Within the grand tapestry of the cosmos, as worlds were born and died in the cosmic blink, weeks and months passed unnoticed, like fleeting moments in the life of the universe.
Pontius continued to move secretly within Divine Soul Holy Land to gather information and people, and over time, he reached the conclusion he desired.
'It's already too late.'
His father and the elders spoke as if they planned to cut ties with the Nox once they fled to the Abyss, but he could see the corruption in their eyes.
The more time passed, the less they acted like their original selves.
It was right to say they'd been controlled long ago, and were slowly corroded until they couldn't even understand the change in their thoughts.
He could no longer hold off.
He established communications with the Judgement Order one month back, and he'd been in semi-frequent contact with them ever since.
Their ways were…incomprehensible to say the least.
Pontius couldn't understand how geniuses younger than himself could hold such confidence and determination, but their flames burned into him as well and gave him the drive he was lacking before.
A plan to take down Divine Soul Holy Land from the inside started to form, and it would be carried out as soon as possible, but while they plotted for such an event…
The Soul World was slowly dying.
The frontlines of Eien crumbled first.
Commander Huo was an amazing leader. To hold this line for years on end without faltering was a miracle in itself, but he alone was not enough to do so.
The passing of time led to the eradication of more and more of his troops until finally, there weren't nearly enough of them to hold their defenses.
When that moment came, he made a decision that would haunt him for the rest of his life, but was best for everyone.
He took those willing to follow him and retreated to the Divine Realm.
Naturally, the Ancient God Clan's job became impossible due to his absence.
Instead of holding the entire border of Soul World, they were forced to concentrate their forces on the boundary, which left Calypto open.
The Nox took that opportunity to strike with a full-force blow that stunned the universe.
They took a thousand worlds down in a single day, and as if that wasn't enough, they started directly targeting the Ancient God Clan.
What could they do?
How could they respond?
They simply couldn't.
The Ancient God Clan was growing steadily, but they had not reached their peak yet. As a single influence, how much could they actually do to affect the bigger picture when they were being struck with such ferocity in numbers that they could hardly maintain themselves?
The Ancient God Clan was luckier than most.
They were specifically created by a member of Void Palace to become Damien's subordinates in the future, so the world that doubled as their prison had sufficient functionality to help them survive.
This functionality mainly meant they would retreat deep into the folds of space, or even move their world to an entirely different domain.
Regardless of the path they chose, it remained true that they could no longer give their everything to support Soul World as they'd been doing.
Two of the Sector's greatest pillars fell one after another in a matter of months.
Things could only deteriorate from there.
And so, as the fifth year dawned and flowed, the domain was picked apart by those enemies who prayed for its fall.
Heaven's Army never once showed its face.
Those soldiers who started doubting their superiors still had no choice but to obey their orders lest they be killed for nothing, and nothing needed to be said about the older generation.
Nirvana Soul Holy Land did its absolute best.
In the meantime, Pontius' plans unraveled in the darkness and affected the foundation of Divine Soul Holy Land step by step.
He was able to bring a majority of the common disciples to his side, and after receiving support from the Judgement Order, he gained access to a force of Demigod backers who could stand against the sect elders, which allowed him to act without worry.
While he wasn't able to tear it down anywhere near completely, he was able to cut contact between them and the Nox, which, by intention, cut the Nox's ability to use Soul World's ambient advantages.
The domain that was projected to fall easily was able to put up a far greater resistance than anyone else thus far, but that was it.
The situation had its ups and downs. There were times when the Spirit armies believed in their chances of success.
But they were fated to fail.
Whether it be the forces of good or evil, for better or for worse, all had decided to abandon Soul World.
And standing alone against the full force of the Nox was impossible from the beginning.
When 6 months passed in the 5th year, a grand migration embarked.
Those who could recognize the flow of events gradually retreated to the Divine Realm after giving up hope for their home Sector, and once they moved, those who saw them did the same.
Nearly half of the remaining Spirits left Soul World. They used teleportation arrays, artifacts, and even their own two legs to get as far away as possible.
Though Luciel had the means to stop them in his hands, he didn't do so.
After all, these people weren't fleeing from war, but from death. As long as they could become useful when his plans came to fruition, he didn't mind their presence.
There was no need to go into details about what took place from then on.
The Soul World crumbled.
World after world was destroyed and World Cores were stolen with none the wiser. Populations were massacred, entire races faced genocide, and calamity consumed the world.
By the time it was all over, Pontius successfully took down Divine Soul Holy Land, but his father and the elders were still alive, as they'd escaped to who knows where when the Nox showed the true colors they never hid and attacked the sect.
Pontius and a portion of his people were saved by the Judgement Order and their supporters, but that was it.
It was a pyrrhic victory at best.
And at the end of the day, Soul World still fell.
Nirvana Soul Palace was conquered. Its leaders were publicly executed, and those who still followed them to that day fled instead of risking their lives further.
The support pillars they'd been relying on were gone.
They already saw what would happen if they stayed unorganized and separated at the start of the invasion. Now that the situation repeated itself, they weren't willing to die meaninglessly.
So, Soul World fell.
But it wasn't all bad.
These people didn't lose their fighting spirit, they just lost their chance.
When they retreated to the Divine Realm, Luciel and the forces of justice received an unexpected boon.
That is, these masterless soldiers joined their faction and expanded the avenues they could take for the future.
Grand Heavens Boundary, a once mighty universe with 9 great Sectors filled with powerful experts, was cut down to over half its original size.
All that remained were the Divine Realm, Infernal Realm, Human Domain, and Hephaestus.
In Luxurion…
Shiiiing!
A bloody scene presented itself.
Those people who called themselves "The Council," the ones who pushed Luciel out of power and sidelined him to ruin the universe for their own gain, the group of fake scholars and cowards led by David Joyce…
…were now just corpses on the cold marble floors of the Sky Castle.
Luciel stood over them with sword in hand. The blood dripping from its blade was unreasonably loud as he glanced over the scene of cruelty he'd just created.
"It's finally time…"
His eyes hardened. A blue spirit without constant form appeared at his side.
"Let us begin."
