Ashton hovered above the Fantasia, spreading his senses far and wide to monitor the world around them.
His expression was solemn as he observed the current activity happening all over the map.
Spatial Tears appeared here and there, a development that he and the Orackes certainly weren't expecting. Said Spatial Tears are now pouring in hordes upon hordes of Celestials and Hypogeans.
Upon counting, there were ten of these Spatial Tears that opened all at the same time. They are scattered all over the world, seemingly at random but there was a pattern.
The Celestials that came from the Spatial Tears did not end up in any territories that are not considered part of the Celestial Territory. The same could be said with the Hypogeans as well.
Those who just arrived saw the Strays and immediately handed out heavy punishment for them. However, that is as far as this aggression goes. Meaning that these visitors didn't plan on invading Humanity's territory for now, at least.
'It seems that they're trying to restore some semblance of control over the current camps for now.' He mused to himself.
Humanity's constant victories previously shattered the confidence that these camps have, resulting in a conflict of interest which resulted in an imbalance of control.
Now, it seems they're trying to repair that first before clashing with Humans again.
'At least they're taking us seriously now.' He continued to think. 'But still, to think that they have a way to bypass the barrier of the Twisted Heavenly Bulwark.'
To be honest, the surprising development wasn't as bad as it sounds. Although they indeed managed to bypass the layer of protection this world has, that doesn't make it useless. After all, preventing the invaders from descending isn't the only function it has.
From what he had sensed so far, the strongest amongst those who just came was equivalent to a Star-Lord Ranked Cultivator.
And while Humanity doesn't have anybody strong enough to match those creatures, they're not completely helpless against them.
Even the Demon Emperor and the Miraculous Son weren't able to escape his special abilities...what would a mere Star-Lord amount to?
'Oh?' Ashton raised a brow. He saw another unexpected development happening.
It seems that the elected leaders of this batch of invaders planned to meet each other. They seem to be planning something.
Well, Ashton couldn't just leave them be now, could he? So of course, he promptly left his post, blending in with the world and vanishing in all sorts of senses.
He arrived at the place where he expected them to meet based on their route and speed. He also instantly covered that territory with his Dream Soul Domain.
Inside this domain, they couldn't hide anything from him. Their thoughts, habits, intentions...all of them are visible to him.
He finished his setup just in time before they arrived. And from there, he just listened.
A total of ten figures showed up. Five were surrounded with a holy light, clad in full sets of golden attires while the other five were shrouded in complete darkness.
'Apostles and Sin Demons huh?' Ashton mused to himself.
Upon their arrival, it was clear that there was friction between the camps. It was somewhat hilarious for Ashton to see how they resented and hated those from the other camps.
The hostility in their gazes made the atmosphere tense. It's as if they were about to fight at any given moment.
Sigh
A deep sigh was heard from one of the Apostles. It nearly caused the fuse to be lit but in the end, nothing happened.
"Let's not fight." The apostle who just sighed said. "Frankly, I'm tired. We were all fighting before we even came to this world. I haven't even had a good rest before I was sent here."
"We're all tired to fight so let's just not." The apostle continued, "Let's just talk, yeah?"
Both camps seem to agree with the apostle's words, albeit unwillingly. It's funny how they just couldn't seem to stand the sight of each other.
One of the Sin Demons, Ashton assumed that it was the Sin of Greed from its aura, stepped forward, and said:
"Only while we're here, Apostle Matthias. After we finished our shit here, I'm coming for your neck."
"Greed!" One of the Sin Demons looked perplexed by Greed's sudden decision.
"Get a grip on yourself, Wrath." Greed glared at Wrath. "We received clear instructions from the Demon Emperor. We have no choice. If you cause yet another failure because of your impulsiveness, the Demon God will never forgive you anymore."
Those words seemed to have been more than enough to pacify Wrath's mood. Greed snorted and looked back at Apostle Matthias before saying:
"Again, this truce only lasts here. Once we completed this mission, don't be surprised."
"That's fair." The Apostle now named Matthias, nodded in agreement. "I'll agree to that on behalf of my fellow Apostles."
The two of them shook hands for the briefest of moments before going back to their respective sides.
It was clear that they still haven't discovered Ashton's presence yet. He's this close to them yet they didn't feel a thing.
"Alright so basically, we will restore order in our respective camps first. Once we're ready, we will destroy these locals once and for all." Greed stated.
"How many soldiers do you have?" Matthias asked.
"Around 3.6 million troops. How about you?"
"3.5 million. There's more coming according to the Miraculous Son."
"Same with us." Greed replied.
Ashton's eyes darkened, upon hearing that. He didn't like that at all. That many troops will instantly flatten Fantasia even if they tried to resist it.
"So that's around 7 million troops plus more." Matthias hummed, "With the reinforcements, I assume that we will be looking at around 10-15 million, yeah?"
"Yeah, that sounds about right." Greed replied.
"And we're all mobilizing them in a single go?" Matthias frowned, "Isn't that an overkill?"
"Well, the Demon Emperor wants the locals gone right away. Plus, it's faster this way." Greed shrugged.
When the Sin Demon said that, Ashton decided that he has listened enough. It wouldn't take a genius to realize that if this truly ends up happening, Humanity was done for.
It's at this very moment that he utilized his power and plunged every single one of them into a Dream.
None of them expected it to happen. They didn't even realize that they'd lost consciousness right away, making them completely defenseless against Ashton.
Ashton waved his hand and a glamorous rainbow-colored haze appeared. The haze then turned into tendrils that wormed their way deep into the minds of every single one here.
He had read their memories and saw some interesting things about the current situation.
For starters, the Demon Emperor left the Sin Demons to decide how the mission would go. He only expects results for them, and that is the decimation of the locals by the time they're done.
The Demon Emperor did not specify any time limit for them, meaning that Greed lied just now.
The same could be said for the Miraculous Son according to Apostles' memories. He didn't give them any time limits nor dictated what they should do. He left it for them to figure out, expecting similar results to the Demon Emperor.
Well, if this was the case, then manipulating these fools should be easy.
After planting the suggestions, Ashton disappeared once more. He then watched in interest how things play out now.
All of them blinked a couple of times and then Greed started talking...
"Yeah so, basically, we could just slowly tire them out. After all, we severely outnumber them." Greed said, "The Demon Emperor didn't give us any time limit anyways. Plus, it'll be more fun to see them shatter bit by bit by slowly draining hope from them."
"Okay, so we will send a batch of troops continuously until they crumble?" Matthias asked in clarification.
"Yes. That's the plan at least. I'm open to suggestions if you have any."
"No, that sounds good. We'll go with that. Plus, this way at least, we can take it easy for a bit. I'll just think of this as a vacation or something."
"Sounds good." Greed shrugged. "Anyways, are we done here?"
"Yeah."
"Alright, we'll go back now. Smell you later I guess."
And just like that, the Apostles and the Sin Demons left, returning to their respective camps.
Ashton who was still hidden from everything smiled semi-wickedly to himself.
'Worked like a charm...' he hummed in satisfaction.
He had sensed that both groups were carrying an artifact that could negate illusions and maybe alarm them when it senses some. But those artifacts were never triggered since Ashton's Dreams Laws are way above mere Illusion.
It was truly a good thing that he had decided to come here. If he hadn't, then he'd probably be forced to resort to some drastic measures in the future. But since he managed to interfere, the situation once again fell in Humanity's favor.
'It seems that we should prepare for a Tower Defense from now on. Because that's essentially what will happen because of my interference.'
After musing about that thought, Ashton decided to return home.
