The President of Demacry sat within a large office, going over the day’s paperwork. Over the last several hundred years, the world had shifted in a rather drastic way, but several core values remained the same. The elves who had been thrust into the world of cultivation could only do their best to keep up with these changes.

The old research-based meritocracy had been abolished as the nation was forced to devote more and more of its resources to understanding the fundamental laws that had been altered in the world. Now, the world was governed by a true democracy, a body of individuals elected by the entire nation. However, there were certain restrictions on who could sit in the top seat.

The most notable of these restrictions was that the president could not be an active cultivator. This was to ensure that the president would not be swayed by any wealth of special materials or knowledge that appeared, that they could be seen as just another person, so anyone could strive for the position. Instead, they were assigned a retinue of powerful guards that would constantly protect them.

The current president had held her position for over one hundred years, and her term would soon be coming to a close. She, like her predecessor, had not yet managed to see the end of the global research endeavor that the Keeper had requested. After all, it was by no means an easy feat, even if the issue of energy consumption were to be taken care of.

When the president of the time heard the Keeper’s request, brought forward by his servant Tsubaki, he had assumed it would be his chance to bring glory to his people. Given that their world experienced the flow of time fifty times faster than any other, it should have been finished in short order.

However, the magic systems of Spica and Lorek had yet to be fully explored to the extent that they were in the other worlds. Although their stellar magic was indeed powerful, it was ill-suited for large constructs. The people of Lorek had redoubled their efforts in order to find any ruins which contained ancient inheritances, hoping to find some information about arrays.

Although they had made some progress, it was not nearly enough to create a battle-ready warship that could freely battle in space. At least, not to the degree that the Keeper was wanting.

Thus, the president’s term passed without any true progress being made. The next president fared slightly better, being able to see the creation of the shielding array that would protect the ships from stellar storms. However, that was all that was completed in their term.

Finally, the present ruler felt as if she would pass her time in office without any significant contributions towards the assigned task. Although she was skeptical about the ancient ruins of Lorek, she couldn’t help but hope that they would find something incredible. If there truly was an ancient civilization that existed before that world connected to the others, she held some small prayer that their knowledge would soon be discovered.

“Madam President.” One of the Star Guards, the president’s elite troops, appeared at the door to her office. He was a muscular man with crimson hair, his cultivation level too high for the president to sense.

“Yes, Horem?” The president set down the papers in her hands as she noticed her guard, looking inquisitively towards him.

“The Servant of the Keeper wishes to have an audience with you.” When the man said this, the president’s eyes went wide, surprised that such news was being delivered. Although she was the ruler of a nation that spanned an entire planet, her position was still below that of the Keeper’s personal attendant.

“Yes, please see her in.” The president nodded her head quickly, adjusting the papers on her desk to make the office seem a touch more presentable. With a clap of her hand, the windows were closed, the light coming in dimmed by the tinted glass.

Barely a minute later, the Goddess of Light entered the room, offering a polite smile to the president before sitting opposite of her. “Thank you for agreeing to see me on such short notice.” There was a weary look to the woman’s eyes, as if she had gone far too long without a proper rest, and also a strange sense of nervousness about her.

For a moment, the president was worried that Tsubaki’s demeanor meant some impending danger. She tensed up, sitting straight in her chair. “No, thank you for coming. May I ask what this is about?”

Tsubaki offered a small nod, leaning back in her seat as she spoke. “I have been within Lorek for… a long time now, working on the power source for the ships that this world will produce. Earlier today, I finally finished it.”

The president was overjoyed when she heard that. The power source was undoubtedly the most problematic piece of the ship. If it was taken care of, most of the other systems could be created more smoothly, either from technological or magical methods. “That is wonderful news. However… why have you come to report to me?”

“That’s not the reason for my report…” Tsubaki shook her head, rolling her shoulders. “After consulting with the Keeper, I have created ten chambers, five of which are in this world. These chambers are powered by the same source I just mentioned… and will considerably increase the cultivation speed of anyone inside.”

As she spoke, Tsubaki produced a map, where five locations were marked. The president was surprised that Tsubaki performed such an action without consulting anyone, but more than anything she was surprised by the information itself. She was able to create this power source, as well as these chambers… surely she must be more knowledgeable about arrays than anyone from Lorek…

“Lady Tsubaki…” The president hesitated, working up the courage to speak. “Would you be able to contribute your knowledge towards the task that the Keeper left us? Without being able to create advanced arrays, the ship construction has… not been able to make much headway. I fear that as things are, it may be another three hundred years at least, before we are able to see the completion of the first vessel… longer if Lorek’s expeditions do not produce results.”

Tsubaki went quiet for a long moment, before nodding her head. “I’ll speak with the Keeper about this. For now, I would recommend not trying to study the power source too deeply… its energy is highly condensed, and I can’t predict the size of the explosion if it were to be released all at once.”

The president gave a small nod. In truth, she had been planning on having it studied right away. This was the biggest advancement in arrays in over two hundred years! She’d be a fool not to want to understand it. However, with the promise that Tsubaki would speak to the Keeper on their behalf, she held these desires in check. Only if they were unable to get the information they needed would she refuse this request of Tsubaki’s.

“Then, if you’ll excuse me…” Tsubaki slowly stood up, before a flash of light filled the room. When it faded, the Goddess of Light was nowhere to be found.

Back within the Sky Citadel, Dana was lounging on a couch, one leg draped over the side as she browsed the internet via a crystal slab. She was feeling lonely after being away from Tsubaki for so long, as if a part of her was missing. But she knew that it would be far worse for Tsubaki herself, who was staying within one of the accelerated worlds.

It had been two years since the Legion of Allied Worlds had come together to share their schematics. For the first six months of that, Dana had remained in Deckan, overseeing the progress until their power management systems were completed. After that, she returned to the citadel, only planning to make her appearance again when the prototype was ready to receive the reality gems.

This was the longest period of time that she and Tsubaki had been apart, ever since the two of them had first met. Although Dana still dutifully did the chores, and even picked up Tsubaki’s own tasks while she was gone, the Sky Citadel was… empty. The only other person aside from Dana herself was the Keeper, who would only sit on his throne every day.

As she was thinking that, and checking in on the progress of the prototype, she felt a small flicker of energy. Her eyes went wide, and she rolled off the couch to jump to her feet. An excited smile spread across her face as she sensed that approaching torrent of power.

Before she was able to properly react, that energy crashed into the room, colliding with her body and sending her tumbling back into the couch. Dana let out a laugh as she felt a pair of soft arms tightly clinging to her. “Welcome back, Tsuba.” She said with a smile, looking over and seeing the tired look on Tsubaki’s face.

Just from her expression, Dana could tell how hard she had pushed herself to finish the assignment. They both knew that she could have come home at any time, just to see each other for a bit before leaving again. However, that would have only made her work take far longer, and so Tsubaki had endured.

“I missed you…” Tsubaki whispered, surprising Dana. It was unusual for Tsubaki to be that honest with her feelings, but that only went to show how hard it had been.

“I missed you too, Tsuba…” Dana reached up to stroke a hand through the kitsune’s hair to comfort her.

Back in the Admin Room, I let out a relieved sigh when I saw Dana and Tsubaki reunited. Their time apart from one another had not exactly been easy on either of them, and it was something that I had taken note of while keeping tabs on everything. The two of them truly relied on each other as family, serving as emotional supports.

If things had gotten much worse on Tsubaki’s end, I was prepared to order her to take a break. The fact that she had endured for so long was already surprising to me. As it stood, I had no desire to give them separate missions again for the time being. After all, both of them had earned this rest.

“Is everything going alright?” I was surprised by the voice, turning and looking over my shoulder to see Udona walking into the living room. Given that she had been personally overseeing Deckan, it was increasingly more rare to have her socialize in the Admin Room.

Noticing the gaze I sent at her, Udona averted her eyes. “My incarnation is old enough, so I traded places with her today. I don’t think anyone noticed…”

“But… how did they not notice?” I couldn’t help but be confused by that. “You’re a goddess, they should see when you are replaced by a mortal, right?”

Udona simply chuckled at that. “I made sure to have my incarnation ascend first. That’s what took me so long. Once she ascended… she gained all of my domains. Unless there’s an invasion happening, there shouldn’t be much difference between my incarnation and myself. Here’s hoping, anyways.” She crossed her fingers with a small grin, causing me to let out a light laugh.

“Still assuming direct control, though?” I asked, adjusting my view of the world to focus on the Deckan palace.

“Somewhat.” Udona shook her head, walking over to sit next to me. “I’m letting the incarnation grow on her own, but I’m guiding her at the same time. If I just do everything myself, I’m worried that she would be lost once an invasion happens.”

I gave a small nod of understanding at that. “Well, hopefully it won’t be too long before these ships are done. After that, I think everything should be able to calm down until the invasion…”