Within the Sky Citadel, our days became a repetitive cycle. In Fragments of Acidia, we trained to master our new artifacts and develop techniques to use in the upcoming battle. Meanwhile, our real selves continued training the new martial styles that had been recently purchased. Although we still went on adventures together within the game, those were also a part of our training.
This cycle continued until the final day, five hours before the invasion would begin. Those of us from the Sky Citadel had just synchronized our memories with our Virtual selves, receiving the last bit of training that we would have available to us before the battle began. We were not alone in the Citadel, either, as numerous figures had appeared with us. Most of these figures were recognizable anywhere in the world as the members of the Greater Pantheon, while the others were simply those who had not revealed their identities yet.
“Is everyone ready?” I asked, looking around at them all. It had been some time since we learned of our opponent, and I had asked each of them to prepare in their own ways for the battle ahead.
“I’ve contacted the ninjas, and they will be on the lookout for any suspicious individuals.” One of the Terra twins said with a small grin, the other nodding her head.
“Even if we don’t want to actively draw them out to the surface, it would look too weird if we weren’t doing anything visibly at all.”
Accalia gave a small nod of agreement at that. “I’ve tasked my Huntresses with something similar. If any monsters appear in the coming days that have not been chronicled, we should know quickly.”
Alena offered a brief smile, looking around at the gathered group. I could see that she was only one step away from gaining her divinity, but it looked like she was holding herself back from that. “The Goddess has similarly ordered for any new souls entering the afterlife to be questioned. Those who died to outsiders looking for information, or those using powers not of this world, will be found.”
“And I’ve found a spot for our final battle!” Aurivy announced with a wide grin. “You want somewhere uninhabited, but still accessible if people know where to look, and far enough away that a godly battle won’t harm the populace.”
I looked at the others, who all nodded their heads as well. Everyone had done their own work, so now it was just a matter of letting things unfold. “In that case, please transport us there once I have finished covering our tracks.”
Closing my eyes, I swept my senses all across the Sky Citadel. In order to do this, I had to properly visualize every brick, every square inch of the citadel. Once that was done, I mobilized the domains of Illusions and Mirrors, briefly borrowing Tower’s domain of Construction to complete the trinity.
The world around us seemed to shimmer as a new Sky Citadel was overlapped onto the one that we were standing in. With a thought, I set this citadel’s path through the air to appear as normal, that way onlookers would believe that nothing had changed. Only those with the power to track a Keeper would be able to tell that we were no longer on this world. However, those people were unlikely to be looking for the citadel in the first place.
I gave a nod towards Aurivy, and golden mist flooded the palace. When it cleared, I could feel that the gravity had changed. The air coming in through the open door felt dry, and I could see distant mountains in the window when there was previously endless ocean.
“Now… we wait and observe.” I muttered, retrieving my old chakram divine artifacts. Although I had a new artifact, there was no reason for me to forsake these, as they still had their uses. With a wave of my hand, I created reflective surfaces within both chakrams, spreading my sight to various worlds.
There was a flash of blue light, thousands of individuals suddenly appearing within an empty meadow. Many of them gasped, stumbling to the ground before they managed to regain their footing. “This weight…” One of those who managed to stand firmly spoke, brows furrowed. “I don’t think gravity enhancement was part of the information we received, was it?”
A man with silver hair closed his eyes, shaking his head. “We were lucky to get any information at all. Just to be sure, let’s have someone probe the system here.”
He glanced back, looking at the hundred or so individuals who had managed to maintain their footing without issue. “Lorenz, let’s get some confirmation, and apply the local system to all of us here.”
The man he spoke to nodded his head, holding his hands up to the air as a holographic keyboard appeared before him. “There’s definitely a game system on this world. I can’t access any specific details because of the firewall, and it looks like they have some alarms in place in case anyone tries.”
The silver-haired man shook his head. “Let’s not give ourselves away just yet. For now, just copy the system onto us and translate our levels. Let’s make sure that we appear as part of this world.”
The one observing the game system nodded, reaching up and swiping at something in the air. Immediately, another warm, blue light began to shine on the thousands of individuals. “It looks like levels here give stat enhancements. I can’t copy those for our preexisting levels, but it shouldn’t be a problem going forward.”
By this point, those who had fallen to the floor were beginning to stand once again. Although the intense gravity had caught them off-guard, their bodies were strong enough to overcome it. “That’s fine.” The silver-haired man said, looking at a bespectacled woman in a white suit. “See if you can tap into the local information network. Let’s find anything we need to know before hitting a city.”
The woman smiled slightly, adjusting her glasses. “Of course, Kruz.” She nodded, her glasses briefly lighting up gold. “There are a few systems we’ll need to be aware of. It seems like they have language-based magic as well as geometry-based magic here. Neither directly corresponds to our own magic systems, but we can use illusions to cover the differences. Additionally, there is a system to summon familiars as a medium for magic, but we do not have an equivalent for that one.”
After she said that, she looked towards a girl standing behind her, eyes flashing once again. “I just sent you the information packet, so please apply an adaptive illusion to everyone here.”
“Y-Yes ma’am.” The girl nodded, her body briefly shining as a white fog descended over the group, being absorbed within their bodies. “I’ve… I’ve set the illusion according to your parameters. It shouldn’t be any problem for us to blend in as beings of this world.”
“Well, then…” The silver-haired leader spoke, looking up at the ‘sky’ above him. There was a stone ceiling less than sixty kilometers above them, yet the world was filled with light. “This seems to be a special underground world. If the information is to be believed, this should be the world called Fyor, correct? I believe that would explain the gravity.”
The woman in glasses nodded her head. “According to the local information network, that’s right. To be precise, it seems that we are on the fourteenth floor.”
“Fourteenth…” Kruz furrowed his brow, before shaking his head. “We have no special information on that one. It was the fifteenth that had the transportation platform. In order to blend in with the world, we’ll make our way there. Lana, is there a guild system here, and any identifying methods for them?”
“There is one, but each one uses its own methods to identify individuals.” The question was met with a shake of the woman’s head.
A man with a black cloth wrapped around his body chuckled. “As long as we all move together, we’ll be rather eye-catching. The compass is blank, so the Keeper isn’t in this world. We should all split up in groups of five, based on our level and profession. Once we find the right world, we can meet up there easily enough.”
Kruz thought it over, before nodding his head. “Lana, send everyone the information packet. We’ll all need the ‘common sense’ of this world if we’re going to split up like that.”
Lana gave a small grin, eyes flashing gold again. “One more thing, Kruz. It appears that there is a limit of three domains per individual in this world. They refer to such a state as a ‘trinity’, and see it as the highest level of power.”
“Only three?” Kruz asked in surprise, only to receive a nod in return. “I… see. For now, I’ll simply use Strength, Leadership, and Courage. Everyone else that has more, pick three domains to limit yourself to. The rest, seal them in the system. Once we find the Keeper, we’ll release our seals together.”
It felt like a waste, sealing four of his domains away like that, but it would be too obvious that he came from a foreign system if anyone observed his divinity. Lana’s eyes flashed again, and Kruz blinked in surprise. “I see… so the trinity is established because of that?”
He was familiar with the fact that three domains working together could produce an exceptionally stable and efficient effect. Such was common information in their world. However, there was no need to treat that as the end of their development. Although only two people had managed to reach that point, there was an even more stable field, which was nine domains working as one.
Sadly, Kruz himself had not reached that point, as he was still lacking quite a large sum of divine shards. “Everyone, split up! Those of you from races not of this world, speak to Mara for an illusion. Lana, cast an anti-detection power over the group before we go, just to be safe.”
Lana nodded her head, briefly unsealing one of her domains as a black mist wrapped around the group. “It’s done. We should be able to move freely, without any preset detection magic or spirits paying special attention to our presence.”
Kruz gave another nod at that, allowing his body to float into the air. He had long since adjusted to the gravity of this world. “Lana, Lorenz, Mara, and Jordan. You four will be in my group. Lana is in charge of coordinating communication with everyone, so each team should pick a leader and send her a whisper. After this moment, we are not using any systems from our world.”
After he said that, the four people he named flew up to join him, before they all sped off into the distance. Part of Lana’s information had included the location of the gate leading to the next level, so they were making a direct line for the gate.
It was already strange for there to be a hundred gods on this floor of Fyor, but it was not entirely unreasonable, so long as they did not travel together. As they flew, Mara was constantly releasing pulses of light, remotely activating illusions on anyone that sent her a request. The only regret was that they could not create histories for everyone within their group, as that would involve altering the flow of information on too grand of a scale. While Lana was capable of this, it would be immediately noticed and traced back to them. Thus, Kruz decided that it was better for them to maintain a low profile as gods that had been remaining in the ‘mortal realm’ for quite some time.
Lana’s information mentioned something about a world of gods… perhaps that is where we will find the Keeper. Once we get to an area with a stronger connection to that information, I’ll have her look up how we can enter that world.
