"That’s not normal..."
The words left the Emperor of Loria in a low, measured tone as he remained seated upon the high throne of dark stone.
In that moment, it wasn’t just him— the whole universe was still feeling the lingering aftereffects of the incursion, and would be dealing with them for a long time to come.
He did not know what had truly occurred—only that something vast had torn through the fabric of reality and left every high-ranking expert across the Universe in similar states of unease.
Even though the Emperor himself was over one hundred thousand years old... he only appeared to be in his forties.
With short brown hair kept neat, brown eyes sharp with calculation, dark robes falling in heavy folds around his lean frame.
"Did... someone just destroy a galaxy or something?" he muttered, one hand lazily draped over the carved arm of the throne, the other curling into a slow, deliberate fist against his knee as he pondered the cause of the strange surge.
As mentioned before, an incursion was the sort of thing an inhabitant of a minor existence would never even be aware of, let alone understand.
Especially since an Anchor would never casually wander around talking about their authority.
He rose without haste and crossed the long hall toward the open balcony that overlooked the World of Loreua and the sprawling heart of his Empire.
Far below, cities and cultivated lands sprawled under a sky that might seem ordinary to the untrained eye, yet the Emperor sensed a wrongness lingering in the high air.
"I must... speed things up," he murmured, summoning a black token from his Divine Ring.
With the wisdom of age, he knew such unease wasn’t born of nothing—certainly not at the rank of Cosmic Union.
And with his plans in motion, if he wanted to claim another star system for his growing Empire, he had to act fast.
Without wasting another moment, he spoke into the token.
"Milan."
The reply came at once, clear and properly measured, the voice of a princess who had been raised to answer without hesitation.
"Father."
"I’ll be leaving the Empire for an important meeting with the Supreme God of One Book," he said, eyes fixed on the far horizon while his free hand rested casually on the stone balustrade.
"You need to move things along... Check on the catalyst’s status and be ready to set the plan in motion at any moment."
"Yes, Father."
Milan’s voice carried the precise degree of respect her position demanded; whatever thoughts she harbored about his sudden departure stayed locked away, overshadowed by her duty to accept and confirm the order.
Without missing a beat, he added.
"Also, find out where your brother has gone. He hasn’t responded to any of my messages. I want a full report before I return."
"I will see to it."
After those words, the connection ended.
The Emperor stood a moment longer on the balcony, brown eyes narrowing as he calculated what he truly had in mind...
As it was definitely anything but meeting the Supreme God of One book.
Then he stepped forward, power gathering around him in a controlled surge, and took off into the skies.
He rose through the atmosphere in a clean, unbroken ascent, the World of Loreua falling away beneath him until the world gave way to the cold black of the void.
When he appeared in that emptiness, he stopped at once, eyes widening as the full arrangement of the Orin Star System resolved under the perception of a Cosmic Union expert.
What should have been familiar orbits and known distances had been rewritten.
The other worlds hung like distant stars, small and remote. At the same time, Loreua itself completed a slow circle around a single unassuming mountain that occupied the heart of the system as if it had always belonged there.
A frown creased his face, the shock plain in the sharp clench of his jaw.
"Impossible," he muttered, eyes fixed on the drastically altered star system before him.
"Have the rulers of the Orin Star System already been replaced?"
He knew such a thing shouldn’t have been possible, since all the contenders for the Star System had already departed, each awaiting the same deadline....
The tournament in a decade that would decide who would truly rule this Star System.
The thought struck him not just as a private disbelief but as a pointed question aimed at his status menu, and the response came with a price so exorbitant it felt like a cruel joke.
[Divine Ranked Information — 5,000,000 DP]
A hollow laugh escaped him, brief and without humor.
"Divine Ranked, information?" He wondered, as if for one, he had never seen such a rank and for the answer to be so steep...
He knew that the rulers had definitely changed hands from the previous Celestial Sun Pantheon.
In that moment, after taking a brief pause to center himself, he murmured aloud.
"I’m sure... the Supreme God of One Book will keep his word."
He was confident the tournament would indeed proceed, a turn of events he had been counting on.
A slow smile crept across his face as his calculations, to his satisfaction, were now falling neatly into place with this unexpected revelation.
"If I eliminate this ruler... taking control of this Star System will be much easier," he thought.
With that, he once again drew the black token adorned with golden trimmings, its metal cool against his palm, and sent a final message through it with the same calm authority he had wielded in the throne room.
"Milan. A change of plans. You are to activate the catalyst by the year’s end."
The order went out clean and absolute.
[Fire Affinity]
Without waiting for her to respond, he activated an affinity, and just like that, the Emperor vanished into thin air.
In that moment, the space where he had stood emptied as if a sheet of paper had been set to flame and left nothing behind but the cold dark of the void and the mountain at the center of a star system that no longer answered to its old masters.
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