragons would undoubtedly be paying a portion of their profits back to the Committee under the guise of taxes or royalties.

"And these slaves are..."

The Endelion king read the data.

"Goblins. Do the Dragons hold divided ownership over them?"

"The Mining Guild established by the Dragons collectively owns all the slaves, so you can assume their shares are distributed equally. But why do you ask...?"

The king, having fallen deep into thought, spoke up.

"I just thought of an appropriate trap. We will have our people contact the slave owners directly."

"Wait, but..."

Before they could delve into that agenda, the Todd grand committee member interjected, stating there was one detail they had to address first.

"If we lay a trap, the first full-scale clash will take place in that dimension. Asif-666 will likely bring the 'hostage' along. According to everything we've discussed so far, their moving encampment will be safer than a main base. We've already settled the matter of the Kavite hostage, however..."

The Kavite committee member spoke firmly.

"We have abandoned any rescue attempts for the grand committee member. Even if Asif-666 attempts a ransom negotiation, we plan to completely ignore it."

This was the result of squarely dumping all the blame for the failure to defend Yongreung, and the subsequent abduction, onto the grand committee member's shoulders.

Hearing this declaration, Todd rolled his eyes. He then turned his gaze to the Endelion king.

"What about the Endelions? The hostage's existence might constantly drag us down in the upcoming battles. What is your choice?"

It was a demand for them to clarify their stance before the war began in earnest.

The Endelion king slowly lowered her eyelid and fell into thought.

   *

A fleet of 158 Space Motherships rose into the skies above the Elahu-Praga Church Headquarters.

Forgetting to even breathe, the believers threw both their hands toward the heavens. They screamed in sheer elation and chanted their prayers.

Their god had commanded the pope to lead a holy war, and the pope would personally mobilize this sacred army to march upon the very heart of the Committee.

Today was their glorious deployment ceremony.

Though no formal inspection or religious rites were scheduled, the congregation spontaneously poured out to fill the plaza in front of the main altar. Where the Cathedral of Resurrection had once stood before burning to the ground, they now shrieked and sang in ecstasy.

The 158 Space Motherships could carry far more people than they had anticipated. Including the personnel needed to produce Mana Crystals, almost all the priests capable of wielding Divine Power and every combat-capable individual had already boarded the colossal vessels floating above.

Even though there was no one left to defend the planet, the remaining believers felt no anxiety. Splitting their forces was a meaningless gesture in their eyes anyway. This was a war they were destined to win.

Long before the enemy could ever reach this place, they would be struck down on the frontlines by the divine retribution of their god and the pope.

Aboard one of the Space Motherships, someone was looking down at the zealots currently lost in their frenzy.

'What in the world is making them act so fanatical?'

It was an incomprehensible sight for an atheist.

She turned her head. She saw the Endelion children, who had shrunk their bodies down. They harbored severe trauma regarding dimensional leaps, so she had put them all to sleep for fear they might suffer sudden seizures.

True to his word, Minjun hadn't forced the children to participate in the dimensional jump. Instead, Asiph-1 had crossed over to the destination dimension alone and was currently waiting for the allied forces after seizing control of a Terminal that had yet to be locked down. This was another move that fell completely outside the Committee's expectations. They had undoubtedly been certain that Minjun would use the same methods as they did.

Del's thoughts continued to spiral.

'Cain kept his promise.'

If so, would he keep the other promise as well?

She remembered what Minjun had told her.

—The Endelions will not go extinct.

From the perspective of her race, Del knew perfectly well she was nothing but a traitor. She was a literal treasonous criminal.

Yet Del firmly believed this was the right thing to do. Rather than continuing their eternal life and prosperity through twisted means, she saw this as an opportunity to correct their past sins.

'Mother...'

When that promise was made, Del had been full of doubt. Could Minjun truly achieve victory against a massive enemy like the Committee, and would the day ever come when he showed the mercy he promised?

Now, the answer to that doubt seemed to be taking on a clearer, sharper shape.

Flash!

A blinding light enveloped the Space Motherships.

The hour of departure had arrived. Sending off their god, the pope, and the glorious warriors escorting them, the believers descended into absolute madness.

Del closed her eyes and prayed. She didn't believe in a god, but she believed in Minjun. Had Ha Eun-seong heard her, he would have told her to just pray to a god instead, but she offered her prayers to that very belief.

'Cain, just as much as you... my kin are precious to me, too. So... please, keep your promise.'

Del couldn't bear to abandon them.

   *

The Endelion king opened her eye. In an unyielding voice, she declared her stance.

"We will abandon the princess."

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