"Form up! Align yourselves with your respective families and sects, it'll be more efficient to fight along side those whose abilities you understand." Prince Nova's voice carried over the battlefield.
From Prince Nova's understanding, there were about 40 or so various clans and sects within their 99 universes, none of whom were allowed to control more than one or two universes at once. As a result, even the best clans and sects among them could only be categorized as low-level King God Clans/Sects.
Still, it was because there were so many of them that Prince Nova's plan of action was the best. There hadn't been nearly enough time to gain a thorough understanding of everyone, so he could only hope for the best and rely on their trump cards.
As for this gate, it had a much different environment than what Dyon might be accustomed to.
In Dyon's home universe, the main gate was a combination of mountainous regions coupled with valleys. The only exception was the immediate area around the Epistemic Tower that was surrounded by a thick forest that led to a massive several kilometer deep drop off. Of course, this didn't mention the fact that the surrounding area was also laden with spatial traps that could rip someone apart from the faintest of touches.
The Golden Flame Quadrant's main gate was far livelier. Filled with vibrant colors and flames, not to mention various creatures. The only reason it didn't seem so was because the largest fight took place as Purple Flame Tower which was surrounded by a poisonous fog.
Simply put, the liveliness of a gate was dependent on the universe it was capable of drawing its energy from during its "maintenance periods" and the dangers surrounding their various towers.
Obviously, the Universe Cathedral was filled with not only vast amount of energy, but soul energy, specifically. This made the gates it was attached to seem to breathe with a life of its own. It was almost a shame to battle here.
However, in this peaceful, luscious green land, there were hidden dangers everywhere. Because soul energy was filled with vibrant life force, the vegetation of this gate were almost entirely sentient… In the end, the seemingly beautiful forests around them were akin to gorgeous sirens, beckoning them to crash their boats.
Still, Prince Nova looked toward the looming, thick black pillar in the distance with determination in his eyes. He had always wanted to pit his genius against those titled genius of the Epistemic Tower… Maybe this would finally be his excuse to.
...
Dyon stood with his eyes closed at the edge of the portal. He too had entered a lush forest, but unlike those of the 99 universes, he was at the edge of the gate.
Still, he wasn't too worried about it. His divine sense reached out 100 000km and a single gate was half that size. Considering the fact the Epistemic Tower was located at the very center of the gate, even if Dyon's divine sense was a quarter of what it was now, he'd still have them within his range.
'Hm… So they did have a method for quickly reaching the tower.'
This was a slight problem. One had to remember that after Dyon conquered the Epistemic Tower of his universe, the "danger zone", meaning the field of spatial tears, disappeared, making the area much safer. Obviously, the same thing was true of this universe that had Donari as their key wielder currently.
Now, Dyon was 20 000 or so km away while his opponents had a near cakewalk to the tower.
Exactly like an ordinary tower, Prince Nova would only have to enter and reach the top floor to become the new key wielder.
This "top floor" obviously didn't refer to the room filled with statues that stood above the dao formation floors. There were two separate facets of the Epistemic Tower. One was tied to the inner world, while the other involved the outer world.
The inner world referred to the saint, celestial and dao floors. As for the outer world, it was they that contained the various training rooms that Delia and Eli stayed it. The outer world was also where Dyon fought his final battle with Alidor. In addition, this outer world was also where you'd find the everchanging statue on the first floor with the ten trial gates pertaining to the old man's 5 heaven defying powers.
To conquer the tower, Prince Nova would only have to climb the stairs of the outer world. When he reached the top floor, the key wielder would be summoned.
However, the key wielder would also face a punishment for allowing this to happen. The laws of the tower would come into effect and knock them down a small cultivation realm below the challenger, or a full cultivation realm. The punishment would be decided based on which was most devastating to the key wielder.
As things currently stood, Donari couldn't even defeat Prince Nova at full strength, let alone with a punishment.
That said…
Dyon smiled.
The only reason the punishment of the Key Wielder was so severe was because the powers they held were too great to allow for such incompetence.
Since Dyon could use his key wielding abilities to teleport millions of Uidah to another gate entirely, why couldn't Donari use his abilities to teleport them a few thousand kilometers?
'No need to rush… Let's play a little game first.'
**
Days later, Prince Nova, Princess Sona, Tove, the young prince of the Profound Earth Sect, and deathly quiet and cold Prince Ceres who hadn't spoken a word, were all heaving for breath.
Prince Nova's frown deepened. 'It can't be like this… Someone is toying with us…'
His heart shivered at the thought. Who could manipulate a gate like this?
It wasn't as though Prince Nova was a complete rookie in regards to gates. Although they weren't allowed to attack this Universe Cathedral, and also weren't allowed to conquer each other's universes at the request of their employer, they still had friendly competitions using their gates.
Often times, since they couldn't war with one another due to the rules, disputes would be decided by the younger generation within the gates. So, to say Prince Nova was familiar with campaigning, even though he was only 18, was definitely an understatement.
Plus, their ages weren't a reflection of their talent either. None of the five of them had begun cultivating before 12 years old. This was because their meridian maturation fruits were only at this level, they couldn't compare to the greatest clans and sects.
Still, to reach the pseudo-saint stage at such a young age, it was a glowing endorsement of them all. Yet, they, who should be the pinnacle of this gate, were actually so fatigued and injured without having even seen their enemy yet?
Prince Nova grit his teeth. 'Grandfather was correct. The enemy was prepared to deal with us… But they won't listen to me if I call for retreat now… I only have a gut feeling.'
From tens of thousands of miles away, Dyon watched this scene with a light smile on his face.
Truth be told, he didn't want to fight these kids. The best-case scenario was for them to retreat of their own accord. However, it seemed that their perseverance was quite high.
For the past few days, Dyon had been agitating the sentient vegetation. Although using wills at this distance was incredibly taxing, not to mention substantially weakened them, Dyon had his own methods.
Sometimes he would use soft wind will to carry the scent of the approaching army toward carnivorous plants. Other times he would start small forest fires using fire will to direct hordes of enemies toward them. And he had yet other methods that included using death will to agitate various beasts… It wasn't enough to kill them, but there was nothing like the scent of death to light a fire under a beast.
The distance from the starting position of the 99 universes army and the epistemic tower was supposed to be no more than 100km, yet it felt like they were traversing a universe. They couldn't even rest properly before more ambushes would assault them.
'Dammit.' Prince Nova grit his teeth.
Little did he know how right he was. Dyon was having too much fun playing God.
**
While Dyon was toying with some juniors, those he had brought with him weren't sitting idly either.
