With the king of the Steelbristle Kingdom learning the true purpose behind the actions of the "utopia" and the shackles buried within the bodies of his own people, he finally abandoned the last embers of resistance and chose to join the Bloodfangs.

His soul flowed into the great web that spread outward with the marching orcs of the Bloodfang Empire, where it merged seamlessly into the mental collective. His body, now an empty husk, sagged where he sat, propped upright only by instinctive muscle memory.

"Expand the node's reach. Draw in more souls. With enough strength condensed into a single locus, we'll be able to strike down the next node as well," Barsaka muttered to himself.

With the Steelbristle Kingdom fully absorbed into the "utopia's" growing sphere of control, every orc nation in the surrounding region had fallen under their influence. All sapient creatures within those borders, whether willingly or by coercion, had already been woven into the ever-expanding mental network.

A thunderous roar split the air. Deep in the Steelbristle Kingdom, towers identical to those that had first erupted within Bloodfang territory tore through the earth. They pierced the void, broke the boundary between realms, and manifested fully into the material world, extending the reach of Bloodfang's power into this land.

"Magic... wizardry... so this is what we lost. The berserk state and our tribal inheritance stripped too much from the orcish race over the years. Without this method, even those who share the same blood could never hope to truly understand one another."

The king, still seated against the wall, opened his eyes. As the spreading power washed over him, his consciousness reasserted control over his body. Knowledge flooded into his mind: magic, wizardry, and countless fragments from the immense mental collective.

"I'll need time to secure the second node in the Ashen Wastes. Those ruins don't belong to any sapient race, so claiming that node will be far easier than seizing the ones buried inside the borders of living nations. I'll leave the defenses here to you."

Barsaka's projection spoke to the king who had returned to his body. At the same moment, similar conversations unfolded across every newly conquered country. Each king who had "voluntarily" joined the utopia was now tasked with intercepting the joint investigative force of the surrounding sapient races.

"I'll divide the node's strength evenly among you. Use it properly, and they won't have a chance to resist."

With that final instruction, Barsaka's projection dissolved.

"I understand. I won't allow intruders to set foot in our lands," the kings answered as one, steadfast and identical in tone.

Beyond the borders of the utopia that had formed around the Bloodfang Empire came an expedition composed of multiple races.

"Visually, nothing seems to have changed much aside from those towers. Those are new. They're products of the recent upheavals."

A human grand knight stood atop a hill roughly twenty kilometers from the new territory, scanning the orcish lands with an arcane scope. Compared to previous recordings by caravans that had passed through the area, the only differences were the towers.

"We can already sense distortions in the surrounding void, but it's still too far away. We need to get closer for a proper reading."

The wizards in the party released their mental energy, allowing their souls to probe the land. Void currents gathered from every direction, flowing toward the utopia's territory and forming a strange domain where that power pooled.

"Any closer and we'll be taking a serious risk. Remember the riots back in our kingdoms? Those creatures had their minds warped by some unknown force.

"Without mental shielding from a wizard, stepping anywhere near what may be their base of operations could get us hit by psychic attacks or by warped sapient creatures. Beyond the environmental danger... is there anything else we can realistically gather from this distance?"

A female elven knight, Bethany, spoke with cautious gravity. She had joined the expedition only after helping suppress the riots within her own homeland, and the elves' mental examinations of those maddened beings lingered vividly in her memory.

"You're right, Bethany. The danger ahead is real. The flow of the void is changing the land itself—void and matter are overlapping. That should only happen near a rift. If they know how to take advantage of these conditions, it won't bode well for us."

A human magician nodded, sharing his observations.

"We still have enough wizards to shield everyone, yes? Our mission is to gather information. If we stop here, we will have failed before we've even begun."

The grand knight Lorian stated his view plainly. Their small mixed cohort was the first investigative legion, tasked with collecting intelligence and reporting the truth of the orcish upheaval to all intelligent races.

Since the earliest anomalies involved the void, they had brought many wizards from different races, enough to shield every member of the squad.

"I agree with Lorian. Let's move forward."

A dwarf in wizard robes raised his hand: Nikolas Bronzebeard, the leader of the dwarven contingent.

"Mm. I agree as well."

Bethany nodded. With the three leaders in agreement, the squad advanced.

Concealed by layered veils of wizardry, their movements were invisible to ordinary sight or mundane detection. They progressed steadily and swiftly toward their target.

The heartland of the utopia grew closer with every step they took. More details emerged. More abnormalities became clear. And the wizards felt the air itself shifting—stranger, heavier, pulsing with the rhythm of another world.

"What in the world... is that?"

That was the unspoken yet unanimous thought in the minds of the wizards scattered throughout the company. Within their perception, some vast presence was slowly revealing itself, lurking within the bounds of that so-called utopia. The flow of void energy all around seemed to come alive, shedding its usual mechanical convergence and instead pulsing with the unconscious writhing of that emerging being.

"Have our mental shields been disturbed?"

"No. Everything is normal. Only the concentration of void energy is rising. By now, you should be feeling it too. The fusion between the void and the material world is becoming more distinct... and far tighter."

The wizards exchanged murmured impressions, each confirming through the others that their senses were not deceiving them. These peculiar signs bore little resemblance to anything from their prior experience.

"If anything seems wrong, tell us at once,"Lorian called back, reminding them of their role.

The wizards were the key to this expedition, serving as sensors and scribes alike, while the knights and magicians served primarily to shield them.

"Understood."

The wizards returned to their heightened scrutiny of the shifting environment.

But what they did not know was that, though their spells and wizardry had successfully concealed them on the material plane and from ordinary scrying, their presence in the wider, macrocosmic strata was anything but subtle.

Concealment worked only against those with limited perception. To a colossal entity whose awareness spanned a wide domain—and who was aware of what originally dwelled within that domain—the arrival of anything new would stand out as starkly as a lantern in the dark. Even if their figures were hidden, the disturbances they stirred in the void could never be fully masked.

As they approached within ten kilometers of the heart of the utopia, the wizards finally sensed enough to form a coherent picture. The realization left them shaken.

"This... shouldn't be possible. With void energy this dense, this entire region should have collapsed into the void long ago."

They halted where they stood. No anomalies had manifested; none of their prepared mental wards had been breached. Even so, the sheer wrongness of the surroundings had unease wrapping around their throats.

The concentration of void energy here had already surpassed a critical threshold, just like the catastrophe Wang Yu and Avia once faced at Stevenson Academy. When void density in the material world grew too high, its surroundings would likewise fall into the void.

And yet here, despite the overwhelming density that was almost sufficient to allow for spontaneous generation of void spells, the world remained... stable. Stable in the uniquely stubborn way of the material plane. Rapid spellcasting might be a small boon, but any condition capable of producing such an anomaly demanded the highest vigilance.

"Stop!"

The wizards called out, warning the others to halt. But before the words fully left their lips, their senses caught the sudden formation of a void convergence. Something was descending into their midst.

Hearing the warning, Lorian and the accompanying knights and magicians spun around—only to find the wizards frozen, their expressions gone slack. Void energy surged toward them in a spiraling torrent. A colossal silhouette began to take shape.

"On guard! Prepare for battle!"

A tremor of awe shot through Lorian's chest. The towering specter resembled the divine avatars he had once glimpsed. But that was surely impossible. Whatever the truth, there was only one thing to do now. He raised his weapon high and prepared for an attack.