The figure that suddenly blocked her path was a man in a shiny white battle suit.

​He was about thirty years old, good-looking, and more importantly, he was very strong.

​There was a strangely shaped white spear in his hand that seemed to phase out from existence occasionally.

​Vesper blinked her lashes repeatedly, then surprise flashed in her purple eyes.

​"You are Ark... The legendary Spearman of the White Family? Why are you trying to save them?" she asked, taking him seriously.

​Ark was known to be a Type 5 Beyonder with a combat-type Unique Talent. So she had to take him seriously.

​The Rothschilds’ eyes were literally begging him to save them.

​Still, Ark had a nonchalant expression as he said, "I have no obligation to save them, actually. But you are going too far, little Shadow. You cannot kill all of those innocent children just because of one person’s failed vision."

​Vesper sneered, "Tsk, innocent children? You must be drunk, Ark. I know for sure that today or tomorrow they will come after my Emperor. So I must nip them in the bud."

​She tried to move within the space, but suddenly that radiant white spear blocked her path domineeringly.

​"You are not the only person with space abilities, little shadow. Allow me to demonstrate my Spear Arts."

Ark’s wrist flicked, and swoosh!

The radiant white spear in his hand vanished entirely.

​Vesper’s purple eyes became alert. Her combat instincts, greatly increased by Neo’s synthesis, screamed at her.

She instantly leaned her body to the right.

Swoosh!

​Instant later, a sharp spatial rift tore through the exact spot where her head had just been.

The white spear reappeared out of thin air, grazing her armored shoulder.

The strike carried a terrifying piercing force, completely bypassing physical distance.

Ark smiled confidently,

​"Not bad. But let us see how you handle a hundred of them."

​[ Spear Art: Phasing Thousand Spears ]

​Ark thrust his weapon forward.

That single white spear suddenly multiplied into hundreds of glowing spatial afterimages.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh...

They rained down on Vesper like a meteor shower, each one rapidly phasing in and out of the physical dimension.

​Vesper’s expression turned freezing cold.

She did not retreat a single step. On the opposite, she raised both of her pale hands, and dark void particles exploded from her body, coating her adamantite armor in absolute darkness.

​[ Activating Skill: Void Bastion ]

​The phasing white spears violently crashed into her dark shield. The impact however was horrifying. The spears were disintegrate into nothingness of void.

"What was this shield? How can it absorb my spear?"

It honestly shocked Ark.

Vesper didn’t answer. She charged at him after manifesting Adamantite daggers from her body.

Ark was far from giving up though. He raised his spear summoning a lightning Arc at the tip.

Rumble!

​Behind Ark, the desperate Rothschild family members were frantically working. Lucius grabbed a few S-grade mana crystals from his pocket and forcefully jammed it into the emergency teleportation console.

The massive metallic rings of the portal began to hum with bright blue light.

​"Ark! We are ready!" Lucius screamed, his face completely pale with fear.

​Vesper heard the shout. Her starry eyes flashed with pure killing intent.

"Idiots!" Ark cursed.

Vesper pushed her hands forward, shattering Ark’s lightning with a burst of spatial gravity.

She immediately activated her movement skill.

​[ Activating Skill: Phantom Step ]

​She appeared directly above Ark, her leg sweeping down like a terrifying black crescent moon.

If he get hit, his head would explode like a water melon.

Ark was fast. He raised his spear shaft to block.

BOOOM!

The collision sent a visible shockwave through the air, forcing Ark to slide backward on the polished floor.

​"You are not going anywhere," Vesper stated coldly.

She then aimed her palm directly at the spinning teleportation portal.

​But Ark was faster. He stabilized his footing and spun his spear in a rapid, glowing circle.

​[ Activating Skill: Spatial Lockdown ]

​ Vesper was trapped inside a solid cube of solidified space. She tried using her own Spatial Manipulation power, but surprisingly it didn’t work. His power might not be related to space at all.

Seeing, Ark felt triumphant.

​"Sorry, little shadow. My job here is done,"

Ark said and leaped backward, disappearing from existence.

​"You will pay for this, White Family!" Vesper roared furiously.

Bang!

​She unleashed a massive pulse of void energy, completely shattering the spatial cage into glass-like fragments.

She immediately tear her way within the fabrics of space.

​[ Activating Skill: Void Teleportation ]

​But she was exactly one second too late.

The teleportation bay activated swiftly and transported the family in a near infinite speed.

​When Vesper stepped out of her void, she found herself grasping nothing but empty air.

​The portal was completely dead. And the spatial coordinates wete also scrambled and erased the very moment they departed.

Even with her advanced void abilities, she could not track their exact destination.

They had successfully jumped to a distant, unknown star, far from her her immediate reach.

​Vesper stood entirely alone, feeling a loss. She wanted to please Neo, but it had failed terribly because of Ark.

​"Run as far as you want. Sooner or later, I will find you and kill you all."

....

An hour after the bloody incident inside the subterranean assembly hall, the absolute unthinkable happened.

The emergency broadcast systems of the Earth Federation were forcefully overridden by an anonymous underground network.

​Every augmented screen, holographic billboard, and personal comm-link across the sprawling futuristic cities of Sol-III flashed bright red.

​The news spread like a terrifying, unstoppable wildfire.

​"Patriarch Olegen Rothschild Assassinated! The Invincible Rothschild Family Abandons Sol-III!"

​The citizens of Earth were plunged into chaos.

For centuries, the Rothschilds were viewed as untouchable gods of commerce and political power. They practically owned half of the Supreme Council. To hear that their Patriarch had been slaughtered inside his own highly secure estate, and that the surviving family members had fled the star system in pure terror, was completely incomprehensible to the public.

​But the shockwaves did not stop there.

​Shortly after the assassination report, leaked military footage from the Zenith Expedition began to flood the civilian networks. The horrifying truth could no longer be covered up by Federation propaganda.

The citizens watched in absolute, paralyzing fear as twelve elite fleets and three Titan-class warships were effortlessly wiped out.

​The name Neo Godson instantly became synonymous with a galactic nightmare. The Dominator had not just defeated their army. He had crushed their perceived invincibility.