Second Layer of Grimworld, Tairlal Cosmos.
Tairlal Cosmos was being subjected to a large-scale attack from Griminions and members of Hollowstar.
No one from outside the Cosmos bubble could enter, and no one from within could leave. If they attempted to leave, they would face immediate death due to the presence of a Void Titan Leviathan roaming the boundaries of the cosmos.
This was the second-ever appearance of Void Titan Leviathan; its size was utterly vast. Simply a scream from it could destroy Immortal Kings into mist, and even Immortal Emperors had no chance of survival against this powerful creature.
The only restriction was that this cosmic creature, which was not a part of Grimworld, could not enter the cosmos bubbles, as they were restricted by the Grimworld Tree. It could only roam in the void outside of the bubbles.
Therefore, as this creature roamed around this specific cosmos bubble under Hollowstar’s control, entry and exit were impossible.
Second-layer cosmoses had very different structures from the first layer, and each was unique.
Tairlal Cosmos was 50% liquid, and every single planet was by law 50% submerged in liquid. Not water, but liquid.
The stars, suns, and other cosmic bodies and phenomena acted vastly differently here, such as all planets with inhabitants would automatically connect a cosmic river to the nearest planet with inhabitants.
Essentially, all planets in this Tairlal Cosmos were connected via cosmic rivers, and anyone could travel above the speed of light in these rivers easily, crossing vast distances in a short time, as long as people protected themselves with Immortal-rank protection means. Otherwise, they would simply die in the river.
Unfortunately, these connecting planets became trouble because Hollowstar began their tide from a random planet A, before clearing B, C, and D, gathering Griminions from each planet and surplusing them in the next, thereby creating a huge army of Griminions.
Many fought and died, while many fought and ran away, moving to another planet.
Unfortunately, the cosmos had closed, leaving no way out. However, the ruling forces of this cosmos initiated a gathering, so all powerhouses were converging at a particular big planet belonging to one of the forces—Planet Gezero.
With powerful spacecrafts, there was no need to use rivers, as all powerhouses were gathering at Planet Gezero, whose coordinates were spread throughout the cosmos by an Immortal Emperor, capturable by Immortal-rank powerhouses and higher.
As the tide of Griminions affected monsters on the new planet and joined them in ranks before moving, only thirty hours remained until the big tide reached Planet Gezero.
On this big planet, stretches of vast empty land spread across the cosmic river’s entrance, which would carry trillions of Griminions here. The river’s size varied according to the planet, and since this planet was gargantuan, the river’s entry wideness was also 10,000 kilometers wide, which was still like a small belt compared to the planet’s planet.
After all, it was the biggest planet in the cosmos and a perfect battlefield to end this mayhem brought by Hollowstar.
As such, if one zoomed in on the vast empty land, one could see hundreds of thousands of barriers, each one housing a different type of structure—Palaces, Castles, Mansions, and such—with people of myriad races and a unique flag atop each of them.
Among them, there was one particular black flag with the art of a maw inside a whirlpool, but it was completely made with separate fluid linings, colored dark gold, red, and blue.
It looked aesthetically beautiful but also regally oppressive.
The flag belonged to none other than the House of Regalons, from a planet that ascended to this cosmos in the second layer from the first layer six months ago.
However, not many people knew about them except for some battle footage of their people during some joint tasks with another planet, which only happened once, or from the footage shared in Starry Horizon Academy, as the House of Regalons had many members as students in that academy.
Still, the information about them was limited, and so was the interest of people, as they didn’t have much public activity.
But it was rumored that these people of Regalon House had unique Bloodline powers and were very strong, which had invoked a lingering curiosity in many.
As such, many forces looked forward to watching them, especially now that the top 10 powerhouses of each group were called for a grand meeting by the ruling forces of this cosmos.
In the territory of Regalon House, under a particular giant hybrid tree of Flora and Crystal elements, ten people sat at a big rectangular table.
On the two chairs at the left, Almond and Lily sat side-by-side, and facing them at the other end was Admiral Rudra.
In between, on top and bottom, seven people sat—
Zauna Okoro—the head of the Alchemy and Occult Division.
Arjun Maheshwari—the head of the Tactical and Strategy Division.
Bianca Moretti—the head of the Intelligence and Assassination Division.
Aarav Patel and James Smith are the Heads of the Research and Development Division.
Liang Zhou—the Head of the Battle Crafts and Weaponry Division.
Paloma Vasquez—the Head of the Nurturing and Harmony Division
Aside from Almond, Lily, and Admiral Rudra, who had recently reached Immortal rank, the others were in High-Mortal rank.
“So among us, Lily, I, Admiral Rudra, Elder Arjun, Elder Bianca, and Elder Zhou will be going. We need four more,” Almond said. “Lily and I were busy in the last mission, so I don’t know how everyone is doing.”
“Mhmm, Victor is getting stronger fast, as that’s all he’s been focusing on in the academy,” Arjun said. “Aside from him, Sylvester and Hiroshi, as usual, are honing their blades against each other and are strong. Last I checked, their Ability Power entered the Beta realm, so their skills are easily immortal-rank.”
“For the last spot, let’s take Julian,” Admiral Rudra said. “His progress is high as he reached the peak of High-Mortal, and his Ability Tree also bloomed thoroughly, so he’s been growing his Arcane Constitution at an astounding pace. I checked his Ability Power yesterday, and it was Beta 2389.”
“Great,” Almond chuckled. “Then it’s decided.”
“Now that the spots are decided, do we have any idea why they are calling ten of the strongest people from each force?” Bianca asked,”
“No idea,” Lily shook her head as her eyes glinted. “But this is our chance. We needed to establish trades and acquire resources since we’ve used up almost everything we earned by clearing the thirty Labyrinth Floors, and our progress in the Academy has slowed down because the initial boost and freebies they give are gone.”
Bianca nodded. “If we can perform exceptionally in defending this planet, which I am sure we will do, we’ll indeed have many business opportunities to expand and grow ourselves fast.”
“Yeah, you three broke through to Immortal rank, but we indeed need more resources for the rest of us,” Paloma wryly smiled. “Also, Almond, the Winged Tyrant Egg has finally hatched. It took almost a year, and it’s just Epic-rank. What do you want to do with it?”
“Oh, that egg…” Almond rubbed his chin. “I’ll come and get it later. Since I got it from Grimworld Tutorial’s roulette reward, I want to trace its source and see if I can find something interesting.”
“Anyway, we should get going now,” Lily said as she stood up.
“I’ve called Victor and others to meet up at the central courtyard’s entrance,” Arjun said. “They will be there, so let’s get going.”
…
The ten of them gathered and soon flew out of their territory barrier, heading towards a giant palace 2000 kilometers away.
The palace’s height was staggering—500 kilometers tall—and it had various and eccentric platforms at every altitude of 1000 meters.
This massive structure, known as the Gezero Dynasty Tower, belonged to one of the three ruling forces of this cosmos that resided on Planet Gezero.
That single force alone had 118 Immortal Emperor-rank powerhouses.
But aside from them, the other two big forces—Raiden Dojo and Verrete Star Empire—were present on this planet, and they had 104 and 128 Immortal Emperor-rank powerhouses, respectively.
Not to mention the high number of Immortal-Kings and Immortals gathered from these three forces as well as hundreds of others.
But despite such numbers, the threat was high, and they needed as many people as possible. This was why a meeting was being held: to make a formation placement of all groups according to their strength and create strategies against the incoming tide.
On the way to the grand palace, the group was flying rather leisurely, as they intended to take 10 minutes to reach there so they could talk.
Almond said, “So how’s everyone’s progress in Ability Trees the past month?”
“It’s taking time as we thought, but some are progressing in their conceptual powers fast, so they’ve been manifesting their Ability Trees after breaking through to High-Mortal,” Admiral Rudra said. “On the other hand, the Regalon Bloodline’s utilization is going smoothly. All those who have turned into Regalons already have awakened their Regalon Spirit Armament.”
“Good,” Almond’s eyes glinted. “This grand battle is a perfect chance for us to grow. I’ll also develop a second Bloodline Talent soon, which will make us significantly strong.”
“Oh, we are getting a second Bloodline Talent awakening?” Victor’s eyes shone.
“Not awakening,” Lily chuckled. “Unlike the first Bloodline Talent that is awakened randomly according to people’s assets to manifest an Armament, this talent will be the same for everyone.”
“Yep,” Almond smiled. “Lily and I have decided to develop something that can have multi-purpose utilization. I’ll keep it a secret for now, but it’ll be soon.”
“Well, we are also curious about you two,” Julian said as he blinked. “How strong are you two now that you’ve been away for a month and trained in the Academy?”
“Stronger than me, that’s for sure,” Admiral Rudra wryly smiled.
“Everyone will find out soon,” Lily said with a cheeky smile.
The group arrived at the palace as a big array of lights acted as a pathway for powerhouses to enter.
Many people were already gathered, and seeing Almond’s group coming, the powerhouses glanced at them and wantonly inspected them.
‘They sure like to look down on us,’ Almond said.
‘But not for long,’ Lily’s eyes coldly glinted.