Empyrean. The Grand Council Hall.
The chamber was a testament to absolute power.
It was a delight to see, if one could withstand the sheer pressure of standing inside it. From the polished obsidian floor to the ceiling painted with the history of the cosmos, everything was royal and regal. At the center of the hall sat a huge, round table made of a white stone that seemed to hum with its own energy.
And sitting around that table were monsters.
They were amongst the strongest cultivators the Three Worlds had ever seen.
There was Rakumtatak, The Ogre Emperor. An orc blessed with power beyond measure, his muscles bulging like boulders under his heavy armor. He sat with a sprawling arrogance, claiming to be the rival of the Zodiac Emperor himself. His breathing alone sounded like a bellows fanning a war-fire.
Across from him sat Elandril, The Elven Emperor. He was a vision of ageless grace, a good friend of Lyon back in their youth days, before the two of them ascended the Zenith Realm—the highest cultivation realm one could attain. His silver hair flowed like liquid starlight, framing a face that was handsome, sharp, and eternally young. Beside him stood his daughter, Yala, a young elf whose beauty rivaled the dawn, though she looked nervous in such company.
The Pillars—Ian, Liu, and Assid—stood at attention near the walls, their presence silent but undeniable.
Cecile was obviously there, radiating the aura of a War God in repose. Selena sat beside her, her presence cold and sharp as a blade. However, Maria was nowhere to be seen.
And finally, Aleysius. Lyon's father. The First Torga. He sat with the relaxed posture of a middle-aged man about to retire from his retirement. He looked to the side, catching the eyes of his three grandsons who were standing awkwardly near the entrance, and offered them a warm, grandfatherly smile.
"Alright," Cecile said.
She didn't shout, but her voice commanded the atmosphere like she wore it as a glove. She stood up, and the room went silent.
"Let's begin this gathering. Just in case anyone is living inside a cave or traveling with their eyes closed, the Three Worlds are being invaded by an unknown assailant."
"Bah!" Rakumtatak slammed his fist on the table, leaving no dent on the divine stone. "Just kill them, and be done with it! Why the meeting?"
"We did," answered Cecile, her eyes narrowing. "However, they keep coming. From random directions. There is no front line."
Elandril leaned in, his majestic silver hair shifting like silk. "I've heard the stories. My kingdom is facing the same issues. They were patternless. Three portals popped up in the Hell Realm alone."
"Lyon," Aleysius spoke up, his voice calm. "Have you contacted Simak?"
Uncle Simak? Lexel thought, shifting on his feet. He remembered the stories of the terrifying Ghost Emperor.
Lyon shook his head. "I was busy teaching the boys... something important. And after my meetings with Yggdrasil... it's hard to contact him without him wanting to contact us."
"The World Tree," Rakumtatak grunted. "Did that old root have something to do with this? We should have axed that tree and made a bonfire out of it eons ago."
"I appreciate your gesture," Cecile said dryly. "However, it is best if we hear from my husband the result of the meetings."
All eyes turned to Lyon. The Zodiac Emperor leaned forward, his expression serious.
"Alright," Lyon nodded. His eyes sharpened. "Yggdrasil has nothing to do with the current phenomena."
"Are you sure?" Aleysius asked, raising a brow. "That thing is older than me. It has its own schemes."
"I'm sure," Lyon said firmly. "At least, that tree won't gain anything if they invade. Because... they use a different source of power to fight us."
Elandril crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair. "I've heard that. My scouts reported it. They don't do any Cultivation. They don't understand the Realm at all. It's... baffling."
"Correct," Lyon nodded. "What they use is a System. A leveling system. It's a war between two entirely different powers. Two entirely different... genres."
"It seems that you have some knowledge about this, my friend," Elandril noted, his elf eyes piercing him.
"Well, I wasn't sure about it before," Lyon admitted. He glanced at his sons. "But after speaking to my boys... I am certain about what it is that we are fighting."
He stood up and walked around the table. "As cultivators, we absorb the energy around us through the channeling of our meridians. Some have one channel. The talented ones have two. I have three, hehe."
Yala, the elf princess, and the three boys had their mouths twitch at the sudden brag.
"But that's not important," Lyon waved his hand. "The important part is how they get stronger. It is not by fighting or meditating. It is by killing and completing quests."
He looked around the table, welcoming the confused looks about the RPG terminologies.
"Don't ask," he cut them off before Rakumtatak could speak. "Just accept it. I'm not having a week's worth of lecture about RPG again."
Lexel, Seleron, and Myda shuddered simultaneously.
"This is too complicated," Rakumtatak growled. "Why don't we just enter the portal? Invade them instead? Crush their 'System' with our fists?"
"That's a bad move," Selena said. Her voice dropped the temperature in the room by ten degrees.
"Why?"
"Even though that place looks like ours," Selena explained, "the foundation was not the same. You can't sense their cultivation level because they don't have one. But that's not all."
She frowned, a memory of the rescue mission darkening her face. "When we were saving our children, we got the chance to step inside that world. And... it's not a pleasant experience. Breathing that air."
Cecile nodded in agreement. "Whatever it is, it was as if the world itself rejects us. You won't move as freely. The pressure is constant. And you will have to use your own cultivation to perform your arts and magics, which, as we know, will impact our cultivation level. It drains us just to exist there."
Lexel blinked. He looked at Seleron. Seleron looked at Myda.
Rejects us? Lexel thought. Hard to move?
The feeling that both their mothers had described... was false. At least to them.
They hadn't felt any pressure. They hadn't felt drained. When they were thrown through the portal, aside from the pain of their meridians breaking, the air had felt... normal. They could move freely. Breathe freely.
Well, if they didn't count being in bondage.
Why? Lexel wondered. Why are we different?
Lyon nodded at his wives. "That's correct. So, Rakumtatak, I won't stop you from going into the portal and pulverizing them. But this place is unknown. And they surely have a powerful being that might rival us Zenith Realm cultivators. An equivalent, if you will."
Rakumtatak smirked, his tusks glinting. "What you gave me just now... it's an invitation, not a warning."
Lyon smirked back. "I know. But it's best that you don't stay in that world for too long."
"The portal will close without any warning," Cecile added, her voice grim. "We have yet to find the trigger of the closing. So far, it's time-based, and it's not long enough for us to comb the entire world. We have no map. Nothing."
"Tch!" Rakumtatak clicked his tongue. "So the choice we have is just... search and destroy? Defense?"
"That's not bad, but for how long?" Elandril asked, worry creasing his brow. "Surely we cannot keep up if they keep coming at random places."
"I asked Luce and her seers to locate the portals as soon as they could," Lyon said proudly. "That's why we host those pretty girls here in Empyrean."
He coughed. "But also, because Harvestasya and Maria are the only ones so far that could utilize teleportation magic to intercept them. Oh, and me of course."
"That didn't answer my first question," Elandril pressed. "We need an offense."
"Well," Lyon sighed. The smirk vanished. He looked down at the table. "I have a plan that... with a heavy heart, I must say."
He stood up straighter. Cecile was looking at him, her expression unreadable. Selena was looking at him, her eyes soft but sad.
"What is it?" asked Aleysius.
"Yggdrasil," Lyon said. "It can connect to that world with its massive dimensional root. It could create a portal to their world. A stable one. Just like how it connected Heaven and Hell to the Mortal World."
"But you said that we shouldn't venture into that world for too long," Rakumtatak argued. "The rejection. The drain."
"I did," said Lyon.
"Then—"
"It's not us, Tatak," Lyon cut him off. His voice was quiet, but it echoed in the silence of the hall. "It's not my time to be adventuring again."
He turned his head. He looked toward the entrance. Toward his boys.
"It's theirs."
Lexel, standing in the middle, felt his heart stop. His pupils shrunk to a dot. Beside him, Myda and Seleron froze.
The eyes of the Zenith Realm Emperors—the strongest beings in existence—all turned to look at the three Level 1 youths.