SSS-Tier Extraction: From Outcast to Overgod!-Chapter 98: A Disturbance in the Weave

The party was in full swing. The soft music, the cheerful chatter, and the clinking of glasses filled the grand hall. For the first time in what felt like a lifetime, Ryan was actually starting to relax.

He had just finished his dance with the charming and slightly-too-curious Seraphina and was now engaged in a very serious debate with Chris Magnus about whether pineapple belonged on pizza.

Chris was arguing, with great passion, that it was a crime against nature.

It was a perfect, normal moment in a very not-normal world. And then, it was shattered.

A low, urgent hum, a sound only Ryan could hear, vibrated in his pocket. He reached in and pulled out the Sector Command Orb, the small, pearl-like sphere he had gotten from one of his first treasure caches.

It was usually cool and smooth to the touch, but now it was warm and pulsing with a faint, angry red light. It was a direct, emergency alert from the god Weaver itself.

Ryan’s relaxed posture vanished. He stood up straight, his senses on high alert. The easy smile fell from his face, replaced by the sharp, focused look of a commander.

Scarlett, who was standing nearby, saw the change instantly. Her hand, which had been resting casually on her hip, moved to rest near the small, concealed pistol she wore even with her formal suit.

"What is it?" she asked, her voice a low murmur.

Ryan held up the pulsating orb. "The Weaver. It’s reporting a problem. A big one."

He quickly found a quiet corner of the hall and used the orb to open a direct, private channel to the Weaver’s main systems. A holographic map of Sector Gamma appeared in the air in front of him, visible only to him.

Most of the map was a calm, healthy blue-green. But one area, on the far eastern border, was flashing a furious, sickly red. It was the same border that Tom Kane’s scouts were patrolling.

A new message, a priority alert from Kane himself, flashed on the screen. Ryan opened it.

The grim face of the Crimson Banner leader appeared. He was no longer in the strange, twisted landscape of the Deep Zones. He was in a dark, makeshift command tent, and the sounds of distant, chaotic energy blasts could be heard in the background.

"Stone," Kane said, his voice urgent and strained. "We have a major situation. The cultists... they’ve done something. They’ve been building something in secret for weeks."

The image on the screen switched to a live feed from one of Kane’s scout drones. The picture was shaky and full of static, but what it showed made Ryan’s blood run cold.

In the center of a barren, rocky valley stood a colossal structure that hadn’t been there a week ago. It was a massive, jagged tower of black, crystalline rock, pulsing with a foul, corrupting energy. It looked like a giant, ugly thorn that had been stabbed into the very heart of their reality.

The air around it was warped and shimmering, and the ground was covered in a creeping, dark moss that seemed to suck the very color out of the rocks.

"We’re calling it a ’Schism Monolith’," Kane said, his voice tight with grim understanding. "It’s a massive amplifier for their chaotic energy. It’s warping reality in a five-mile radius, and it’s growing.

The local monsters, the flora, everything is being corrupted. We tried to get closer, but the chaotic energy is too strong. It plays tricks on your mind, makes you see things. It’s a nightmare."

As if to prove his point, a creature that looked like a Spine Whelp, but was now twice its normal size and covered in pulsing red veins, charged at the drone. The drone’s camera feed went dead with a crackle of static. free𝑤ebnovel.com

Kane’s face returned to the screen. "That’s not the worst of it," he said. "The Monolith is right on the border with the Solar Mandate and the Technocratic Imperium.

Their border patrols have detected the reality distortions. They’re on high alert. I’ve been getting angry messages from their commanders for the past hour.

They think we’re testing some kind of new, unstable weapon. They’re demanding that you, as Sector Lord, handle your ’internal sector threat’ immediately."

Ryan understood the unspoken threat. If he didn’t deal with this problem, and fast, his powerful neighbors might decide to deal with it for him. And their solution would probably involve a lot of warships firing a lot of very big guns at his sector.

"Understood, Kane," Ryan said, his voice calm and firm. "Pull your forces back to a safe distance. Set up a perimeter. Do not let anyone or anything in or out of that valley. I’m on my way."

The communication ended. The party, with its soft music and cheerful chatter, suddenly felt like it was a world away. The brief moment of peace was over.

Ryan walked back into the center of the hall, his face set like stone. His friends saw his expression and immediately gathered around him, the celebration forgotten.

"What’s wrong?" Emma asked, her brow furrowed with worry.

"The Schism Cults," Ryan said, his voice low but carrying a weight that silenced the area around them. "They’ve built a weapon. A reality-warping Monolith on our border. It’s a major threat. We have to destroy it."

The festive mood in the hall evaporated like water on a hot stone. The news spread through the room in hushed, urgent whispers. The party was over.

Ryan looked at his team. "I need a war council. Now. Scarlett, Zara, Emma. Meet me in the command center in five minutes." He then turned to Chris Magnus. "Chris, lock down the Outpost. Double the guards on the walls. No one leaves without my direct authorization."

Chris nodded, his party mood gone, replaced by the grim focus of a soldier. "You got it, boss."

Ryan then walked over to where Matriarch Isabella and Seraphina were standing, their faces filled with concern.

"Matriarch," Ryan said formally. "I regret to inform you that our celebration must be cut short. A critical security threat has emerged within my sector. I must deal with it personally."

Isabella placed a calming hand on his arm. "We understand, Lord Stone. We have seen the chaos such cults can create. If there is any way Sanctuary can assist, you have only to ask."

Ryan gave her a grateful nod. He then turned to leave, but Seraphina stepped forward.

"Be careful, my Lord," she said, her usual playful, flirtatious tone gone, replaced by genuine concern. "That kind of chaotic energy is treacherous. It preys on the mind."

"I will be," Ryan said.

He turned and strode out of the hall, his new formal uniform already feeling too tight and restrictive. The time for parties and diplomacy was over.

It was time for war. He was the Sector Lord, and it was his responsibility to protect his people from the darkness that was gathering on their doorstep.

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