A man kneeled before another. There were many differences between them, but the most obvious one was the color of their skin.
The kneeling man's skin was white, while the one he kneeled to had an ashen-grey tone to himself.
"Have the others come?"
The grey-skinned man asked the question, but his tone wasn't inquisitive. It was more like he was merely observing facts, no sort of personal emotion present in his demeanor.
"Yes. You are the last one to arrive."
Though he kneeled, the man's tone wasn't submissive.
He spoke as if he was only kneeling for ceremony. There was no respect in his voice.
At least, not the type of respect that viewed anyone as superior to himself.
"I see…"
The grey-skinned man nodded his head.
"The Lord ordered this attack suddenly. I'm impressed with your efficiency," he said, just as indifferent as before.
"We have been preparing for this moment for eons. The only thing missing was the Lord's order," the kneeling man answered.
"I can see that."
The grey-skinned man panned his gaze across his surroundings.
They didn't look like they were in the Heavenly World even though they surely were. The sky was…non-existent, but the ceiling of this place was high enough to create a sky of its own.
The darkness that loomed above was barely capable of representing the massive scale of this place.
Located thousands of kilometers underground, it was an entire civilization, empty and barren.
The area was roughly the size of a Principality, or a Sector of the lower universe. And, just like the most populated Principalities in the Heavenly World, the entire span of land was covered in buildings and structures.
It looked like it was the home of an ancient civilization, a place that had gone undiscovered for millions of years.
However, it was anything but.
This massive area had been created by the Straea Clan within the last 1,000,000 years. It had only been sitting untouched for around 100,000 of those, while the rest were used to build it.
This Principality existed for two reasons.
The first was fairly obvious, and explained the purpose of the grey-skinned man.
This was a place where the Straea Clan could safely interact with the Foreign Races without being subject to the eyes of others.
And secondly, the Dark God ordered it.
Nobody else could know his purpose other than him.
But as it stood now, this place was a den of corruption.
Isolated from the perception of those on the surface by extremely advanced technology lining the entire ceiling of the cave, this pseudo-Principality was entirely corrupted, a true Foreign Territory.
Though it didn't appear on the surface due to the sheer distance, this territory was spreading its corruption throughout the Heavenly World. It had already encompassed the entire Northern Region in its darkness. However, the aura of corruption was masked due to the sheer evil existing in droves on the surface.
The lawless zone itself was the Straea Clan's creation, made to hide the presence of this very place.
And currently, it was being inhabited by 243 beings.
There were meant to be 244 of them, but a certain member of their ranks had been eliminated a bit ago, leaving them with this strange number.
It was a number that felt misfortunate, so perhaps it was more worthy of them.
After all, they were a true plague.
The grey-skinned man who just arrived, the man whom even Malevalon Straea had to kneel to out of courtesy, made them whole.
"Call the rest," he ordered.
Malevalon nodded his head and sent a wave of mana through the pseudo-Principality. Immediately, multiple waves of dark energy returned his welcome.
Those waves of energy turned into auras, which then morphed into the shape of a crowd of men and women as they grew closer.
This was the entirety of the Foreign Race nobility.
The 243 of them were the ones who served the Dark God, people who stood behind him as he turned the Sacred Abyss Universe into his toy.
And they'd come for only one purpose.
"Do you know what it is, the disturbance that the Lord sensed?"
The grey-skinned man…no, now that his peers had arrived, perhaps it was better to address him by his position.
Grand Duke Famas looked down at Malevalon and asked him about "that thing."
They did not know its identity yet, nor did Malevalon. The trace that the Lord sensed was too vague for any of them to comprehend its true nature.
That was the reason they came together, even though they didn't all plan to show themselves to the public eye yet.
Malevalon furrowed his brows.
When he made his contract with the Foreign Races, he did not swear loyalty to them.
He swore loyalty to only one man, the Dark God.
The people around him now were his peers. When it came to the Grand Dukes, that wasn't just an expression but a courtesy, but a truth about their power levels.
Malevalon's eyes flitted between them.
He wasn't accustomed to having "peers," nor did he particularly enjoy the feeling.
But for now, he had to cooperate with them.
"I do not know what the Lord sensed. However, I am aware of the most unique beings and events in this world. Therefore, it should not take too much effort to find it."
The Straea Clan was made partially for this exact purpose.
It wasn't a unique situation. Every time the Dark God's forces made contact with a new cosmos, they made sure to do the same thing.
They created or subjugated a force large enough to cover the entire world.
In the case that an anomaly appeared in the Dark God's plan…
With the influence of their chosen force, they could find the cause instantly and crush it without resistance.
Malevalon welcomed the war that was taking place on the surface.
The aura of blood and slaughter created by it allowed him to bring the entirety of the Foreign Race Nobility into the Heavenly World without complications.
And now that they'd arrived, it wouldn't be long before this war was brought to an end.
After all, what could Void Palace do against such a force?
What could anyone do against such a force?
Malevalon's mentality wasn't a new one. It had been seen amongst countless people in Grand Heavens Boundary.
He'd given up.
He'd submitted to the absolute power he saw when he saw the Dark God.
In Malevalon's eyes, the subjugation of the Heavenly World was a foregone conclusion.
So, in order to hold power in that subjugated world, to rule it, to be part of the conquerors instead of the conquered, he joined the Dark God's side.
When this world was submerged in darkness, he would be its ruler.
Even if he was always under the rule of one man, he would absolutely stand above everyone else.
That was why he stood up, looking the Foreign Nobility in their eyes.
"I look forward to our cooperation."
He was their equal for now, but he would be their superior in the future.
So only for now would he show them such courtesies.
Really, they should've considered themselves lucky.
