Beyond the Bloodline-Chapter 382: Beyond Expectations

Kindling the fires of war required time, and mobilising the forces prepared for the Proelium Tower attack demanded some more, so it was only by the end of September (according to the Zanerth Calendar) that everything was finally set in place for the plan to proceed.

Ulfur staged a public display of intervening in the conflict between the two intergalactic empires, his command as Universal Master halting their actions before it escalated into a bloody clash. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Thus, on the first day of October, the force Miranda had instructed him to gather lay in wait when the incited terrorists immediately seized the opening created by Ulfur’s occupation with those distant empires, far removed from the Capella Galaxy Cluster, to launch their attack.

It should be noted that even so-called ’terrorists’ often had objectives, and in this case, these ones also regarded the Proelium Tower as ’suspicious’ and sought to eliminate it, seeing it as a potential danger to them since it provided an entry point for powerhouses from other universes to step into Luabos and interfere with their operations.

When the attack was launched, the empowered forces, with Mei overseeing from afar, mixed in with them, directing their efforts particularly towards Sonerth and Uetera’s men, who had been tasked with guarding the tower after the previous attack.

Their task was to create as much chaos as possible while eliminating the foreign operatives under the cover of the attack and driving away as many people from the tower as they could.

Miranda didn’t bother instructing them to avoid the obelisk in the waiting area, since destroying it was impossible even if they sacrificed their lives in the attempt, and instead told them to concentrate on disrupting the tower of pocket dimensions that formed the main body of the Proelium Tower.

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The attackers slipped in with the crowd shuffling in and out of the Proelium Tower’s entrances, and at the appointed time, they all activated their Authorities and powers and hurled their strongest attacks at the colossal structure of pocket dimensions stretching across galaxies.

Space cracked under the combined might of their strikes, the bindings between the dimensions ripping apart like cloth. The damage didn’t remain confined to the tower alone, as the galaxies it was tethered to also suffered severe structural damage.

Fighters within the pocket dimensions were ripped from their battles mid-strike, their battles abruptly cut short as the dimensions themselves tore apart and spat them into open space.

Some were simply tossed across the vacuum, while others, who were known combatants from other universes, were attacked and pushed to flee through the special channels linking the tower to other universes.

The trade galaxies that had been established as hubs of inter-universal exchange, with the Proelium Tower serving as the anchor, were also hit, their bustling arteries of commerce reduced to drifting debris and lifeless wreckage by the sudden attacks.

The galaxies that functioned as the mercenary hub of the tower were the fastest to respond to the sudden attacks due to the high concentration of combatants, but even they were unprepared for the banishment strikes used by the Ulfur’s empowered forces that expelled those from foreign universes after a few successful hits.

Evaluation grounds that were used for the mercenaries were torn apart in the ensuing battles, and amidst that chaos, the foreign operatives sent specifically by the Masters of Sonerth and Uetera were hunted down one after another, their resistance crushed and their lives cut short.

With each death, the destiny field that covered the Tower and the surrounding galaxies began to shrink, its borders drawing inward as the ’universal influence’ of Sonerth and Uetera in Luabos began to reduce

Miranda quietly observed it, not surprised, as this was within her expectations. But as hours passed by, she began to notice things not within expectations.

Luabos, complicit in the attack, just so happened to have the first responders to the terrorist attack on the Proelium Tower ’delayed’, and reinforcements from Sonerth, Uetera or any universe in the Neo-Extinction faction couldn’t come since Ulfur had used his Authority as the Master to prevent unauthorised entry into his universe.

To break Ulfur’s Authority, one had to be at least as strong as he was, and doing so would be grounds for instant war, which wasn’t something either side wanted.

Not that there was anyone as strong as he was amongst the reinforcements sent by the Neo-Extinction faction.

The operatives from their faction already inside Luabos, with no hope of reinforcements, were being slowly overwhelmed, as many others who were unaffiliated with Ulfur’s secret force or the terrorist groups joined in for reasons ranging from the fun of it to unfiltered grudges and dislike of the tower’s existence.

As the destruction proceeded unhindered, Miranda noticed the cosmic energy the tower absorbed was declining, its once constant flow weakening in step with the attack. This was also expected, but the way the flow weakened in tune with the shrinking destiny field was NOT expected.

Closer observation revealed that the drain wasn’t local, as the tethers of this tower to the others began to tremble.

’If there’s something wrong with the links, then could it be that the other towers are affected by the drop in energy absorption of this one?’

With such a thought, Miranda left Luabos and made her way to Lozion, where she had not long ago, one-sidedly interrogated its Master.

She headed straight for its tower, and there, she found her suspicions confirmed.

The Destiny field around that tower, too, was shrinking, and the cosmic energy it gathered was thinning, even though participants continued to enter its trials undeterred.

In Luabos, the avoidance of the tower and reduction in cosmic energy absorption were natural since it was currently under heavy attack.

But here, the flow of challengers remained steady, and still, the tower’s harvest was waning.

Pressing on, Miranda visited the next universe further out, Iccypso, and she immediately noticed that the rate of decline was slower than in Lozion.

Moving farther still to Kotania, she observed the reduction diminish even more, the weakening tapering off the further she travelled from the source.

Doubling back, she returned to Luabos and this time turned in the opposite direction, to Lollao, then Yoatune, and finally, Gathiea.

As she ventured into universes to the left, the same pattern revealed itself. Each step farther from the origin showed a slower erosion of energy gathered and a slower contraction of the Destiny field.

Just as she returned to Luabos, a change occurred.

The ambient cosmic energy in Luabos stirred as though seized by unseen fingers, drawn together by an invisible command. The gathered energy flowed toward the tower, and while the attackers mistook it for an automatic defensive function of the tower, Miranda saw more.

It wasn’t a defence but a reinforcement, an attempt to strengthen the weakening Destiny field. In her eyes, it was clear that the touch of a will was probing through the flow, as though whoever was behind it was now aware that something had gone wrong and was searching to uncover the true hand behind the attack.

Unlike before, it wasn’t the passive field that simply lingered in place. The will behind it was actively at work, manipulating the Authority of the Dictum that sustained it.

Miranda pulled back immediately she noticed this, retreating beyond the maximum reach of the Destiny field and then further still, unwilling to take any chances.

She understood too clearly that if she remained within that range, detection would be inevitable, even with her Third Concretization encasing her body in a shroud that could veil her from even the Dictums of Supremes.

As she silently withdrew, she noticed one of the fleets heading out to one of the smaller galaxies within the Capella Cluster, and among the presences on board, she detected a familiar and unwelcome presence.

’Ikerth...so that’s where he was.’

To think Ikerth had been in Luabos this whole time. Miranda didn’t know he’d been sent here by Salenor after hearing Deryn’s suspicions, and neither did she care.

’Should i—?! Tsk...!’

Miranda clicked her tongue and lowered the hand she’d reached out to grab the spaceship, as it was now within the range of the Destiny field, and any attempt to act against him would reveal her presence to Deryn, who was actively searching for her.

For a Supreme, a location billions of parsecs away in another universe was still within their ’Range’.

Still, Miranda wasn’t about to let Ikerth go so easily. She ordered one of the empowered wolves to attack Ikerth’s fleet, provoke him out and wound him once with her power before disengaging.

That would mark him so she’d know where he was when she was ready to deal with him.

After giving that order, Miranda withdrew further, maintaining her distance as the attack on the tower raged on.