All those with knowledge of relevant information in Holy Cas were equally tense.
Especially the accompanying troops.
With even the Crown Clan on high alert, it was difficult for them not to be nervous.
Meanwhile, the Gesen Empire’s patrol mecha squad received orders and immediately leveled their cannons at the Holy Cas starship.
In their eyes, the Holy Cas starship was just a battered, strange object. In this star sector, the strongest fighting power was the mecha: not only could they be fitted with powerful weapons, but their agility surpassed any large starship, giving them overwhelming mobility.
So these battered starships, though unfamiliar in design, were surely of little better quality than the rest.
Their mechas could simply outmaneuver and finish them off with ease.
Besides, that peculiar and unfamiliar fleet seemed busy calibrating itself. Their comms system appeared quite different, and when the connection was finally made, it crackled with static.
“Leave the survival match area at once. We’re here to drive you out by order. You’re already half a day late. The door to the survival match is closed to you. No matter what backwater country you’re from, get out of here immediately!”
“Hahaha, a small country is a small country. At that pace you wouldn’t make any ranking, even if you joined. And so many starships—each so big—did you bring the whole country?”
“Get yourselves to the hunting zone and wait it out, you worthless weaklings. You’re perfect as aberrant beast fodder.”
Holy Cas advance team: ?
They’d already noticed the hostile stance when the unknown squad pointed what seemed to be weaponry at them. The animosity was so thick it was hard to tell if this was a standard expulsion or something quite deliberate.
No one had expected words like these once the comms connected.
The language was still standard across sectors—communication was not the problem.
But—
Had anyone in Holy Cas ever heard such brazen arrogance?
Though led by the Crown Clan and thus not lacking in pride, explicit, glaring malice like this was something entirely new.
Hearing all this suddenly had a weird freshness to it.
“Survival match? Aberrant beasts?”
In the advance team, people exchanged looks, unsure how to respond.
They recognized the words—the combination just didn’t make any sense.
Who’s holding a survival match?
Because resources are limited, humans must compete for territory? The weak are thrown to the beasts?
No matter how they tried to anticipate, Holy Cas could never have imagined how twisted things had become here.
Much less the extent to which the aberrant beasts had evolved on this side.
They all looked at each other with subtle expressions.
If that was the case, the ones maintaining order here must be the most powerful in this star sector, right?
Yet Holy Cas tried to start with the peaceful route. With the little Highness’s coordinates so close, they grew anxious—they didn’t want to waste time here.
“We’re just here to find someone, not to join your so-called survival match. We won’t encroach on your living space.”
The Gesen mecha squad had expected the others to apologize fearfully and beg for re-entry. This was nothing like they had imagined.
It was as if the other side didn’t even understand what they meant—like talking to air.
“Huh?”
On comms, the Gesen mecha group was puzzled.
“What’s with these guys? Playing dumb on purpose?”
“Well, we’ve given a formal warning. Go ahead.”
“Yeah, there’s a record of the warning. Anyone wants trouble, we’re covered.”
“Haha, exactly—”
So the pilot raised his mecha’s cannon without hesitation, leveling it at the lead Holy Cas starship.
A thin bright light flickered at the muzzle—heavy weapons arming.
Inside the Holy Cas starship.
“No response from the other party. They’ve escalated—they’re extremely hostile.”
“Open the outermost hatch.”
Amos shifted his gaze from his cub’s locational blink and, one hand gripping his psionic longsword, turned and exited the command room.
“Feiman, the rest is yours.”
Feiman straightened up.
She tapped her cap’s brim and, with a flick, revealed her cold and striking features.
“Yes.”
Never in Holy Cas history had an attack failed to be met with reprisal.
Feiman also turned and strode for the exit—so this was this sector’s much-talked-up strength?
“Cannons ready—prepare to defend.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
The Gesen mecha squad attacked. Their rounds whistled toward the Holy Cas starship.
But instead of an explosion, from the battered hull a strange weapon unfolded, a vortex laced with light firing outward to intercept. The two barrages collided midair in an explosion at the halfway mark.
The shockwave sent the Gesen mechas tumbling backward.
“What was that?”
“What did they put on that starship? Some kind of unknown heavy weapon?”
“I dunno. Never heard of a state working on that tech—how’d they block it—”
By now, the Gesen pilots were starting to feel a pang of fear.
At that moment, a figure seemed to fly right by.
Showing no regard, hurrying past them—
By the time they reacted, the figure was gone.
“What just flew past?”
“Dunno, I didn’t see—is it an aberrant beast?”
“What’s going on?”
“Ask them what they did! Quick!”
“Captain, that unknown group closed their comms and left one message—Firing at Holy Cas counts as a declaration of war.”
“Holy Cas? What’s Holy Cas?”
“This is getting weird—”
“Captain, captain… I looked closer at the replay, was that a person who just passed by…?”
“No way. You’re imagining things. No human could survive exposed like that. Impossible.”
Impossible?
“Captain! Look ahead!!”
The Gesen team looked ahead in fright.
There, before the battered, still-advancing starships—
A figure stood, completely unprotected in open space.
A silver-black crown adorned her brow; a long spear in hand; her crown’s light began to burn, and Feiman’s nascent psionic weapon glowed in sync.
Feiman’s scarlet eyes locked onto the mechas, her wings flexed lightly at her back.
“N-no—attack! Attack now!!!”
They fired as one—the signs of imminent cannon fire lit up in Feiman’s pupils.
Feiman drew a slow breath, wings shuddering, spear in hand flickering—sleek and powerful, suddenly at their fore, the spear tip moving like a fish diving into dark water, precise and fluid.
Several booms sounded—
Cannons went silent mid-barrel, forcibly neutralized; several jammed and exploded in the breech, the shock instantly deafening several pilots. One, hit directly, blacked out instantly inside his cockpit.
Feiman hovered overhead.
She looked down with blood-red eyes, her crown shining even brighter.
“Is this also how you treat our cubs? Firing on the Holy Cas starship is tantamount to war with the Crown Clan. As one of the top forces in this sector, I will show you my sincerity.”
Her voice was gentle but chilling—like fresh water striking stone, clear and ice-cold.
“Treat all with caution—never underestimate—”
Feiman murmured, recalling Amos’s words before departing.
Fine—
Feiman’s eyes glowed red.
She’d use over half her psionic power for this first battle—though the opponents were not beasts.
And so—
All that could be heard was a BOOM.
Fragments rained down as Feiman’s psionic blast exploded.
Having so completely annihilated them with her mind, Feiman was left a bit stunned herself.
That whole mecha squad was gone—or rather, turned to debris.
Weren’t they supposed to be so arrogant, so brash?
Feiman gave another look just to be sure.
…Eh?
Just like that?
Holy Cas had arrived fully prepared. Besides in front of little Chu Zao, Feiman’s usual demeanor was cool, steady, unflappable.
Especially when facing the unknown.
Rarely did her features show such dumbfounded confusion.
Uh—
“Second Brother, I think we can go together to pick up—”
She looked at the debris, spear in hand, and gazed in the direction Amos had gone—
Okay.
Amos was already gone.
Well then, best keep up.
Feiman finally turned to the equally speechless Holy Cas soldiers.
“Move out.”
*
The disturbance wasn’t that big, and amidst the general noise of the survival match field, such violence didn’t attract attention.
The Gesen Empire, focused entirely on their own team’s performance, didn’t notice a squad’s signal quietly wink out.
It was simply gone.
Meanwhile, a high-level aberrant beast had already left the area.
Stormdrain was one of the earliest-born aberrant beasts from the pollution.
Nothing particularly odd had happened.
But that psionic pressure made him deeply uncomfortable.
It drove him to leave the area, wings of psychic energy beating anxiously, feathery lashes flickering, uneasy. That strange disquiet.
Stormdrain couldn’t recall the last time he’d felt it.
If forced to say, he predated this star sector itself. He looked out in one last direction—
It was the place all aberrant beasts instinctively feared—deeper in, no matter how strong the pollution, no aberrant beast dared trespass.
Like something terrifying kept them away; though not directly dangerous, even humans of Gesen might venture there, but not the beasts.
They instinctively avoided it.
It was known as the Aberrant Beast Forbidden Zone.
At the heart of savage, concentrated pollution.
Though Flashfire and the rest used to say psionics weren’t so scary, and the forbidden zone wasn’t fearful, one thing was clear: Flashfire never ventured close, either.
And yet, although terrifying, it was said to contain the might for true advancement.
Stormdrain shivered faintly, exhaling as he fixed his gaze.
So strange—
He glanced back at the survival match field.
That bizarre feeling.
That anxiety.
At last, overcome with tension and dread, Stormdrain began marshalling his nearby beast legions, encircling the area.
Then, he pressed on toward the place no beast entered.
Power—
He had to seize new power—
Only with power, he felt, could he feel at ease.
*
Elsewhere in the sector.
Some were watching Holy Cas’s reactions closely.
It had been nearly ten days since the tension began.
Though the authorities had taken pains to lock down news, organizations monitoring Holy Cas noticed something was off.
In a remote corner.
The Hymn Organization’s base—one of their many—housed the top leaders seated at a round table, viewing collected intelligence.
Covering Holy Cas’s recent state.
“Haven’t seen the Dwight family in ages.”
“Holy Cas is tense—did something go wrong?”
“A mishap? Good—let the Crown Clan perish and save us the trouble—”
“Something must have gone wrong.”
The Hymn Organization’s leader at the head of the table smiled faintly.
“Our nearby followers reported—a short bout of chaos at the Holy Cas frontline ten days ago, and the whole nation was extremely tense. Colleagues, see? Waiting brings results.”
For years, the Hymn Organization had been forced to go to ground to avoid the Crown Clan’s wrath.
Still developing, but forced into retreat, waiting the next opening.
Now, that opportunity finally seemed close.
“So how should we seize it?” someone asked, then looked to Chastity.
“True, it needs careful thought, but don’t worry overly.”
Chastity smiled.
“In all our research on the Crown Clan, we discovered someone—someone near that troublesome Crown cub, a person with very unstable psionic power.”
“Who? What?”
“Oh, yes, I have a memory—a Chao…?”
“Chao Huangmu,” Chastity continued.
“He seems to have immortal blood, possibly from the Soul Clan.”
“Soul Clan? Haven’t they died out? Aren’t they only in our labs now?”
“So should we wipe them out, too?”
“No need for concern. This Soul Clan isn’t truly one of the immortals, just an unstable half-breed, so not a real threat. But it could trigger a cascade and serve as a new breakthrough point for us. We know little of the Crown Clan, but the Soul Clan—we know intimately.”
“I see.”
“I’ll prepare accordingly.”
“Though, our personnel are running low.”
Chastity glanced at the depleted organization leaders around.
“Yes, to become one of the Seven Virtues takes too much. Few last. Not to mention that annoying agriculture professor from Holy Cas—they’re expanding influence and it’s getting harder to find members who truly hate the immortals. The previous candidates all failed.”
“But Shenghua is still holding on; she seems fine.”
“Yes, she’s the last. Xi reported she’s been very obedient, recruiting for us again and again. She should be ready for greater responsibility.”
“Is that so?”
Chastity smiled.
“In that case, let’s prepare a grand ceremony for our potential new member.”
“Yes. We shall sing for ‘God.'”
*
Now, in the match field.
Chao Huangmu harnessed his psionic power, leveling a bigger cannon at Ji Yuan, who was retreating rapidly.
To Chao Huangmu, this was merely another big weapon, not so different from the energy guns he previously used.
It channelled his power even better, amplifying its force.
But this made Ji Yuan break out in a cold sweat.
His mecha was clad in Gesen’s top-tier armor.
It could withstand attacks from countless mechas—but this? This power was overwhelming.
Could a mecha really do that?
Ji Yuan was dazed.
But he would die.
That singular thought filled his mind.
He needed to get out.
Even so, a fighter’s instincts kicked in. He hit the mecha ejection switch, exhaled, and shouted at neighboring mechas.
“Only this mecha is a threat. Trash the others and focus fire on this one!”
He dove, rolling from the cockpit.
Little Chu Zao watched this, a bit slow to react.
“Huh? Why’d he roll out?”
Chu Zao awkwardly piloted his mecha.
Feeney, more experienced, watched as the other mechas aimed squarely at the clearly clumsiest operator—Chu Zao.
Though they couldn’t hurt the cub, Feeney wasn’t happy.
Chao Huangmu’s shot blew Ji Yuan’s abandoned mecha to bits.
Suddenly, a barrage rained down on the Sanctuary’s squad.
Chu Zao glanced up; in the sky, a familiar thread of psionic energy shimmered faintly.
“Hm? Baba…?”
At this, Feeney dropped all pretense—
Amos was here?
He’d leave the hard part to Amos now.
Feeney ditched his mecha—
Boom—boom—boom—a string of explosions, as if hitting the mechas, or maybe detonating mid-air, smoke billowing everywhere.
For a moment, no one could see what was happening on the Sanctuary’s side.
Ji Yuan sighed in relief.
He got up, sure he had dealt with the weak Sanctuary group. He drew his weapon and called for a backup mecha.
He looked at Chao Huangmu’s surrounded mecha.
“Take him out! Find his weakness—don’t panic! He’s got to be an amateur. You are Gesen’s bravest warriors—”
Chao Huangmu’s mecha quivered—almost laughed.
“So Third Uncle was just here to intercept these feeble shells?”
Suddenly, through the smoke, a voice called out.
Feeney mused—these folks were even weaker than he’d thought.
Ji Yuan froze, staring at the smoky blur.
A flash, something like a crown.
His mechas made no move. Moments later, they all toppled, each skewered with a burning arrow.
Since when…?
“Uncle aimed for the shells, I aimed for the people. Whoever gets there first wins.”
Another voice. He stepped out of the smoke.
Treading over shattered debris, he drew up in front of Ji Yuan.
What… was this?
And not just Ji Yuan.
Everyone watching this survival match broadcast—cheering or in despair—saw the pretty young man’s face. He smiled as he spoke, sunny, gentle, cheerful even in this carnage.
“Facing Holy Cas, you hold your head too high—I don’t like it.”
Chu Zao’s eyes gleamed, golden crown blazing—his first time using his full psionic force to intimidate. In the midst of swirling smoke, his eyes were shockingly bright, almost terrifying.
Boom—Ji Yuan didn’t even react before the wave of pressure slammed him to the ground.
The wind teased Chu Zao’s curls.
They’d been warned; they hadn’t listened. Now—
One word at a time, Chu Zao spoke. He himself didn’t feel intimidating; with Dad arriving, he didn’t really want to mess with these people any more—he missed his father.
But to others, the scene was something else.
Like the arrogance of a demon king, his words were soft but contemptuous.
“Get. Down. Now.”