Booooooommmm!

A loud explosion rang out as the bombs detonated. He could feel the tremor even from space as the planet quaked, a bottomless pit opening thousands of miles wide.

The brief release of energy was so immense that even a planetary-realm being would have been annihilated instantly.

The sharp-browed man gulped, his eyes unfocused.

Although this attack could have killed him, he wasn't the target—the forefather was.

Could such an attack even harm a forefather? A being above Rank 1…

The sharp-browed man floated downward, gazing at the abyss that stretched deep into the planet's core.

All the bodies, warships, forests, land, everything he had once seen was now gone, disintegrated into the smallest atoms by the explosion.

Everything was gone… except one.

The sharp-browed man froze.

"Impossible… impossible…" he muttered.

It felt as if his mind was playing tricks on him. There, floating calmly above the chasm, was the forefather—alive, unscathed, and utterly serene.

"So… you finally decided to show up?" the forefather said, fixing his gaze on the sharp-browed man.

The man paused, disbelief written all over his face.

"Though I wanted to ask… why didn't you leave? What made you stay? A sense of justice? For the greater good?" the forefather asked with genuine curiosity.

The man swallowed hard and spoke:

"If mortals could give their all to fight against you, knowing it was futile… then what about me? Their leader? Would I simply abandon them?"

The forefather nodded in acknowledgment.

Then—

Shiiisss…

The sharp-browed man's head was sliced clean off, and his body instantly disintegrated into energy, swallowed by the forefather.

"Foolishness," the forefather commented as he waved his hand.

In the same instant, the remaining planet, along with every living creature, was turned into energy and consumed.

Middle-level Rank 3…

Seeing this, the forefather nodded to himself. He was well on his way to regaining his full power.

---

At the Federation

At the royal mansion, news kept arriving, each report leaving Caius more drained than the last.

Headaches throbbed in his head as he struggled to process it all.

In short, the forefathers had revealed themselves and showed a glimpse of their plan as they were devouring planets and even entire galaxies.

Worse, they targeted mortals exclusively, killing only those Rank 1 and above who dared oppose them.

The first waves of Rank 2 and Rank 3 beings sent against them had all been wiped out. After all, the forefathers were not ordinary Rank 3 beings—they were quasi-Rank 4, with vastly superior experience and combat abilities.

"Your Majesty… what should we do?" someone finally asked, sensing Caius's exhaustion.

His body was stressed, and he had visibly lost weight.

"Is that the question? Or… what can we even do?" Caius asked with a heavy sigh, noting the others' bowed heads.

"For now, just gather our forces. There's nothing else we can do. Also, try to reason with the other organizations—they're affected too. I'll see if I can talk with Dreadborne," he said, and everyone got to work.

"I can't believe I have to go back to them…" Caius muttered, thinking of Dreadborne. The headache returned, but they were all in the same multi universe. They couldn't simply sit by.

Caius called Darius and a few guards. Their destination: the Dreadborne headquarters.

After a few days of travel by spaceship, they arrived.

In the Dreadborne meeting room, Linkir and the others were present, watching Caius and Darius.

"Hmm… what brings you here, King?" Linkir asked leisurely.

Caius looked at her smile, feeling frozen. To him, it wasn't beautiful, it was demonic. Dangerous.

But he was a king. His people came first.

"I came regarding the forefathers' attacks. They are harming all mortals in our multi universe. Why don't we cooperate and take them down together?" Caius said. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Linkir sneered.

"Take care of who? From what I see, only the Federation and its military are affected. The other organizations are perfectly fine," she said, rolling her eyes.

Caius sighed. He had expected this. All these organizations were the same: eager to claim benefits when convenient, yet quick to back out when things got serious.

"Do you think it won't affect you?" Darius suddenly spoke, anger barely restrained. He had long despised these organizations, especially Dreadborne, who had used his brother's name for gain.

"It won't. There are no mortals in our ranks," Linkir said after a pause, nodding faintly with a smile.

Bam!

Darius slammed the table, his eyes cold and indifferent.

"You and the others enjoyed the Federation's benefits, the resources of mortals. If we discovered anything, we shared it with you. Even when Dreadborne was killing recklessly, we allowed it.

Now that we need help, you back out?" Darius asked through gritted teeth.

"Correct," Linkir said with a chuckle, resting her chin on her palm.

Darius hadn't expected her to be this shameless. He clenched his fist.

"Do you think the Federation is a joke? A slave for you and the other organizations to exploit?" he asked, his aura rising.

Very soon, his Quasi-Rank 4 aura flared as he stared Linkir down, unwavering.

Linkir merely smiled, glancing at Caius.

"I assumed this was a discussion... yet it seems otherwise."

"Your dog is barking and ready to bite… yet you didn't train him well enough," Linkir said, shaking her head in disappointment.

That was the final straw. Darius stretched out his palm, ready to strike.

But Linkir didn't even flinch. She watched calmly.

Boom.

Darius felt his hand collide with an unimaginable force. His wrist shattered instantly. A Quasi-Rank 4 aura locked onto him, slowing his body and nearly closing his eyes as his soul began to drain.

His eyes widened as he glanced at the calm man beside Linkir—the one who had stood at one point in time.

"I would advise you not to do this again, or I may interpret it as an attack… and annihilate you," Alayot said calmly. Now in his human form, he resembled a refined scholar, speaking with measured precision.

He casually took his seat as Darius felt his body return to normal—but with a broken wrist.

Caius gulped from the side, horror written across his face.