45 45

Francis glanced around the underground base. Frankly, it was depressing. Though how could living underground and hiding from slavers be anything but depressing? he thought with a chuckle. The only thing impressive was the sheer amount of Mana anyone down here had. He wondered if conscious attuning in this place was even more impressive or if it was just an unessarcy act here. Likely the former.

"Any reason you haven't conquered a country yet?" Francis' comment drew everyone's attention to him.

Sophia stopped what she was about to say, her hand still gesturing to Francis as if she was going to introduce him to everyone.

"There's no reason to slaughter innocent civilians. What kind of purpose could the ordinary people we conquer serve for us? Besides, is there any reason to stay here once you can leave again? We can just take everyone here with us," Sophia argued. There was magic for cleaning, building, and agricultural purposes. The only reason Mages bothered with ordinary servants back on Earth was because they were either lazy, thought magic was too sacred for chores, or preferred the status of being above another.

More than one person in the 'audience' stared blankly at her not arguing whether they could conquer a country or not, but rather if they should.

"Hmm, the mana alone gives it 'training' potential," Francis said. What better way to awaken Mages of next to no talent from any world? Rainer could even treat this place as a primary school, teaching them non-magical necessities until they awaken their Affinity.

This world was really ramping up his wanderlust. Were there places with absurd amounts of World Energy as well? Looking at just the Floater, which was tech that worked only in a place of ambient Mana, what kind of people or worlds were waiting out there for him? If the universe was infinite rather than endless - which was unlikely in his view - he might even run into another Rainer Nvos close enough to the original but living in a totally different world.

It was only a matter of figuring out how to explore the universe with [Void-walking]. Not even the Void-Lords have managed traveling outside their planes prior to Rainer's appearance and then help as an unwilling tracking beacon. And some of them were in their third tier, just like elementals.

Mastering world finding sounded like a good distraction on top of improving his Void Skills. There was clearly something in [Void-walking] that let both him and his family end up on actual planets rather than empty space. Was it the messed up runes that he tried to use to prevent himself from being stuck in a wall during wall-walking? Either way, it was something that kept his mind away from the crushing reality of feeling incomplete.

"So even if it's not home, it'll be a home. I can't imagine Rainer letting this world out of his grasp. Then again, conquering a country sounds troublesome. We should just openly declare a place ours and slaughter anyone that comes until they give up."

Sophia was about to speak up before stopping. The whole reason they were hiding was because Frederick and her were enough to win any battle but not a war. However a third powerhouse who doesn't even rely on magic would fill in the hole they were missing. If they planned right, they might not even need any of the people they were training to help them beyond filling in numbers.

"No rush anyways, getting you and gramps under the system is a bigger priority before we fight anyone."

Francis recoiled at the devilish grin his mother suddenly had. The 5'5'' petite woman suddenly seemed much more than that.

"Does the system work on Earth?"

"So long as I or Rainer hides you from whatever God is patrolling or whatever the hell they are doing in the Void by Earth."

"Good." The finality in her tone was enough to chill the hearts of anyone in the room. There was no question that whatever followed that 'good' would be a merciless slaughter.

Francis stood in a large grassland, both his mother and grandfather by his side. He absentmindedly kicked away and then stomped on some tall grass that tried to tie around his leg. Stupid life-sucking plants.

"What exactly are we doing out here?" Francis asked.

"Before we can make any plans, we need to know how strong you are," Frederick said and then gained a look of concentration on his face. It took only moments for a stone golem beside them to be wrapping in a violet light and slowly start taking on Frederick's appearance. He looked like what Francis imagined Rainer would have looked like at 40 years old, had he never succeeded in [Void-walking] away from Earth.

"Can I start?" A frigid presence spreaded over the grassland as the world lost color. Though the lack of focus of [Void Descent] meant his family's mind were not as affected as usual. His mother sent him a strange look after suppressing her shiver, while his grandfather seemed too focused on controlling the Avatar.

"Whenev-" Frederick said and then stared in shock as his connection to his golem Avatar was instantly cut off by a swirling darkness.

"Again?" Francis asked with a chuckle, "Oh, and we should really get to doing some Fairy Dust. I brought some just for you gramps."

"You cheeky brat, attacking before I was ready," Frederick mumbled as he started constructing another Golem.

"Francis… you are still my son."

"Yes?"

"So you should have proper respect for your mother and do drugs in secret like any good child. I won't reprimand you again since Frederick's embarrassing excuse for losing was entertaining. "

Francis chuckled. That sounded like his mom. He really had missed her.

"Now, are you going to tell me what Fairy Dust actually is?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well after your stories about literal Fairies, include one my other son is dating - not sure how I feel about him dating a woman older than me - I'm going to assume it's not what you made it out to be."

Francis covered his mouth with his hand and coughed hoarsely as he tried not to laugh aloud. This had too much entertainment potential for him to spoil now. Yes, Luna was technically older than his mother. And he had answered with Kara's and Luna's age when his mother asked, thinking nothing of it. But no one who knew her would ever consider that to be representative of Luna. Not to mention the differences in how Fae matured.

He then explained what Fairy Dust was after he finally got himself under control. Halfway through his explanation, Frederick stopped building his Golem and listened in as well.

"Francis… you can never bring Luna to Earth until we've dealt with the Council," Sophia said, knowing there were council members who'd trade their first born for a chance to even study a Fairy's hair.

"If she didn't sneak in, Rainer never would have."

"How much did you bring for me?" Frederick asked, naked hope in his tone. He had no desire to deny his motivation to live, no matter how long he had lived for already. The fact that becoming a 2nd Tier in this 'system' gave one 200 extra years of life was already a welcome revelation - assuming he lived long enough to enjoy it, as he had no idea how many years, or perhaps months or weeks he had left - but Fairy Dust represented an actual chance at life.

"Ten doses, in other words 40 Affinity/mana and a hundred years of life. After ten, there's a pretty big drop in effectiveness," Francis said as he tossed the bag over to him. Watching his grandfather fumble with it as he caught it was a bit funny but it was eclipsed by how happy he was to have his grandfather around for longer.

While still sour over having his choice and memories taken, he was also aware of just how hard it was to awaken Rainer's Mana in the first place. He remembered a short conversation of how his grandfather already spent 'half of his wealth' in the things he bought to do so. Given how old and powerful Frederick was, 'half of his wealth' was no doubt an astronomical amount.

"How do I take it?"

"Snort it," Francis said with a chuckle. Really, given the effect it may as well be an addictive drug. Peering into the mysteries of the universe was quite a 'trip' even if it only lasted for the briefest of moments. But it couldn't be compared to the arcane-laden Fairy Dust of Luna's. Not that she'd naturally produce another dose for at least 50 more years. Could it give an ordinary person Arcane Power… he suddenly thought. All the more reason for Luna never to leave his… Rainer's… side.

Ah, I'm sad again. I hope Talvara visits tonight.

Apart from his incompleteness, the idea of never being with Luna again was another reason for his desire to recombine. He even had thoughts of killing Rainer, though he never would. Luna didn't deserve a half-complete thing like him. And he didn't desire to live enough to try and take his place.

Francis was of course just as vindictive and vengeful as Rainer. Half the reason for Rainer's antagonistic view against Divinities stemmed from when some Divinity tried to separate him from Gunthar and leave the Undead in a hopeless place, the Mana-Well being just an afterthought. Francis knew full well Rainer would never let that go so long as those Gods that interfered still lived.

So as he once was Rainer himself, Francis would surely be thinking of more ways to get petty revenge against his unintentional creator and direct cause for all his suffering.

His mother gave him a worried look, but he just smiled back. Frederick was far too distracted over taking the Fairy Dust to notice the depressive atmosphere around his 'grandson'.

A few minutes later of Frederick just looking blankly into the distance after consuming the Fairy Dust, the old man slowly got up.

"You worthless old men... for making me suppress such a talent and corrupt another, I'll wipe out you and all your descendents," Frederick growled under his breath, his future thinking no longer limited to just a few months. With this man who had slaughtered countless Mages, and Vikings for that matter, any amount of bloodlust was almost visible in his magic as it spread through the air.

While Rainer was useless in Mana and would have taken centuries to cast normal spells reliably, when it came to Runes and the Arcane he was incomparable. So long as he gained enough Mana to perform the ritual to unlock Arcane Power, what did the rest matter? But that would have taken far too long.

And Sarah… How long had he watched in silence as he helped the young, once innocent girl he thought of as a daughter steal mana and murder Mages? What other choice did he have when their future would be uncertain the moment he perished.

While talented, Sarah's mother was too young and wasn't anything compared to the higher ups of the Council. Only centuries of work could let Sophia become a force they had to take seriously. Even then, she was far better at healing than combat. Only Sarah with her strange birth and talents had any hope of contending against them prior to Frederick running out of time.

"Let's go again," Frederick said, going back to reforming his Golem Avatar.

It took only a few hours for Frederick to reliably dodge [Void Call]s. And to test Francis' general strength in return. Had it been his original body he likely could have done it from the very start - the golem Avatar, while not requiring a part of his Soul, was also nowhere near the original body in any category. Such a veteran of combat had more than enough instinct to dodge such a deadly blow. But whether or not he could do so repeatedly or win the battle would have been up to fate.

Francis leaned against a table, swirling the wine in his glass as he looked out over the room. Today was a celebration. A celebration for starting tomorrow they would no longer be living in hiding. Francis had already explained what [Void Descent] could do to ordinary people, and that it wasn't magic. Put simply, their enemies stood no chance. When it came to your average soldier of these magic-enslaving nations, best case scenario, they'd only be knocked out by [Void Descent]. They'd even be lucky to only suffer permanent mental damage.

It wasn't that no Mages of this world hadn't thought of using mental magic, merely that Anti-mental Magic Protection was the first Anti-Magic device that was invented. But [Void Descent] was almost the opposite of magic. It would have to be tested, but Francis expected no issues.

Handling the rest would be even easier. Francis could destroy their collars, or the three of them would merely have to fight it out with the remaining Mages of the forces they send. Apart from that they had all the Mages Sophia and Frederick had been training, though many of which were too young for any of them too feel comfortable sending to battle.

Enchanted items were also a non-issue. As short as 30 years ago, a rebellion was caused by booby trapped enchanted items, resulting in the downfall of one of the strongest nations. Most Countries now viewed such items as a plague and preferred their own technology.

Francis was brought out of his thoughts as a beautiful brunette approached him. Why did she look so familiar?

"I wanted to give my personal thanks, Arch-Magus. I never would have thought to see my niece ever again."

"You're related?"

"I am ashamed to admit, but I and a few others had managed to escape from the conclave that was attacked. Eventually we ran to these forbidden lands while chased, I was the one of the few to survive along with my own child. Your mother came upon me by chance."

"I'm happy to have helped. And Francis will do," he said, grinning. The twisting Void in his eyes drew in her own brown eyes.

"A pleasure, Francis."

Back in her room, Francis pushed Helen up against the wall, her legs wrapped around him, her chest pressed against him, and his Mana around her. It took only a minute of just kissing for her moan her first orgasm into his mouth.

"What are you d-doing to me?" she said in between gasps for air.

"Magic."

Sitting on a bed, Francis gave up and just drank straight from a wine jug as he tried to keep his hazy state. His annoyingly high attributes made it a challenge without his stronger Fae wines. He had thought this would be a shorter trip and hadn't thought to bring them.

Helen laid on his lap, somewhere between bliss and exhaustion. She had towards the end managed to learn from him, so he was pretty pleased as well. Given her massive Mana Pool, she'd likely get better at it than him eventually, especially since he lacked the Arcane advantage he once had.

Helen looked up at him, not even surprised at the copious amounts of alcohol he was drinking.

"Wow, am I glad I got to you first," the 25-year old looking woman said.

"You think you can keep me?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Helen laughed, "No, but I doubt anyone can copy your skills as quick as I can. I'm quite talented you know," she added while sending a tingle up his spine with a bit of mana, "Maybe you'll be chasing after me, sooner or later."

Francis just gave a grin before taking another sip of wine.

"Maybe."

"Where'd you learn how to do that anyways?"

"From a Fairy."

Helen rolled her eyes, thinking it was another joke. The only 'Fairy' she knew of were small vicious humanoids who were known for eating children. Most of their kind was wiped out soon after Mages were enslaved and any mentions of them now were just bedtime stories about how they ate naughty children. Good riddance.

"Do you think we can actually do it?" Helen said, her mood turning a bit serious. She wasn't the only Mage who had this question. Despite the sheer power of their two, now three, mysterious benefactors, they had all experienced the horror of Anti-Magic weaponry. And their own legendary Arch-Magi of centuries past had fallen to them just the same.

"With enough time, I could probably kill everyone on this planet," Francis said casually. The System was truly an unfair advantage, he couldn't even blame whatever Divinity scanned for him and likely tried to stop him bringing the effects of the system with him. He was glad they were doing so, especially since he could take advantage of it.

Helen looked at him strangely. He clearly had far less Mana than her, and even her own daughter. But elder Arch-Magus Nvos had claimed him his equal and in other ways his superior. And all of them combined couldn't take that impossibly strong mage on.

During their activities she had also felt two other powers in him. One had a strange magic to it, but the other was far more sinister. A single 'glance' at it had her feeling the end of all things.

And then there was his eyes. The scariness in them was easy to ignore given how appealing the rest of him was. But only ignored, never forgotten.

"Well, maybe my Grandfather might escape. But it'd be 50-50." Francis could counter his Grandfather's magic with [Arcane Blade] and [Void-walking], once he could finally use it here, and then deal with him with [Void Call]. It was just a matter of who got in a lucky hit first. Though he doubted that'd be true once his Grandfather finally got access to the system. He knew due to a difference in talent, he may not get an [Arcanist] class, but he definitely would be far more powerful once he got any class.

"Round four?" she asked, believing in his words. The idea of living freely was enticing but she was concerned with a pleasure more immediate.

"Round four," he agreed as rolled her over and maneuvered himself in front of her legs. He'd show just how far she was from matching his skills.

Francis wasn't surprised when him falling asleep led him to 'awaking' over a familiar mountain. This was one of Talvara's favorite scenes. It was a relatively short volcano, but she loved the scenery around it. As well as the green and blue contrast to the slowly flowing lava. The copied signs of civilization only added to the beauty in her eyes. It was a view she could have never seen through her followers eyes in the almost completely barren Abyssal Planes. The name wasn't just for show.

"I have some good news for you," Talvara started after a few minutes of enjoying the view.

"Hmm?"

"Rainer had a... 'success' with Void and Arcane together. At the very least, he is infinitely more motivated to figure it out."

"That's good," Francis said, not bothering to inquire about the almost visible quotes around 'success' when she said it. Maybe he'd have his own success with his Void Blade tonight?

Talvara could sense the strange mood Francis had around him. So she opted to go with the surprise she had gotten out of Rainer. Earth was such an interesting place. It took her quite a bit to recreate this within her own illusionary space.

A flat-screen and a gaming console appeared, a complete juxtaposition to the rock under it. Only supernatural powers kept both them and the items from the heat in the air. A couch joined it soon after.

"I'm going to mop the floor with you," Francis said with a grin, his mood suddenly far better.

"You can try. And you will fail." She was an Avatar of a powerful Void Being. One whose simple existence had angered numerous Divinities. She could even discern what his ridiculous 'mop the floor' saying meant. How could his mind compare to the sheer speed and size of hers that could split itself in numerous directions?

Rainer looked at the Werewolves practicing with the Void-step body enchantments with a smile on his face. Any Werewolves unloyal to the tribe had long since left when much of Demon-kind turned against them. Everyone that was left represented the future for Rainer as they would eventually follow Kara as their tribe leader.

Them being Demons would be a non-issue, as Rainer's recent gains in rituals let him understand more about restrictions in enchantments. He guessed he'd have his first Demonic Aura-hiding bracelet ready in a few weeks. It wouldn't compare in strength to the original, but it'd be a good start.

It was the same for the Rite of Passage. While it would be consuming for him, he was already playing around with a way to replace the blood sacrifice with an Arcane-weaved Ritual circle. It would take thousands upon thousands of Arcane Power to create such a ritual circle for just a single person, but with his Spatial Storage freezing time on Arcane Weaves, it'd be easy to do so.

When it came to Demons, they could survive with the whole world seeing them as enemies. And with such small numbers at that. Any Tier 1 level 25 Demon could fight against a Tier 2 Human. Combined with Body Enchantments, and then actual enchanted gear from his eventual Guild, what kind of force was Rainer building under him?

"So what happened last night?" Kara asked, seated beside him as she took a break from helping her fellows learn how to use the enchantments. Anyone lacking enchantments worked on building up their residence. With Delilah's pack on their side, they need not worry about monsters in the immediate future.

"A bit of a mistake when practicing getting Void and Arcane to function together," Rainer said. "Just in case, since the space is linked to my Soul, I sent everyone out."

If Talvara heard him call it a "bit of a mistake" she'd likely try and fight it out with him. The damage from the [Sleep Learning] space had even reached her true body. While the damage was inconsequential to the ancient Void-being, that the injury happened at all from a supposedly illusionary space was frightening. Since it was also basically impossible for her main body to be hurt by such a minor Avatar taking damage, Talvara briefly considered whether she'd ever help with another experiment. But only briefly.

The Void-being was attracted to the power produced just as much as he was.

"Did you forget I'm a Werewolf?" In the past she'd have to try and listen if someone was lying, now, she couldn't help it. Especially with the constant changes to her bloodline. She had already noticed that her Demonic eye had already grown a bit darker in color. Not to mention the random gains in attribute points.

"Honestly, yes."

Kara just laughed and did not say anything else. Telling him to be more careful with magic would just be a pointless gesture and only serve to annoy him. So what was the point? But she knew Rainer valued his life, and he had already shared a few ideas for how he'd become immortal with her. So she had no worry that he wasn't taking his life seriously.

Rainer looked out over the snowy north, wondering if this forsaken place might be a bit better for the future of his Academy. No matter, he was an [Archon] and a [Harbinger]. All places on this planet were always just a moment away.

"How about we makes things more interesting?" Talvara asked Francis as he set everything up for them to play against one another. She found the idea of racing little vehicles against one another to be quite silly, but no matter.

"How?"

"A bet. Nothing too onerous, merely a single request from the other. So long as it won't cause great personal harm, it must be done," she said with a grin. She wasn't particularly interested getting his favor in such a manner as she was simply winning at something he considered himself skilled at. It rankled her that his space was so much better than hers. And that he himself could resist and hide from Divinity while she was trapped in the Void no better than a rat.

Francis grinned deeply. This wasn't going to be fair in the slightest.

"Deal."

Francis raised an eyebrow as he heard the snapping of plastic, though she had fixed the controller before he even saw what happened.

"What was that?" he asked, amused. He had just won the first game, by a significant margin too.

"Nothing, I am merely unused to this material," Talvara explained, giving her best smile. Inwardly, she promised that if she ever found a race of people that had blue shells she'd wipe them from the face of the plane.

"So your request?" Talvara said…

With the fakest smile Francis had ever seen.

Talvara gritted her teeth as she lost in yet another game. It made no sense. She was even using seven different consciousnesses to deal with different parts of it, yet it was as if he could see the future! She was even cheating and looking at his seperate screen using the space's power, but it didn't help, she always got shot before she even had a chance to understand what happened. She had even gotten him to agree to best out of one hundred.

She wiggled uncomfortably as she adjusted her short skirt. She had expected favours or perhaps services from her followers, instead his requests just got more and more embarrassing. Her 'servant's' outfit that he had her wear made her feel more embarrassed than a lack of clothing.

Three of her Avatars were dealing with the previous bets, one rubbing his feet, the other feeding him a fruit called a 'grape', and a last one fanning him with a ridiculously sized leaf.

They may be her Avatars, but it was still her, and it still infuriated her. His casual attitude as if trumping her was an afterthought only further angered her. That he was using the requests for having fun with her rather than getting anything even remotely useful was somehow both simultaneously endearing and embarrassing, leaving the Void-being utterly confused.

Nothing in this world made sense to her anymore. She may as well be a goddess of the Void, so she didn't understand anything she was feeling nor had she experienced such things before. But she knew one thing...

Victory would be hers.

"How about another game?" she said sweetly. At the very least she wouldn't let him know how much he was getting to her.

Francis just chuckled and grinned back at her. Seeing her act this way was proving to be a far better alternative to making a Void Sword.

Rainer paced alone in his [Sleep Learning] space, in thought on the nature of this whole place. His Avatar was off elsewhere, working on recreating Kara's bracelet for hiding Demonic Aura.

Last night proved beyond all doubt it wasn't illusory and there was nothing fake about it. However minor, the damage had extended beyond his own Soul and to himself.

While the applications of that for the future were beyond interesting, Rainer's immediate thoughts were on the result of Arcane and Void colliding together with his Soul as the medium. The experiment didn't mean the path was wrong, but rather that there was more to it. Like having a certain thing in his Soul as a buffer, something his Avatar didn't have. But it was too early to test it directly on himself.

Talvara was fuming and angrily mumbling to herself off to the side, occasionally demanding him for a new game to play against Francis. She even went so far as to ask for games he hated or was bad at.

As if a game he was bad at existed.

Rainer opted not to tell her that the younger him, because of [Sleep Learning], had time for both a social life and copious amounts of gaming. And he may or may not have cheated with [Sleep Learning] powered gaming when little kids insulted both him and his mother online over his lack of skill. No matter how powerful, how could a novice compare to the old him, let alone the attribute enhanced version?

It was far more fun watching the stoic Void-being lose all sense of decorum. No doubt she was letting out her frustration here to hide it from Francis.

Rainer found himself momentartarily ruminating on what might have been. A professor of all things or a professional gamer, there truly were few boundaries when it came to [Sleep Learning]. All the while, his sister fighting and killing, living a life far different than his comfortable future.

Ah, now I'm mad again. I wonder if Luna would mind if I brought her here tonight?

How much of this anger was his, and how much was influenced by his Arcane Power? How much was influenced by the temporary Void Will he currently had? Was he always doomed to have thoughts and feelings that were not his? Even if he balanced these two forces, would anything left of him just be an amalgamation of the two, rather than himself?

He was unwilling! He was unwilling to be influenced by the Divine, so why should this be any different?

He closed his eyes and focused on his feeling of anger. With a thought, he devled his mind into his Arcane Power. He was no more than a small boat awash in an ocean. His feelings and thoughts of anger were taken and enhanced beyond reason.

With another thought he sank into his Void Will. His emotions became no more than a single ripple of a calm sea.

Rainer went back and forth between his two energies, trying to keep steady the thoughts that were his own.

If anger was no good, then what about love? He thought of everyone he cared for, before eventually returning to the Fairy he just thought of earlier. He went back to his Arcane Power once more, and yet he held on as best he could to what was truly his. The Arcane Power couldn't increase his passion, nor could the Void Will dampen it.

So he went deeper into both energies, switching back and forth the moment his original love changed to something that wasn't completely his own. Every cycle he felt himself growing more and more in control, more balanced, more resistant against the effects of both Arcane Power and Void Will.

Unknowingly, the white void around him shuddered.

Talvara was brought out of her cursing as she looked in shock around her. The [Sleep Learning] space was already bordering on perfection. Skills could be leveled, magic used freely, even an entire Void made just for this space.

And yet it was improving. The natural laws of the space came even closer to reality. The change was minute to the point anyone other than her would likely not even notice. But it was still changing.

Hours later Rainer finished his attempts, having finally reached a limit to how much he could sink into each energy pool and remain unaffected.

This is the balance I need…

Rather than trying to balance his Arcane Power and Void Will by adjusting them, he should rather improve himself. Make himself a place where Arcane Power and Void Will could function together. Looking at his Soul with [Soul Detection], he saw that his Soul had strengthened in a strange way, and he guessed it would be harder for the two energies to go out of control.

He had finally found a way forward. A way where the end result was him having true control over the Arcane and Void, along with the impossible energy they created when colliding alongside his Soul.

[General Enchanting has reached level 6]

All the while, his Avatar worked tirelessly alongside him.

Francis looked out over the city fortress, its shimmering barrier and tall, elegant wooden buildings giving it a sense of wonder. It protected the nearby Port, looking like something out of Victorian England though the strange floating 'cars' gave it a different feeling.

"The land around here is quite perfect," Frederick said, flying beside Francis.

"How do we clear them out?" Moving out thousands of people, unconscious or not, would be a lot of work.

"Simple. We'll steal the device that operates the barrier. It is worth more than the city itself. The chances of them placing another out here is next to none. They'll consider the city as good as dead given the animal activity in this area."

"And the Mages?"

"I'll tell them you are capable of safely removing their collars. I'll kill any who resist or ask stupid questions. There shouldn't be that many in the city that are combat capable. Most war mages of this country are currently busy dealing with their neighbors."

Francis raised an eyebrow at that murderous statement. It was easy to forget his 'kind' grandfather had a massive body count. But, he was too affected by the Void to care about Mages who got in the way. He valued his grandfather's safety far more than theirs to suggest for him to stick to non-lethal.

"I'll start." Francis flew over the center of the barrier, which seemed to be at a massive manor that easily had over 500 rooms within. There wasn't any doubt to who lived there.

[Void Descent]

The world turned grey and thousands upon thousands of people felt an unspeakable presence enter their minds. Even the most willful only resisted for the barest of moments. Only those with enough Mana stayed awake, but whether or not they'd be willing to fight after that experience was a different question.

Francis flew straight into the manor, bypassing the barrier with ease as he used a [Void Call] to create a hole. His grandfather, along with several of the more powerful mages from their base, followed behind, Helen from last night among them.

Using [Arcane Revelation], he easily located the massive core responsible for the barrier. He flew through the manor, passing by the collapsed residents.

It took only a few minutes for them to enter the basement and find the massive black orb that functioned as the barrier's center. They passed by numerous defensive installations, but their operators were unconscious. What was an impossible mission in the past became a casual fly-over to the core.

A [Void Hold] and an attribute-enhanced chop to the neck handled the single powerful mage guarding it. Francis destroyed his collar, but didn't bother trying to wake him up. They weren't here to recruit anyone.

Helen appeared next to him, the rest of the seven-man team using gravity magic to remove the core, and then earth or fire magic to move their way upwards. Francis could feel the sheer amount of magic in the sky as his grandfather fought off whoever resisted.

"You know, when I heard the plan I didn't quite believe it. But that…" Helen shook her head. Seeing people on the street just fall over had been beyond strange. And even though the presence was on her side, she still shivered a bit as she thought about it. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to be the focus of it.

"Things are really going to change, huh?" she said, unable to hide the sheer amount of hope in her voice. To one day live in such a beautiful city…

Francis looked over, but, before he said anything, he saw the tear dripping down her face. What was an easy and casual act for him affected so many lives, now and in the future.

"Yes, they are."