Rumble!
The seventh layer shook as hundreds of soldiers were sent flying. All Athyma did was wave her hand. She had a small smile, her gaze gracefully scanning her opponents with no alarm.
She's playing with us... Sierra and Augustus could not help but grit their teeth. Their nemesis, who used to be the one they were equal with, was now treating them as toys that fight back without the strength to make a difference.
Only ordinary soldiers had been killed so far. Athyma hadn't killed her "father" and "brother" just yet, nor had she even killed Vekas, Augustus, or Sierra. She simply didn't feel the need to.
Although the latter three were all semi-spiritual lifeforms—one war saint and two silent harmoners—it mattered little to a fully spiritual being like her.
The seventh layer itself was collapsing. Its walls and infrastructure could barely hold steady against the onslaught of the battles. Athyma may be holding back, but her foes were going all out, and even her held-back attacks had an enormous level of power that a mere layer of an underground base couldn't hold forever.
At this rate, the whole base might collapse. Ten days had passed, and the continued battle made Vekas sweat. Almost all the soldiers had been killed, and even the main squad that Athyma clearly wasn't trying to kill was reaching its limits.
This was especially true for Charlie and Marcus, who weren't even semi-spiritual lifeforms. It was already a miracle that they were still alive and kicking. Or perhaps, that was merely Athyma's mercy.
Marcus rushed forward, his body battered, but his eyes shone coldly. "You bitch!"
He struck his sword down, coating it with his Vyr, only to be blocked effortlessly by the singular claw Athyma had manifested on her index finger.
"Aww, you never addressed me with such profanity before, Marcus." She mused with a mocking smile that looked too soft for who she really was.
"Shut up!" He continued clashing his blade with her claw. "You made me believe that you actually cared about me! You made me reveal my secrets, my insecurities. You made me trust you, love you, and worry for you, all while pretending to be my sister!"
Athyma pushed him away with her claw, making him stumble a few steps back. "But I am your sister, you know. This body came straight out of 'our' mother's womb, and I have inhabited it since it came out of the womb. So technically, I didn't pretend at all."
"You little piece of shit!" Marcus roared, his oathweight surging.
Charlie, whose condition was no better than his son's, glared and hissed back. "A soul inhabits the body while it is still in the womb, whereas a demonic phantom inhabits it when the baby comes out of the womb. You essentially took over our daughter the moment she was born. You stole her from us!"
His sword surged with Vyr as he pointed it at her. "[Holy Strike]!"
He shoved forward. A bright sword-shaped bullet of light zipped forward. It seemed invisible to the naked eye, but to those with perception faster than light, it was clearly visible.
Athyma smirked and merely swatted it away. The bullet of Holy Magic struck the ceiling of the seventh layer, collapsing it further.
The ground beneath them shook as the few remaining soldiers lost their footing, too battered and exhausted even to maintain their balance.
Sierra clicked her tongue. This was going nowhere. She knew that winning a battle of attrition against a spiritual being was an impossibility.
Heck, even the concept of beating a spiritual being in anything was a mere fever dream that died in an instant, yet Sierra's hatred didn't let her quit. It didn't make her retreat.
Instead, she fought. Revenge was all she wanted. Either she got it, or she died trying.
Out of all the people here, she only cared about Augustus. So what if the rest all died? She didn't care one bit.
She raised her hand, and beams of darkness formed from thin air, attacking the blonde woman at once.
Athyma waved her hand, and a layer of a gold hue formed in front of her. The beams of darkness immediately dissolved into nothing upon hitting the hue.
Then, as she smirked, those exact beams shot out from the hue, now made of a golden energy rather than darkness.
Sierra's pupils shrank as she saw the incoming projectiles. Through [Sage Insight], she understood immediately that she couldn't block the attack in any way.
Hence, she dodged. The beams struck the wall at the far end, making the seventh layer collapse further.
"This..." A spiritual being's might was truly unfathomable. She couldn't help but wonder how Athyma was able to reach this realm of power.
Athyma laughed at what just happened. "Smart girl. Your [Sage Insight] is quite useful, isn't it?"
Sierra frowned. Athyma only had [Appraisal], but with her level of power, she wasn't surprised that the technique had better performance than her [Sage Insight].
Athyma, meanwhile, was carefree. Internally, she was taking all factors into account. She had even factored in the possibility of one of her foes evolving into a spiritual being despite how the odds clearly prevented that.
This was why she lied when she said that the ninth layer was also a Spatial Realm. Truth be told, only the eighth layer was a Spatial Realm, while the ninth layer was a Spatial Dimension, which was only somewhat smaller than the Dimension they all currently existed in.
Athyma was an extremely cautious person. If she was treating even these people with a sliver of wariness, then it was obvious why she had prepared a trap like this for Revan.
He seemed too dangerous. She needed to remove him from the equation as soon as possible.
Her eyes narrowed as she suddenly felt a surge of Vyr from above. It wasn't from the broken ceiling, but from outside, out of the entire base. She looked up as a bright light shone.
The layers from the first to the seventh all began to collapse. Athyma snorted, not resisting it. She had already calculated that the attack wouldn't be able to affect the eighth and ninth layers. Revan would remain trapped.
The walls and the ceiling of each floor began to crumble to dust. Everyone was shaken as they looked up... everyone except Charlie, that is.
The king had a faint smirk on his face, his eyes shining coldly. "You aren't the only one who plots and schemes."
Vekas narrowed his eyes as he gazed above. This... Lynera?!
The general would never forget her Vyr signature, and right now, the attack revealed it well.
The ground beneath them also began to crumble as the bright light reached the seventh layer, impacting the whole infrastructure with a devastating force.
With no choice, the royal father-son duo, the semi-spiritual lifeform trio, and Athyma leapt out of the seventh layer, flying all the way to the outside world. Of course, Athyma could remain, but there was no point in that.
Soon, the royal father-son duo landed first. They were quickly approached by a man with brown hair and red eyes. His expression was serious as he accommodated them.
"Your Majesty. Prince Marcus. We came here as soon as we could after receiving your orders." He narrowed his eyes after seeing their condition.
"Good job, Tehrun..." Charlie muttered, placing his hand on Tehrun De Voldero's shoulder to anchor himself without falling.
Marcus stood on his own, but his eyes carried fatigue and sorrow. His lips were pursed as he then turned to the semi-spiritual lifeform trio, who had also arrived. Unlike the father and son, their condition was far more stable.
Vekas wasted no time turning his head to the woman who hovered high in the sky till she looked like a tiny dot. "Lynera!"
He shouted, his eyes wide and sharp.
Upon hearing his voice, Lynera stopped her attack immediately. The seven layers of the dungeon were already destroyed.
"Sir Vekas!" In no time, she stood on the ground, approaching him. "I never once doubted that you were still alive!" She smiled, her gaze shining with brilliance.
Vekas nodded. "I had to stay away for a few reasons."
"I understand. We shall talk more about it after this whole fiasco."
But the woman immediately stiffened as the last person emerged from the seventh layer. Athyma stood, staring right at the woman with cold indifference.
"Your attacks have grown stronger, Lynera De Voldero." She spoke flatly, her voice carrying none of her usual softness.
"P-Princess Sofamy?!" Lynera's eyes widened as she took a half-step backwards.
Vekas turned to the princess and frowned. "No, the princess had actually been possessed by a demonic phantom named Athyma all along."
Lynera gasped at this. Tehrun and other reinforcements—all the hundreds of soldiers, majors, and captains who had already dealt with the other rebel bases—sharply turned their heads at the general.
"It is true..." Charlie spoke in a faint, weak voice. Marcus clicked his tongue and glared at the woman whom he had always thought of as his sister.
All the people there stiffened, their hair standing on edge. If the king was admitting this, then there was no doubt about it. It seemed impossible, yet Athyma's attitude, Vekas's explanation, and the king's response to it made it clear.
Athyma laughed. "You all are geniuses upon geniuses, yet you couldn't even realise that you all were pawns on my board."
Her eyes shone coldly as the air trembled. No, not just air, but the sky, the ground, the buildings, the people, the very Vyr; everything around them trembled as she unleashed less than a fraction of her oathweight.
Buildings began to collapse. Trenches began to form on the ground, and soldiers felt that their hearts would burst from the pressure.
"Y-You!" Lynera growled, barely stabilising herself.
Athyma smirked. "That attack you used, [Lighting Heaven], was it? It's a pretty strong attack for a Vyr Sage."
She laughed softly. "Don't think I missed your evolution to a semi-spiritual lifeform, Lynera De Voldero."
Everyone turned their heads at Lynera sharply. No one had known that she had evolved into a semi-spiritual lifeform... no one except Vekas, that is.
She clicked her tongue. "This oathweight... you seem beyond even a semi-spiritual lifeform."
"She's a spiritual being."
Upon hearing Vekas's words, the air seemed to have died as a cold chill ran through everyone. The pressure from Athyma's weight was now not only agonising, but understandable, which made it all the more dreadful.
"B-But... why did she come out of the rebels' main headquarters?" Tehrun asked, his voice strained from the pressure of the oathweight.
Before anyone could reply, Athyma laughed. "Hehehe, it is because I was the grandmaster of the rebellion, you know..."
"What?!" All the ones who weren't there collectively gasped in shock.
Not only did this demonic phantom pose as their princess, but she was also leading the rebellion they were struggling against?
It was unthinkable! It was blasphemous! It was shocking!
Everyone grew still, as if processing her words.
Finally, Lynera found her voice after a few minutes. "But then... why even start the rebellion? You didn't need to do any of this as a spiritual being. You didn't even need to change the regime; you already had so much authority as the princess."
Everyone's minds grew alert at this. Those who survived fighting in the seventh layer—the royal duo and the semi-spiritual lifeform trio—recalled how Revan tried asking this as well before being sent to the ninth layer.
In fact, even though the seventh layer had collapsed and the remaining injured soldiers had also perished as collateral there, the last two layers were still intact and were in the form of a black void that couldn't be touched or phased through.
Athyma tilted her head. "As expected of Karun De Voldero's daughter; you are an astute person, Lynera De Voldero. I wanted to create a whole new system, you see. One that would be solely beneficial to me alone. A republic would obviously not be a perfect system, but that is not what I want either. I want a system that relies on me, respects me, follows me, and worships me."
She chuckled darkly. "I want my influence to spread beyond forced servitude. Such a thing is unreliable in a world where even the weakest bastard can rise to the top. I want to make sure my subjects are loyal to me and me alone. After Aethelgard, my target would be the rest of Varkana."
Everyone was speechless at her words. She wanted global domination, not just control over Aethelgard. At this moment, she seemed like an evil entity straight out of the depths of hell that looked too beautiful for her nature.
"It's too bad that this Revan fellow appeared. Not just that, but Sierra and Augustus caught on to me as well. I knew I couldn't continue my plan silently with these three involved, so I chose the other method." She sighed. It seemed like a genuine disappointment.
But her eyes shone the next moment coldly. "I shall force my rule upon you all!"
Everyone flinched visibly at this. These were the words of a spiritual being. How could they not take them seriously?
Sierra glared at her and charged her blade with Vyr. "I don't care about the kingdom, but don't think for a second that you're achieving anything with me around."
She jumped up several moriils high from the ground. As she dived at the blonde woman, Athyma didn't feel apprehensive in the slightest. Instead, she raised her claw finger.
"[Beam of Purity]." She muttered as a huge beam of pure Agma shot upward.
Sierra's pupils shrank as she used [Spatial Manipulation] to move her body aside, leaving the trajectory of the attack as it shot past her.
Then, it crashed. Not on the surface of Varkana, but on one of its moons. The moon immediately crumbled to dust before anyone could react.
"T-The Tasirat Moon!"
"In one attack?!"
Everyone felt their breath stolen away. How? What? Is this the power of a spiritual being?
Destroying moons wasn't unheard of. In fact, this wasn't the first moon of Varkana that had been destroyed before. Yet, never before was one destroyed with just one hit.
Sierra landed further from Athyma on the ground, her eyes narrowed. Her body was shaking from slight dread as she thought of what would happen if she were to tank such an attack. Sure, she would've survived, but the result would have been ugly nonetheless.
And yet, Athyma had unleashed it so casually.
The demonic spiritual being in question snorted. "You are quick on your feet."
She raised her hand to—
BOOM!
SHATTER!!
The eighth and ninth layers shone in a bright light as a loud sound was heard. The layers then shattered into countless fragments as a silhouette rose with his arms spread wide slightly. He appeared ethereal as he rose from the depths and appeared before them.
Looking closely, a small, faint smile could be seen on his face.
"Well, what did I miss?"