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OS - Chapter 280
🕑 Added 2022-03-23 00:01:01 +0000 UTCThe Red Eye clan was exceptionally busy. At the moment, they were making final preparations. Many just stayed in their homes as they were instructed, while people from all over the planet returned to their roots. Like that, everything associated with the Red Eye clan concentrated on their cities.
Patriarch Star sat in the capital city. Dream had told them to gather in a select few cities and wait. He also gave them a deadline. At that time, he would move them all, though he didn't say how.
They were given plenty of time, and now, they were finally ready. Now, they just waited.
That was when Patriarch Star sensed something. Standing, he left the building he was in and looked at the sky.
A mile above the city, a hole in space opened. This hole expanded from one mile wide to a thousand miles wide, and it didn't stop there. Everyone on the ground was baffled as the sky became black, turning the city below pitch black as well.
After a few seconds though, everyone felt suspended before the ground rumbled. Many weaker people stumbled around, but quickly stabilized when the rumbling stopped. After that, the sky turned its normal color once more, light returning to them.
Now, there was just a single man in the sky. It was Dream, and he looked at Patriarch Star with a small smile.
"It's done. You're officially on my planet now. Here's a map of my current world. There are also some delegated from Earth that wish to talk to you. These wristbands will help with communication."
Dream waved his hand with those words. At that instant, metal bands appeared on everyone's arms. Everyone could see messages appear in their minds, briefing them on the situation.
"If you have any questions, ask the wristbands. I'll be off."
And so, Dream disappeared. Patriarch Star was in a bit of a daze. Just like that? They had been moved? He didn't feel much of anything. Since when was moving an entire clan so easy?
But when the wristband began giving him information, he could only believe it. The ships that flew over to them were the nails in the coffin. Sure enough, delegates from Earth quickly spoke with Patriarch Star, diving into a flurry of discussions about cooperation. Of course, Patriarch Star was a smart man, so he quickly captured his bearings and went with the flow.
At the same time, Dream returned to his mountain top. To move the Red Eye clan, he had simply scooped them up and teleported the landmass over, transplanting it onto Tersa Prime. They were right beside Earth's landmasses, so trade would be easy. With that, an item on his list was crossed off.
Since the time Dream had his revelation that sparked universal war, about 2 months had passed. Dream had only been working on himself for a couple of those weeks, so not much had been done.
But he did lay the groundwork for his future.
Dream's biggest priority was finding a convenient way to move Tersa Prime. He had already done what was needed in order to produce his armies, so he got to working on a new machine.
Of course, this wasn't any normal machine. The framework for the machine spanned the entirety of Tersa Prime.
Across the course of only a week, everyone on the planet had gone from seeing clear skies to now a hexagonal cage. This hexagonal cage was constructed of Dream's nanites, turned to the strongest alloyed metal, and then enchanted. Tersa directly connected to this cage that sat just about 400 miles above her planet's surface, running the enchantments. This did two things.
First, it not only acted as a spatial lock, but it created an isolated magical environment for the planet. The second use was easy to understand. The cage kept the spatial turbulence from affecting anything below, satellites included. It also ensured that the planet couldn't be physically affected by things like a lack of a star for heat, making it survivable even by itself.
But the spatial lock was special. Basically, this could be used as something of a defense. With this spatial lock, Dream could isolate the planet from normal space, keeping anybody but the most powerful from entering. Of course, it served a myriad of other uses. It could lock in on individual people and attack them, it could protect and negate gravitational influences, and more.
And all these were just the basic enchantments for the cage. The second use was spatial shrinkage.
This spatial shrinkage would basically make the planet smaller. Tersa Prime was really big, and Dream didn't like things that were too clunky. So, making the planet smaller would help him a lot. This was the second function of the cage.
With it, Dream could turn the planet, which was bigger than even Jupiter, to the size of a moon. At least, this was his theoretical guess. He hadn't fully laid the enchantments for such a powerful device yet. But it was only a matter of time.
In fact, it only took him another week. After that week, the cage was complete, and Dream activated it. He and Sophia watched as the planet went from a behemoth to a pipsqueak. It was now only 2000 miles in diameter, a size much more handleable than over 130 thousand miles in diameter.
Better yet, it didn't affect the people on the planet. Even the heavenly gates around the planet weren't affected, at least not in their function.
To allow smooth entering and exiting, Dream enchanted the cage with a certain shrinking field. When the planet was shrunk, anything that entered a certain radius would gradually become smaller until it could easily scale to the size of the planet.
With that, the planet's cage was basically complete. This cage now forever rested above the skies of the planet. It was the largest megastructure Dream had ever created.
Of course, the energy required to shrink the planet was astronomical, so Dream didn't keep it active. He couldn't constantly funnel it energy from his infinite energy pool, so he had to make do with the basic enchantments constantly being active. But this was enough. The spatial shrinkage didn't actually have much defensive value. It was only a matter of convenience.
With that, Dream concentrated on other matters.
He currently had three things on his priority list. First was comprehending his concepts, something he was always doing. Second was making his way into the Blood Drop Clan. Third was contacting Vursoid. Technically, only the second item would happen anytime soon.
Dream had already made the decision to wait before contacting Vursoid. He knew that doing so would kickstart the war. How he knew this, Dream wasn't actually sure. It was just a gut feeling of his, a warning in his mind that he could only guess come from the concepts. In fact, ever since taking partial control over his concepts, Dream had gained a unique attunement to the universe. At first he just thought it gave him a greater awareness of the physical laws around him, but it extended much further than that.
Concepts spanned the entire universe. If you were a part of the concepts, then it could be said that your being was inserted into every part of the universe as well. That, or you became aware of everything your concept was connected to. Either way, your awareness became universal. This was why Dream had his gut feeling. On top of that, he could distinctly feel something searching for him. It had no idea where he was yet, but it wouldn't be long before it found him.
So Dream was on a timer anyway. But he wouldn't accelerate the clock any more than he had to, so he just sat tight.
After spending a bit of time accumulating on his planet, Dream made his way over to Cavra. The demigod greeted him with a great smile.
"You came so fast!"
"Of course. How long were you expecting to wait?"
"Hm, at least a few dozen years."
"...No. Anyway, I'd like to request you take me to the Primary world now. As for my show of sincerity, I'll take it out when we get there."
"Very well!"
Cavra readily nodded before leading Dream to a portal. While Dream was surprised he easily agreed, he just went with it.
After that, the two walked right through the massive portal that was eternally busy. Upon entering, they shuttled through the void, exiting in a few seconds.
And upon exiting, Dream nodded inwardly. He already had the map from Vursoid that gave him all the coordinates to each of the Asura primary worlds anyway, but this confirmed it.
And upon arriving in the primary world, Dream was surprised to feel the difference in the environment.
The space all around him was stronger, filled with mana and aether that seemed both stifling and revitalizing. When Dream waved his hand around, he felt as though the mana slipped past his fingers like a thick fog. Only, all the mana present in this world was dyed a deep red, tingling the rest of the world a similar shade.
Above all, Dream could feel the conceptual domain that this world had formed. Dream instantly knew that the Terra Core of this world had touched upon a concept, giving it infinite, undying power that cemented its place in the universe. Tersa was a child compared to this Terra Core, and possibly quite literally depending on the age of this planet.
The only thing that overshadowed the conceptual domain of the planet was the billowing aura coming from the north pole. Dream could sense an aura not much different from Vursoid's. It was that of a god's, an existence that ruled over an entire concept.
Of course, not everyone could sense this aura, only demigods. Still, it went to show how powerful this singular planet was.
Not to mention, the planet was utterly massive. It was at least three times larger than Tersa Prime, and likewise, Dream could sense trillions of souls on the planet. He had never seen so many people in one place before. It was a bit eye opening, even for him.
"Let's head to the capital. I'll put you in touch with one of the generals, and you can show him your army."
"Alright."
Dream nodded as Cavra led the way. The two rose to the air and shuttled through space, quickly approaching the north pole. When they entered the bounds of the city though, they descended to the ground before walking through the city gates like mortal men.
"Just a word of advice, flying is prohibited within the city. Everyone must walk to their destinations."
"...In a city this big?"
Dream asked while looking up. Before him was the massive city, and he was quite impressed.
From the north pole ascended a tall spire that shot into the atmosphere, rising into space before branching out into a disc. The height was easily 300 miles, and its base was 50 miles wide. From base extended the rest of the city as if everything had been born from this megastructure.
Of course, Dream wasn't that impressed by the building. He had already constructed a megastructure that caged a planet, let alone construct a tiny office building. No, what impressed him was the obscene geyser of power that spewed from the north pole.
The geyser let out enough power to create a protective bubble around the planet, and the power was infinite. This meant that this planet couldn't be externally attacked by anything less than a demigod. And Dream knew that not even he had a large enough infinity to break that barrier. For the first time, he faced a magic of absolute power, and one he couldn't circumvent by any means.
"So this is a primary world..."
"Impressive, isn't it? The Asura clans have never been more prosperous in all their history, especially the Blood Drop Clan. They are tied for the most powerful of the 7 god clans."
"God clans?"
"Just a fancy term. Only the name for a clan that has a god guarding it."
"Mm. And who are they tied with?"
"The Calamitous End Clan."
Cavra spoke with a shrug, causing Dream to bob his head.
"Now, you said there are 7 clans."
"Yes. They are:
- Clan of the Sword, the Blood Drop Clan
- Clan of the Spear, the Calamitous End Clan
- Clan of the Mace, the World Cracker Clan
- Clan of the Scythe, the Soul's Harvest Clan
- Clan of the Dagger, the Void's Severance Clan
- Clan of the Bow, the Harrowing Eye Clan
- Clan of the Axe, the Cracked Edge Clan
"These 7 clans all have gods at their heads, and they all control a primary world. Together, these gods and worlds comprise the strongest force of the Asura Faction. Technically, their top strengths don't differ by much, but in terms of the youth population, there are frequent contests, and the Blood Drop Clan has continuously fought for the top spot."
Cavra explained all this as they walked through the city and toward the main spire. To this, Dream had some interesting thoughts, as did Sophia.
[So these clans all have gods that control the concepts of their respective weapons. To think a weapon could form a concept. Would it actually be that powerful though? It couldn't be as powerful as your concepts.]
'Well, to answer that, we'd need to find out how concepts garner power in the first place. But since a weapon can't be used without either magic or substance, I would say that my concepts, those that rule over the fundamental principles of reality, would surpass them. Or I'm totally mistaken, but the chances of that are low.'
[Heh, so confident.]
[It's just intuition.]
Dream smirked as he continued to walk. Despite the city being so massive, with a bit of magic, each of their steps crossed miles. It wasn't long before they began to enter the spire, and Cavra led him through the myriads of maze like floors and corridors.
At the very top of the spire where the disc was located, they finally stopped in a large clearing. It was a hollow portion of the disc the size of a valley, and within this valley were various residences looking like castles or mansions. Everyone could see the majesty of space through glass windows that covered the ceiling, giving off a dignified air.
Cavra took Dream to a particular castle, entering it directly before shouting within a hall.
"Hey! Old hag! Get your sorry ass out here!"
"Huh? Is that Cavra? Did cutting your tongue out not teach you manners last time?"
With a soft response, a woman came walking into the hall. At first glance, she was a mature beauty dressed in a flowing black dress that sparkled with stars. But by Cavra's words, she had to be extremely old. Then again, for demigods, what was age to them? If their memories weren't so good, they'd likely forget that number.
The mature woman scoffed at Cavra's appearance that looked dirty compared to her's. Then, she looked at Dream. When she did, she was a bit surprised. Dream was in his normal form, so she could only sense the flesh and blood of a man.
Of course, she could sense far more than the likes of a class 6. From his body she could sense the power of an entire star, and going further, she could sense the faint effects he had on the surrounding concepts. The entire dimension of material and magic seemed ready to bow down to him on a whim. It was subtle, but she was powerful enough to see it.
"...What kind of little monster did you bring to my doorstep?"
"This is Dream, and he says that he is capable of building armies for us. He spoke impressive numbers, and I thought he'd become useful for the clan."
"Armies? Well, we don't lack people at and below the class 4 realm."
"Do you think I'm stupid, you hag?"
"Yes, I do."
The woman nodded as a matter of factly, causing Cavra to snort.
"Whatever. He said he'd show his sincerity upon arrival, so Dream, now's the time."
Cavra turned to Dream, as did the woman. He just shrugged before turning around, looking at the space outside the spire.
Then, Dream's cosmic form was revealed. If not for their conceptual power, the woman and Cavra would have been frozen along with the rest of the dimension. Still, the woman was baffled while Cavra nodded knowingly. He had seen this form of Dream's before.
Then, Dream brought up his arm, pointing at the space beyond the planet. At that moment, a massive portal opened up, expanding to about 2 thousand miles wide.
Then, this portal spun momentarily before collapsing in on itself. What was produced out of this collapse was Tersa Prime in its shrunked form.
But after being moved, Tersa Prime had no need to remain small. The planet instantly expanded at Dream's silent command, filling everyone's view.
Then, the planet suddenly opened up. The black nanites that swarmed under the crust were revealed for the world to see as the planet segmented open like a hatch. From this hatch came a dark swarm that descended upon the Blood Drop world.
It was then that the woman felt a small tingle go down her spine. The largest portion of the bots were class 4, of which there were about half a trillion. Then, there were the class 5's which numbered nearly 100 million.
And then, there was one lone bot that stuck out in the senses of all. It had power at the upper ranks of class 6's.
While a single class 6 wasn't impressive, the fact that a person could produce one was. Something like this was practically breaking the rules of the universe. Only souls could evolve to garner massive power, and this all relied on talent. Many people would never have the necessary talent to even conjure a spell, let alone evolve their soul to higher levels.
But reliably producing powerful combatants? Sure, it had been done before. There were such thing as golems. But in these numbers? At the very least, the woman had never even heard of such a thing.
At that moment though, when the bots lined themselves up in formation, there was a small ripple of power.
"Is someone trying to start a war?"
The voice shook everyone's souls, carrying undeniable majesty that beckoned others to submit.
Then, a person appeared in front of Dream. It was a single man standing 7 feet tall, wearing plain robes with a single sword that floated by his side like a companion. He had a sharp beard that, by itself, could be crowned king with the lofty disposition it held. Combined with the man's sharp eye and medium length hair, everything just screamed royalty.
Seeing this man, Cavra and the woman fell to one knee.
"We greet the Sword's Majesty."
"Rise."
The man waved them up, and they respectfully did so. In front of him, Cavra and the woman had eyes full of fervor and spirit. The woman, especially, had a certain gleam in her pupils as she bit her lip.
Yet, the man didn't have an eye for them. He focused on Dream, and Dream him.
"...You're the sword god, Orin?"
"I am he. And you... are Sylus Dreamer?"
"Nobody really calls me by my full name."
"I could say the same. Yet here we are."
Orin smiled, as did Dream. Truly, Dream was casual in anybody's presence. Both Cavra and the woman were a bit baffled by the exchange.
Orin opened his mouth to speak again, but Dream quickly cut him off.
"Well Orin, I happen to be but a humble asura craftsman who has come here to provide my services. My products are the bots you see out in space. I haven't come here to start a war, and I hope you can help me keep it that way. For now, at least."
Dream looked at Orin with a deep gaze. There was no hidden message sent between them. Just a statement that at first glance seemed to be a bit threatening.
Orin also returned the deep gaze, almost frowning. He remembered a certain meeting he had not that long ago, and then looked through Dream's existence. As a god of a concept, Orin could easily see the profile of anyone weaker than him, but he couldn't see Dream's. He only knew his name, that which was tied to his conceptual existence. What this meant was that Dream was under a different System. And for him to be so powerful, he could only be a certain famous Seeker the universe was hunting.
So of course, he got the message Dream was trying to convey. Dream didn't want his presence to be known so the universal war wouldn't immediately start. Orin didn't want the war to start so soon either. So he chose t remoained ignorant.
