“Don’t move!” Dallion said, combining magic with music skills to freeze everyone in their tracks.

Everyone within earshot obeyed the command, freezing in an almost petrified state. The will Dallion exerted on them was stronger than any normal person could endure. Even the few overseers present were unable to react. They were weak compared to the more experienced ones that served the palace and high-nobles, but even so, the achievement was a massive feat.

Eury was a lot less subtle, directly petrifying anyone in a direct line of sight.

Behind them all, Pan seemed to casually stroll along, levitating the crates of rocket bolts behind him.

“No one here,” he said in a calm tone.

“Hiding among overseers?” Euryale asked, carrying a heavy crossbow on each shoulder. “They’re not idiots.”

“Some of them impersonated overseers,” Dallion noted.

The snakes on the gorgon’s head stirred. “Good to know.”

“That’s the way in.” Dallion pointed in the direction of an insignificant road. It didn’t seem remotely heading in the direction of the palace. Everyone that could see the domain spheres could notice the multitude of layers that intersected there. “When we cross it, all hell will break loose.”

It wasn’t just the metalins and people, either. Every item and domain guardian would also attempt to get in their way. After all, the emperor was an empath as well and had centuries to establish trust and fear within everything in his domain.

“Are you sure we don’t need Dark?” Euryale reminded once more.

“No. He’ll only get hurt.” Or worse. “If things start falling from the sky, then maybe he’ll be of some help.”

“You’ve become quite confident.” She smiled. “It suits you.”

In his mind, Dallion returned the smile. There’d been times when he’d longed for such a compliment. Now, it was the warmth coming from the gorgon, more than anything, that made him happy. As the saying went, no matter what happened, at least they’d be together.

“Let’s go.” Summoning all three of his swords, he dashed forward.

The other two followed, keeping a twenty-foot distance. Every now and again, they’d pass by other local inhabitants, freezing them in the process. The fact that they hadn’t come across any copyettes was concerning. Either they had found a way to remain invisible to Pan—something the copyette claimed impossible as a former world conqueror—or they were already in place for their final task. Everyone considered the emperor all-powerful, yet his latest actions made it obvious that not to be the case.

Finally, the domain entrance became visible, like a purple transparent barrier.

REALM INVASION

Purple rectangles filled the air.

DALLION ELAZNI, EURYALE ELAZNI, and [???] have invaded the realm!

“That’s new,” Dallion muttered as he rushed along the familiar streets.

Thanks to his high senses, he had already spotted half a dozen sun gold metalins making their way towards him. Their action was far slower than expected, allowing Dallion to ignore them as he continued towards the palace.

“Just six of them?” Euryale shared her husband’s suspicions.

“The rest must be at the event.” Which means it’s started. “Pan, why can’t the rectangles spot you?”

“We all have our secrets,” the copyette replied. “Just a trick I learned from home.”

“Whatever it is, you better teach it to me after this.”

A massive rune golem statue suddenly emerged from a side street, blocking the way. Purple symbols formed on it, forming the start of a spell. Before it was anywhere near complete, Dallion thrust his harpsisword forward. A spark infused droplet of water flew off the tip of the weapon, hitting the golem straight in the chest. Cracks emerged on the massive stone surface, as if Nox had been in a frenzy.

COMBAT INITIATED

Dallion didn’t stop, following up with a multi-attack.

TERMINAL STRIKE

Dealt damage is increased by 1000%

Purple rectangles flashed, disappearing in fragments of a second. The massive creature crumbled like a shattered pot, letting Dallion run right through it. Chunks of purple stone bounced off as if they were made of cork.

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Trip him! a voice of power said in a language that only guardians would hear.

The emperor had made his first move. Ordering the city itself against Dallion might be considered smart. There was a time when Dallion would have agreed, yet there was one fatal flaw in the plan—it led Dallion to know exactly where the ruler was.

I’m not the one you should be worried about! Dallion responded, rushing in the general direction the empathy voice had come from. The place is full of copyette infiltrators.

The presence of the other empath vanished. It was quickly replaced by waves of hatred emanating from every guardian within the city. Without pause or hesitation, he cast a flight spell, lifting himself from the ground. No sooner had he done so, than several tiles on the road sank in an attempt to trip him up.

“He’s activated the guardians.” Dallion cast a second spell to pull the gorgon off the ground. Pan, on the other hand, had already done so on his own.

Naturally, that didn’t stop tiles and other objects from randomly falling off nearby buildings as if there was a massive storm.

The good news was that from what Dallion could make out, the emperor wasn’t in the palace. The bad news was that he was beyond it. That meant they’d have to dash past the massive structure and attract the attention of every golem, metalin, and overseer.

Had the archbishop foreseen this? It was a distinct possibility and would explain how Dallion had managed to get so far unimpeded. It was also possible that he was focusing all his attention on the emperor himself.

Nobles started emerging from their houses, attracted by the unusual noise going on. All that had the misfortune to look at the approaching trio were promptly petrified.

Guess they weren’t high levels, Dallion thought.

“Careful!” A spell emerged from Pan, covering a large area of the ground.

It was only at that point that Dallion spotted the overseer there. The platinum blond was three feet beneath the ground, wrapped in a reality bubble. The spell that the copyette had cast had trapped him below like a bubble in amber.

“Any copyettes so far?” No longer seeing the need for secrecy, Dallion rose above the town buildings, darting in the direction of the palace.

“None I could sense.”

That was unnerving. They should have spotted at least one by now.

Waves of bladerers filled up the sky, all charging at the invaders. Thousands of blades split the air, their movements as fast as a drop of water sliding down a glass.

The completionist in Dallion called out for him to kill off the pesky constructs and clear the sky before moving on. The pragmatist told him there was no point in doing so. At this level difference, the once dreaded entities couldn’t even be described as annoyances. Neither they nor the spell casting golems on the ground were capable of even slowing him down. In the worst-case scenario, he’d have to evade before launching a lethal counterattack, and that was only if Pan and Eury hadn’t dealt with the matter for him.

Structures rose in the air, like pillars from the ground. Their speed wasn’t nearly enough to hit anyone, but that wasn’t their goal. Dallion could tell that the emperor’s plan was to block his advancement by erecting a series of walls. No, that wasn’t it. There were far too many magic threads within several of the structures.

“Pan, know that spell?” Dallion shouted, sending a spark infused spiral attack forward.

The deadly blow shattered several buildings, creating a massive mark on the city.

Moments later the chunks of debris flew back up, like in reverse play, merging together to recreate the broken structures.

Massive symbols shone in purple, creating a five-circle spell that spread throughout the entire city.

Before it could fully release, three other spells were completed, surrounding Dallion, Euryale, and Pan with aether spheres. Then, the effects of the emperor’s casting took hold.

Aether threads crawled up the sphere area domain’s sphere, hardening it.

Dallion braced for secondary effects. Surely enough they came in the form of a gravity increase, pulling everything to the ground. The bladerers’ blades were the first to drop, as if attracted by a giant magnet, followed by the constructs themselves. None of them crashed; the closer to the ground they got, the slower their fall became, until they gently lay on the ground.

“Gravity?” Dallion wondered.

The spell didn’t seem to have any effect on the local inhabitants. They were clearly visible rushing about the citiy, in panic and confusion as to what was going on. As far as they were concerned, their senses had to be lying to them. Despite the calamities throughout the world, the imperial capital had always been secure. Nothing had damaged a single building, and now it was being ripped apart by intense fighting.

“No.” Pan cast a new spell to boost the aether spheres forward, just as a new wave of bladerers rose to the sky. “Obedience.”

“What’s that?”

“What do you do when the proof of destruction is everywhere around? You link into everyone’s personal realm and make them experience only what you want them to.”

On closer observation, Dallion managed to notice the thin threads linking to the inhabitants he could see. Similar to the threads of corruption the void used, they linked everything within the domain to the realm itself, establishing full control. Even now, it was more important that the people remained loyal than them facing Dallion.

Seeing that brought a revelation. With the domain completely sealed, Tamin was going to use everything—subject, construct, and guardian—to attack, like antibodies within an organism. However, in doing so, he only made the city an even bigger target. The weakness of every city wasn’t the buildings, but the people themselves. If enough were to be lost, the imperial capital could quickly turn into a town, leaving hundreds of structures to rot in the wilderness overnight.

Boosting the flight speed even more, Dallion flew past the palace wall. Spikes emerged from every solid surface, aiming to skewer him, yet none could touch him.

“We’ll need an opening to shoot the rockets before they hit the dome of the domain. If they do, they’ll fry everything in here, us included.”

A large arena-like structure became visible in the distance. It reminded Dallion of the one he had taken from Nerosal, only much larger.

There! Dallion, thought.

That had to be it. He had no memory of seeing the structure the last time he was here. The emperor must have created it specifically for the occasion. Given the size, it was large enough to hold a quarter of the city’s inhabitant’s inside and would explain why there were so few of them.

“Stop!” strands of music shot out at Dallion. Passing through his aether bubble, they spun around in an attempt to entangle him.

Dallion could feel them bite into his skin and paralyze his muscles.

“Break!” He managed to say before his body became fully numb. Music strands of his own emerged, snapping the existing ones to bits. Instantly, he felt the missing parts of his body return to him. A split second later, his aether bubbles shattered, disappearing into nothingness.

“Dal!” Eury shouted, aiming one of her crossbows forward.

“Don’t!” Dallion ordered, deliberately slowing down. “Break the dome and find the copyettes. I’ll be with you soon.”

Anyone could feel Euryale’s reluctance to go. The brief burst of emotion couldn’t be blocked by a dozen blocker items. Yet, she understood that arguing was pointless. Right or wrong, it was going to cost them time, and right now none of them had much of that.

The aether spheres of Eury and Pan whooshed past Dallion, heading straight to the grand arena. In the distance, waves of bladerers and metalins emerged, determined to prevent them from getting anywhere close to the emperor.

“Come out, great-grandma!” Dallion said. “I know it’s you.”

There was a long moment of silence, after which the old duchess slowly stepped out from behind the edge of the building. She was dressed in the ceremonial attire of Hosue Elazni, made entirely of ruby threads, sun gold, and sky silver. A robe depicting scenes of the second empress’ life covered the fine dress, the amount of magic threads within it suggesting that its purpose was more than decorative.

“Why did you think it’s me?” the duchess asked.

“No one in the family managed to take your place,” he said. “I always knew there had to be a reason for it. He glanced at his right arm. The sting of the music attack could still be felt.

“If you were just a little slower, it would all have ended here,” the woman continued to walk forward. Every sound from her mouth was a thread of music, but unlike before, it didn’t target Dallion, but herself, granting her lightness, strength, and determination. “You’ve grown a lot.”

“There’s no need for this. I’m here to help the emperor, not fight him.”

“I know.” A sad smile appeared on the old noble’s face. “That’s why I can’t let you succeed.”

Dallion blinked.

“You’re working for the Order?”

Was that one of the archbishop’s hidden copyettes? Surely Pan would have said so, if it were true.

“Ever since the banishment of my daughter, I vowed to have my vengeance on this city for allowing it. The Order promised me that and also to protect all the members of my family that remained… even that man.”

Dallion could see it. How could he fault her for making the choice she had? In her eyes, the imperial capital with its constant webs of intrigue and politics was responsible for the fate of his grandmother—and by extension, his mother as well. It was natural that she would seek a way to make it pay. Being too powerful to be tempted by the Star or the void’s corruption, she hadn’t gotten involved with the cults, but sought a greater power—one that shared her goals.

“The archbishop will kill you as well,” Dallion said in a final attempt to change her mind.

“I know. But my family will be safe. All those dear to me left the capital’s domain the moment they heard your ruckus. Now there’s only me left and everyone who should have known better.”