Chapter 153: Chapter 153 - Preparation
Lucien called out to Sebas and Cielius.
"Grandpa. Sebas. Please come with me. I need to test something."
The two old men exchanged glances but followed without hesitation.
Lucien closed his eyes, letting divine energy surge through him. He wrapped their entire bodies in its glow. The threads of light coiled like roots before tugging them inward.
The world shifted.
Sebas and Cielius vanished from sight.
Lucien exhaled sharply but a glimmer of satisfaction curved his lips.
It worked.
He could now indeed bring not consciousness but the very bodies of others into the realm hidden within his divine energy core.
There was, however, one catch. No matter how many times he tried, he could not pull his own body inside.
Only his consciousness could cross the threshold.
Lucien sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Figures. That would’ve been too much of a cheat."
He muttered quietly...
"Still... I don’t know the origin of my divine energy core... Is it part of the Primordial Slime’s inheritance? And the World’s Will? Sigh. There’s still a lot of mysteries. Too many questions and too few answers."
Brushing the thought aside, he sent his consciousness inward.
•••
Inside the expanse of his core, Sebas and Cielius stood wide-eyed. The place shimmered with golden plains and rivers of flowing light. It was not merely space. It was alive and pulsing with vitality.
"This is..." Cielius whispered with his trembling voice. "Grandson, what is this place?... Every breath I take gives me energy. Even my body seems to be filled with vitality."
Sebas put his hands behind his back and nodded.
"As expected of the Young Lord... This feels like a sanctuary!"
Lucien gave a small laugh.
"Exactly. No one can enter without my permission. We’ll use this to strike from within the Black Mass. But... we’ll keep this secret. To everyone else, we’ll say it’s just a teleportation technique to a safe zone."
The two men nodded. They understood the necessity.
"Then... let me show you something else."
Lucien led them deeper until doors rose before them. They glowed faintly with engraved stars and ancient runes.
His chest tightened. The Origin Core fragment pulsed in the sky, resonating with the doors. Something had shifted here too...
"Sebas, please enter the one with the four-star sigil. Grandpa, please take the one inscribed with ancient magic spells."
The two looked puzzled.
"What’s inside?" asked Cielius.
Lucien only gave a faint smile.
"Something that would surprise you."
When the doors shut behind them, Lucien didn’t follow.
His hands curled into fists at his sides. He already knew what awaited them.
A reunion. Not of flesh and blood... but of light and memory.
The figures beyond those doors could not yet speak but they were growing... becoming more.
...
Moments passed.
The doors creaked open.
Sebas emerged first. His eyes reddened and a new aura crackled around his frame.
Lucien smiled and used INSPECT. Sebas has learned a new skill.
Cielius followed with his Worldroot Staff in hand. His tears... had not yet dried. His mana swirled violently, whispering of a newly learned ancient magic spell.
Lucien didn’t ask what happened inside. He didn’t need to. Their expressions told him enough.
Whatever they had seen within had given them strength... and resolved.
He only nodded. They nodded back. No words were exchanged and none were needed.
And so... Lucien continued what he was doing.
He sealed the unnecessary paths inside. He was trying to disguise this place’s nature. The doors and even the large shelves that contained his drops were sealed. Only he can enter them.
When the time comes and he brought the army inside, this would look like nothing more than a simple place.
•••
Preparation has also begun.
Through his CRAFT feature, Lucien created not only weapons and armor but innovations to shift the tide of upcoming big clash...
Soul-Bound Gears... Equipment linked directly to the soldier’s life force that can prevent disarmament or theft.
Portable Beacon Stones... Anchors that can create temporary safe zones inside the Black Mass.
Emergency Rations & Elixirs... Alchemized food and liquid that instantly restores stamina and kept minds sharp under bleak influence.
And many more things...
Also... He organized the drops and his INVENTORY so that he can respond and adapt easily during battles.
The Crafting Division worked tirelessly. They enchanted the weapons and gears with magic circles tuned specifically to counteract the corruptive energy.
Lukas drilled the soldiers relentlessly. He ensured their formations flowed like water.
Lucien understood well. Though the Spiritual Division was eccentric, their presence could prove decisive. In a battle of such magnitude, protective forces were indispensable.
He purified the Goblin Magus figurine and entrusted it to the Spiritual Division. Under Clara’s guidance, the members performed the sacrifice to awaken the Dominion Circle skill.
Clara quickly grasped its complexities. With her steady direction, the Division’s rituals began to evolve. New possibilities were born.
Lucien watched all of this unfold with pride.
And so...
He spent the next hours looking for life saving items.
And he started CRAFTing again.
But still, there were limits. Supplies ran thin...
Just then....
An airship appeared on the horizon. Its silhouette broke the clouds.
The vessel docked and from its hull descended none other than King Midas and Pope Augustus. Their voices reached Lucien even before they touched the ground.
"I’m telling you, brute force won’t pierce that barrier!" Augustus snapped as his robes flared in the wind.
"And what? You’d rather watch the land rot while you mutter incantations?" Midas barked back.
The argument cut short when they saw Lucien waiting for them.
Both men approached.
"Marquis," Augustus said first. "That big black barrier... No attack, no spell, no ritual can breach it. Please tell me... have you found a way inside?"
Augustus was hopeful.
Lucien didn’t falter. He had already chosen the words he could afford to say.
"I have. But it must remain a secret. What matters is this... We can enter and when we do, we’ll strike directly at the source."
Lucien gave a sigh.
Midas studied him intently as though peering past his silence into the worries he dared not voice.
Then he spoke...
"Marquis... all that my throne commands is yours. Treasures, rare materials, weapons, supplies. Please take them and use them as if they were your own. You are the only one who can lead us inside. I will see to the preparations personally. If we falter here, there will be no kingdom left to rule."
Augustus closed his eyes as though binding his soul with the vow before lifting his voice...
"And the Holy Empire shall stand with you. My libraries, my ritualists, my sacred relics... let them be your shield. Whatever power Heaven still grants me, I will place in your hands." He let out a faint weary chuckle. "At last... those corrupt officials might serve a purpose."
Lucien’s eyes flickered with a rare light. It was as if Midas had read his very thoughts... just as worry over lacking materials gnawed at him, the answer had appeared.
He bowed. "Thank you, Your Majesty. Thank you, Your Holiness. I will not squander what you entrust to me."
Midas leaned back. "No, Marquis. It is we who should thank you. To stand idle while the world crumbles would be the greatest betrayal of our crowns."
•••
Midas and Augustus left to prepare the materials.
Lucien was alone once more.
The weight of the current threat pressed against his chest.
Would the future truly change this time? Or would destruction simply take another shape and swallow them whole?
He clenched his fists...
’If I can’t stop this... then what? Do I abandon this world and escape to the Big World? Or is that just another way of running?’
The question gnawed at him but there was no time to linger on doubt.
The decision was made.
The assault on the Black Mass would begin 3 days from now. Between now and then... Every soldier, mage and division would need to prepare.
Not just for battle but for survival in the unknown.
Lucien poured himself into the work.
Crafting. Planning. Training.
He also drilled himself relentlessly. He tested every skill and refined their combinations until each movement was instinct.
If the Black Mass held what he feared, hesitation would mean death.
The world’s balance teetered on the edge of a knife and he would not allow it to fall.
The raid was coming.
And Lucien intended to face it with everything he had.
•••
The next day, the two sovereigns returned. Not with words but with action.
Three airships descended. Their hulls groaned under the strain. Not from what they carried openly but from the countless magic bags brimming with treasure stored within.
And still... that was only the beginning.
Once unloaded, the vessels immediately rose again. They vanished toward the horizon to fetch more. Each time they returned, more bags were unloaded.
Lucien’s eyes lit up as he oversaw the unloading.
Rare metals. Monster blood. Fragments of artifacts long forgotten... and many more...
It was as though centuries of hoarded wealth had been spilled at his feet.
And then among the treasures, two particular items caught his gaze.
His heart quickened.
At once, he summoned two of the Beacons of Light.
Ronan, the Twin-blade Warrior.
Elias, the Lightbearer.
From the Mural World he had already suspected about their hidden bloodline.
He had found what could awaken their skills.
These two were already formidable Tier 9s.
But if their bloodline skills were to be unlocked... then the battlefield itself would tremble.
Lucien could almost feel it, the surge of expectation burning inside him.
A new edge had just been placed in his hands.