Chapter 875: The next step
There was a massive tower in the Exilion World, rising kilometers into the air until it seemed to pierce the heavens themselves. Its peak vanished into the highest skies, a structure so immense that it was visible across entire continents.
This was no ordinary fortress. The tower’s colossal walls were forged from Legendary-Tier metals, their strength enough to withstand sieges that would reduce other citadels to rubble. Every inch of its surface was covered in intricate engravings—arcane runes and protective sigils wrought by Superior-Tier alchemy. These weren’t mere decorations but channels of power, inscriptions capable of harnessing divine energy and bending it into forms of destruction or defense.
The tower’s might was such that even a Superior Legend, should they be foolish enough to defy it, could be annihilated by its unleashed wrath. It was, without doubt, the most powerful structure in the world, a feat of engineering and sorcery that had required unimaginable wealth and effort to create.
At its summit rested a grand statue: a blazing sun, within which was the figure of a man. The effigy constantly drew beams of Divine Power into itself, acting as a living lightning rod for the faith of billions. Across the world, prayers rose upward like rivers of light, converging upon that sun-statue, where their accumulated force was absorbed and transformed.
This was the Exilion–Xaos Tower, the supreme command center of the Xaos Kingdom in the Exilion World. Here, divine power was gathered, refined, and transformed into fuel for countless creations. Here, strategies were coordinated, faith was weaponized, and the tower’s scanning fields swept across the world, detecting intrusions before they could take root.
It was the beating heart of the Xaos Kingdom’s dominion over Exilion. And now, at its highest level, within a chamber of crystalline light and heavy silence, the most powerful figures of the realm were assembled. Present were the Dukes of Exilion, the World Lord himself, and Vlad, whose gaze was as solemn as the atmosphere around him.
They all knew the truth: the age of peace was over. Though they had not yet been told the full extent of the threat, every man and woman in the chamber felt it in their bones. War loomed near.
For weeks, the factories of Terra and Exilion had operated at full capacity, their forges spewing forth weapons and armor of unprecedented quality. Soldiers had been drilled relentlessly, their bodies hardened, their minds sharpened. Legendary resources had been distributed, and armor had been refined.
Yet confusion lingered. The soldiers and commanders alike understood that war was coming—but they did not yet grasp its scope. To them, the Xaos Kingdom’s conquests had seemed contained to Exilion. None knew the deeper truth. Until now.
Vlad drew in a long breath, then stepped forward. His voice cut across the chamber like a blade.
"The conquest of Exilion was not an end in itself. It was but one step in a far greater war. We did not come here merely to strip a world from the Zanis Family. We are part of a grand campaign, led by the Graecia Emperor himself, with a single purpose—the eradication of the Zanis Family and the destruction of their Homeworld."
Shock rippled through the chamber. Even the hardened generals who had seen decades of bloodshed faltered.
The Zanis Family was one of the pillars of the Graecia Empire, a dynasty that controlled a third of its trade and commerce. To speak of erasing them was akin to severing the empire’s own arm. For a moment, disbelief colored every face.
But Vlad was not finished. His eyes grew sharper, his tone darker.
"We strike because the Zanis Family has become a vessel for the True Enemy. You all saw it—the thing that blotted out the sky and nearly consumed us in an eternal nightmare. The Zanis have given themselves over to that force."
He did not speak a name. He did not utter a race or title. Even now, such details were beyond Vlad’s knowledge. But his description was enough. Every person in that chamber remembered the terror. The nightmare sky that replaced the heavens, the suffocating dread that threatened to devour their souls.
A hush fell over the assembly. Doubt evaporated. Fear was transmuted into fury.
If the Zanis Family had indeed become pawns of that nightmare power, then their extermination was no longer a matter of politics or greed—it was survival.
The Xaos Kingdom represented order, growth, civilization, and peace. The nightmare universe’s kin represented only entropy, the unmaking of all things, the birth of chaos without end. No diplomacy could exist between them. No treaties could bridge that abyss. Only one could survive, and it had to be them.
Vlad allowed himself a small smile. Determination now blazed in the eyes of the council. Even the Cezar, Exilion’s World Lord, and the Exilon Dukes who would never normally sanction war beyond their lands, nodded in agreement.
They would never have supported a campaign of conquest born from greed, as their people had already seen enough suffering. But if the goal was to strike at the nightmare’s kin, then their hearts aligned fully with the cause.
Unity. Purpose. The council was of one will.
Vlad nodded, then turned to the A.I. Chip Clone. Overlord stepped forward, his form gleaming with radiant energy, eyes aglow like stars. When he spoke, his voice reverberated with authority.
"All Legendary Lifeforms of the Xaos Kingdom will depart this day. The defense of this world will fall to you. I will leave behind a program detailing the critical steps that must be followed to ensure stability and advancement."
His gaze swept across the chamber, pinning each figure like a predator fixing its prey.
"From this point forward, Grand Marshal Anglius, Chief Conqueror Alonz, and World Lord Cezar shall form the triumvirate of command. Their authority is absolute. Through them, our people shall advance and be prepared for the next war."
The words struck like a hammer. There was no dissent, no hesitation. The leaders of Exilion bowed their heads in acknowledgement, accepting the burden laid upon them.