Chapter 240: The Greater Realm
The serene white place around him fractured like glass, even the place he stood upon, which was already white and felt like was not there, shattered into fragments.
Then, these fragments bloomed into millions and millions of light. Hide imagined this would what time travel look like if it was possible. And maybe it was, he just didn't know and understand.
There was no up, no down, and no concept of momentum. Space folded over itself in impossible, non-Euclidean angles, warping the passage of time until seconds felt like centuries.
Yet, before Hide's combat reflexes could even calculate a landing, the violent turbulence ceased instantly.
THUD.
Hide's boots struck solid ground. The concussive impact rattled up his shins, and he immediately dropped into a crouch, sweeping his gaze across his new surroundings. His hand darted up to summon out of instinct, but his blades were not there. He could not use anything here, yet the energy in this place was unlike anything he had ever felt on Earth or Rilth.
It was neither pure mana nor corrupted dark mana.
Hide slowly stood up, his glowing ocean-blue eyes widening as he took in the staggering magnitude of the grand sanctum.
He was standing on an endless promenade of polished, midnight-black obsidian that stretched toward a horizon of swirling nebulae and celestial rings. Massive pillars of golden light rose into an infinite void, supporting no ceiling, yet creating the unmistakable impression of a colossal imperial court. Floating celestial bodies—burning suns, shattered moons, and spiraling galaxies the size of marbles—drifted lazily through the air like dust motes caught in a sunbeam.
Standing a few paces to his right, with hands neatly folded inside the billowing sleeves of his white robes, was Destracious O Wartz. The golden-haired angel wore a serene, respectful expression, his previous chatter replaced by solemn silence.
And at the far end of the obsidian promenade, elevated atop nine grand tiers of starlight steps, sat a throne carved from a pulsating piece of cosmic crystal.
Seated upon the throne was Lord Wartz.
The entity did not look like a grotesque monster, nor did he look like an ordinary human. He possessed the silhouette of a towering statuesque, cloaked in mantles of shifting twilight. His hair was a cascade of pure gold, strikingly similar to the angels. His eyes were like spheres of deep, endless black, carrying the unfathomable weight of eons.
He didn't radiate an aggressive pressure like Commander Maddox or the Calamity Lords; rather, his mere existence felt like an immutable law of the universe.
To stand before him was to realize that the cosmos itself breathed at his command.
"Welcome, child of the lower convergence," Lord Wartz spoke.
The voice did not travel through sound waves. It resonated directly within Hide's mind and soul, carrying a calm, ancient gravity that made Hide's core vibrate in profound resonance.
Hide clenched his fists, forcing himself to stand tall against the sheer cosmic presence. "You are Lord Wartz?" Hide asked, his voice steady despite the adrenaline surging through his veins. "Detrocius said you summoned me. Where is this? And what do you want with me?"
"Its Destracious, boy." The angel hissed. "And you stand before Lord Wartz, keep your head and voice down!"
A faint, melancholic smile touched the lord's lips.
"You stand within the Domain of House Wartz, situated in the Greater Realm," Lord Wartz answered smoothly. "A plane that exists far above the mortal tapestry of Earth, and far beyond the decaying carcass of Rilth. As for why you are here... it is because the hourglass of your world has run out of sand. The masquerade must end, Hide Volter. You deserve to know the truth of the war, because you are my prime piece."
Hide's eyes narrowed into sharp slits and his jaw tightened. That thing called him a piece. But he let it be, he was not foolish enough to rebel against someone like this. "The war? You mean the gates? The Calamity Beasts invading Earth?" He asked instead.
"The Calamity Beasts are merely rabid dogs unleashed at the behest of greater masters," Lord Wartz said, resting his chin upon a pale, slender hand. "What your people call the 'Cataclysm'—the sudden tearing of dimensional gates across Earth—is not an accidental natural disaster. It is the final phase of a war."
Lord Wartz raised his index finger. High above them, the drifting nebulae shifted, projecting a massive, three-dimensional cosmic tapestry across the void.
Three distinct, colossal crests flared into existence amidst the stars. One was a silver crown entwined with clocks—the emblem of House Wartz. The other two were a blood-red coiled serpent and an iron fortress weeping black tears.
"In the Greater Realm, there exist three primordial Rulers who govern the celestial foundations," Lord Wartz explained, his tone devoid of arrogance, carrying only historical reality. "House Wartz, House Odo, and House Mord. For millennia, House Odo and House Mord have formed an unholy alliance. They do not view creation as something to cultivate, but as cattle to be consumed. Their path to supremacy requires the continuous harvesting of mortal worlds—swallowing their planetary cores, digesting their life mana, and transmuting billions of souls into divine fuel."
Hide stared at the shifting cosmic projection, his mind racing. "And Rilth..." Hide murmured, the pieces beginning to connect in his mind. "Rilth was one of those worlds?"
"Rilth was not merely a world," Lord Wartz corrected softly. "Centuries ago, Rilth was a magnificent, thriving realm, ten times the mass of Earth, overflowing with boundless life energy. House Odo and House Mord targeted Rilth to serve as their grand ascension nexus. They deployed their spatial curses, corrupted its fundamental mana, and sought to claim the planet's heart."
The image of Rilth twisted, turning into a horrific, blood-red wasteland crumbling into the void.
"House Wartz intervened," Lord Wartz continued, his eyes darkening with sorrow. "We fought them across the stars. But when it became clear that we could not completely purge their corruption without allowing them to harvest the nexus, I made the tragic decision. I forcefully shattered Rilth's core. I broke the world into fractured, isolated continents, severed its divine conduit, and sealed it in a state of perpetual environmental decay, denying Odo and Mord the grand prize they sought."
Hide's breath caught in his throat. The draconic memories Drogon had shared, the horrifying tales of Rilth's slow, rotting death—it was all the result of a strategy executed by the very being sitting before him.
"They failed on Rilth," Hide said, his voice dropping into a low, tense whisper. "So now... they are doing it to Earth."
"Precisely," Lord Wartz nodded. "Having been denied Rilth, House Odo and House Mord turned their ravenous gaze towards another planet with same vibrance as Rilth. Then they found Earth and spent centuries anchoring the decaying fragments of Rilth to your planet, utilizing the spatial friction of two collapsing dimensions to tear open the gates. Their goal is total convergence. By forcing Rilth and Earth to collide and merge, the resulting dimensional implosion will generate an harvest of energy enough to allow Lord Odo and Mord to breach the final boundaries of the Greater Realm and achieve true omnipotence."
Hide's mind felt numb, he felt lost and terrified and he felt a cold, burning rage. All the blood spilled on Earth, the destruction, the screaming children, the slaughter of millions of innocent humans—it was nothing more than a stage for two power hungry beings.
"If you are a Ruler of the Greater Realm..." Hide stepped forward, his ocean-blue eyes flashing as he stared up at the crystal throne, "...if you stopped them on Rilth, why haven't you wiped them out on Earth?! Why let them butcher my world?!"
Destracious took a sharp, tense step forward at Hide's insolence, but Lord Wartz raised a calm hand, halting the angel.
"Because of the Heavenly Principles," Lord Wartz answered solemnly. "The Greater Realm is governed by cosmic laws established at the dawn of existence. Rulers cannot descend directly into the lower mortal realms to wage war with their true bodies. If an entity of my stature, or the lords of Odo and Mord, were to step onto Earth, the fragile dimensional fabric of your universe would instantly break under the pressure. The rules forbid direct intervention. We are bound to act only through proxies, through champions, and within the strict confines of cosmic balance."
Lord Wartz leaned forward, his starlight-blue gaze piercing straight into Hide's soul.
"However... House Odo and House Mord cheated," Lord Wartz said, his voice dropping into a register of cold, absolute wrath. "They broke the Heavenly Principles. And that single, unforgivable crime is the reason you were born."