World Keeper

Chapter 1206: The Star of Destruction

When I heard the report from Tsubaki about the World Tree Guild, I had to admit that I was skeptical. It sounded too good to be true that they just wanted to settle down and convert. According to Dana’s report, there were a large number of universes suspended within the great tree that they had in the void.

This will be a good way to get more information about Sanction’s world. Perhaps, we can get an upper hand on future battles. Especially since, if he finds out about their betrayal, he’ll only be more eager to destroy me. Of course, I knew that it wouldn’t be easy to find out about such things. Unless I said something about the betrayal to someone, Sanction should remain unaware.

As I thought about that, my eyes suddenly widened. There was a possible side-effect to getting these universes. I would have to consult with Terra to make sure, but most likely, if I did obtain one of the universes of the World Tree Guild, it might have Sanction’s full system saved within it.

Of course… that requires the guild to survive this battle. I thought to myself, lowering my head in thought. The Origin of War from the other side hadn’t sent another attack at me yet, and I didn’t know when to expect a full offensive. If any of the other parties discovered the guild’s betrayal, they might even band together to ensure that they were able to eliminate the traitor.

“For now, keep getting information from him.” I said aloud, looking over at Tsubaki. “Prioritize asking about how they block perception through fate. I can understand why we can’t scry on the hermit, but we should be able to observe the others.”

Tsubaki nodded her head firmly, and seemed to be relaying the request. “According to the monarch, this is a privacy system that all upper-ranked guilds typically purchase to protect the universes under their control. There are a limited number of upgrades that they can buy for their worlds, but the privacy upgrade is a common choice.”

Hearing those words, I widened my eyes. “How many upgrade slots are there?” If I was right, then…

“There are five, my Keeper.” Tsubaki answered almost immediately. “According to the monarch, each universe has a total of five upgrade slots that the guilds can use.”

That’s it. I thought to myself. These ‘upgrades’ should be the auxiliary cores, like our virtual world. If you add the five available slots together with the basic four that worlds typically come with, you have a total of nine. The fact that five slots is the limit probably indicates that you really can’t have more than nine cores per world.

“Once this invasion’s over, we will need to study one of those worlds. Maybe we can reverse engineer the privacy ‘upgrade’.” I spoke aloud, before looking at Dana. “Any movement from either the enemy Origin, or the forces in the void?”

Dana shook her head, her eyes narrowed. “I can’t sense anything from the Origin. Most likely, he purchased one of those upgrades for his own internal world. As for the forces in the void, it was mostly a probing attack. They pulled back after a brief engagement.”

We needed to make some progress quickly. There were too many enemies that we had to deal with. Even though we knew where most of them were, we couldn’t openly attack them without leaving ourselves vulnerable for the other forces to attack. “Tsubaki, ask the monarch about the other upgrades that the big guilds usually buy. That will help use understand what we will be dealing with.”

Shortly after I said that, Dana’s eyes widened. “Sir, movement from the Five Nations Guild. The structure containing their universes seems to be rotating. I can see a large amount of energy being siphoned from the five universes within the structure.”

Tsubaki hurriedly spoke up, interjecting. “The monarch just mentioned this. He said that it is the superweapon of the Five Nations Guild, a void cannon.”

Dana grit her teeth. “It’s being aimed at Kione.”

“Intercept the attack if you think you can do so safely.” I instructed. “If you feel like your main body will face a backlash from the attack… just do what you can.”

As I said that, I closed my eyes, projecting my sight into the void. There, I could see a structure with five evenly spaced arms, each arm containing an entire universe at the end. A massive amount of energy could be visibly seen siphoning from those universes, forming a vortex in the center.

Elsewhere, Dana stood before another universe, a black whip in her hand. She looked ready to face the assault straight-on, and was gathering a black substance in her free hand.

When the blast shot out, it was a beam of pure, white light that pierced through the void. Dana extended her hand to create a black shield, placing it in the path of the beam. For a moment, I thought that the shield would hold, and that she would manage to absorb the attack. However, the Dana in front of me hissed in pain as the shield shattered, and her avatar was destroyed. The remainder of the blast pierced past her, smashing into the void shields around Kione.

These barriers didn’t last much longer than Dana’s shield, shattering almost as soon as they were struck. Then, the world itself seemed to implode with white light, leaving me stunned.

My eyes opened wide, trembling as I saw the utter destruction of one of my universes. I had lost Sher Dien in the battle against DarkestNight, but that was due to a single, massive entity that essentially consumed the universe from within. This was one shot of a superweapon, and a universe was instantly erased.

“I thought… that they were aiming to conquer, not annihilate?” I asked, looking towards Tsubaki. She closed her eyes, seeming to be relaying the question.

“According to the monarch… the policy of the Five Nations Guild is to destroy the Keeper with overwhelming force, and then sell whatever worlds are left after the battle.” She said, shaking her head. “However, the Star of Destruction can only be fired once per day, because the universes need time to replenish their basic energy.”

That was good news, I supposed. But, if they were trying to target me, why did they go after Kione?

“Reporting a direct hit. Enemy universe obliterated.” A woman with red hair spoke up, saluting the figure sitting on a gilded throne before her. This figure was a slender woman with long, black hair and golden eyes, wearing a red jacket and form-fitting black pants.

“I see.” The figure spoke up casually. “It would appear that the war has not ended yet. Once the energy supply is recharged, prepare to fire at the next target.”

On the screen in front of her, there were four universes displayed. One of them was slowly erased from the screen, leaving only three remaining. “It’s rare for so many people to withstand my Kingslaying Blade. I wonder which one has the target…”

After entering this dungeon, the Master of War launched one of her signature abilities, targeting each enemy world. This ability manifested a blade of unparalleled power, which was meant to be a certain-kill technique against the highest figure of authority within that universe. It was not surprising for an administrator to be able to block the strike, as they all had their own special methods. However, for three others to be able to withstand it as well, she wasn’t certain which universe held the administrator.

Thankfully, it was only a matter of time until the answer was discovered. The Star of Destruction was fueled by the full power of five universes. Even a strong master would not be capable of saving a universe targeted by their superweapon.

Of course, forcibly drawing the energy from the five universes left them weakened, but the Star also saved enough energy to protect them during that period. This was the source of the Five Nations Guild’s pride, and their overwhelming power. “Keep an eye on those eyeball freaks.” The Master of War said in a voice of disdain. “Make sure that they don’t try anything.”

The Thousand Eyes Guild was one of the few that could truly annoy the Five Nations, because their memetic attacks were something of a weakness to the Star of Destruction when it was in its reloading phase. This was why they always deployed numerous troops to contend with the enemy guild, ensuring that they didn’t have the freedom to attack whenever both were sent to the same raid.

“Understood, Master!” The woman said with another firm salute. She turned around, leaving the Master of War behind as she went to carry out her orders.

Within a world of shadows, the Master of Darkness chuckled to himself. He stared at a black citadel taking shape, rising from the endless darkness. “What luck we have, to be sent to a world of distorted time. Once the Black Cathedral has been completed, I’ll have to find the young Master of Darkness I sensed earlier. Her essence should be quite delicious.” He said with an eerie laugh, licking his lips.

He had fought numerous other Masters in his time, and had even managed to absorb the powers of other Masters of Darkness. Every time he consumed another of the same type as himself, he felt his inner universe growing stronger. It was an almost addicting sensation. At times, he had even tricked his own followers into becoming a Master of Darkness, just so that he could consume them.

Aznod stood beside Udona’s throne, one of his cooking knives in his hands. He kept looking up at the hole in the ceiling, as if expecting another blade to descend towards Udona. Udona, meanwhile, had long since gone pale when she sensed the destruction of Kione. As the Goddess of Life, she felt the universe crumble deep within her soul, all of those lives simply snuffed out of existence. Even without the connection to her true self in the Admin Room, she had a deep connection with life itself.

I hope at least Clover and Lydia were able to get out in time. She thought to herself. It was wrong of her to prioritize just two lives in the face of an entire universe, but Clover had been born as an aspect of the Keeper. As she knew that Accalia’s incarnation would be at Olympus right now, the beings that she most cared for of Kione were those two.

If this has to do with that sword strike from before, then the next target should either be myself, Dale, or the High Mother. After the first sword strike, she immediately checked to look into other high-profile deaths that occurred at the same time, and found that several leading figures in various universes had been slaughtered all at once. Only those four figures had managed to escape the attack. It seemed like too much of a coincidence for the enemy’s superweapon to be aimed at the universe of one of those four survivors.

“Aznod… send a message to the Keeper. Inform about the attack on us, and other universe-level figures. Let him know that the next attack should be directed at either Deckan, Earth, or the Metong universe. Afterwards, warn the High Mother as well. We will need to prepare for a worst case scenario, if we can’t get rid of that weapon.”

Aznod gave a firm nod at those words, stepping away to send the messages. At the same time, Udona closed her eyes and focused. What would my main body do if she were here? Would she step forward and sap the life out of one of the enemy universes? There are so many enemies to fight, I don’t know if even the Greater Pantheon could exert divinity on that scale.

Udona bit her lip gently, unsure of what she should do in this moment. She was confident that her strength would be able to destroy at least a few universes, but that wouldn’t be enough to make a significant difference in this battle.