Several million kilometers away from where Elena and her armies undertook their operation was the Black Dragon Clan's main base.
This base was originally used as a lure, forcing the Golden Dragon Army out before springing the world calamity on them. However, currently, it was facing another threat.
BOOM!
An explosion of golden light tore through the walls of the base. Bodies flew through the air, technology was shredded to pieces as a man stepped through the newly created rupture in the wall and glanced around.
He was none other than Hedrick, second son of the Golden Dragon Emperor.
Just as he promised to himself, he went directly to the Black Dragon Clan's headquarters to face off against their elites.
And now that he was here, it seemed it would be extremely easy to accomplish his goals.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
"Who goes there?!"
"Draconic War God, even if it's you, you will die here today!"
Exclamations rang out as a guard squad arrived before Hedrick could take a single step into the facility.
"To respond so quickly, it seems you really don't want me to go deeper," he muttered mockingly.
He brandished his weapon, a long earthy black halberd with a blade almost an entire foot long.
"If you believe you can stop me, then fight until your last!"
Hedrick charged without giving them the opportunity to reply. He swung his spear horizontally, making a crescent that slashed through the two men at the front of the guard squad and directly split them into four.
"Come, Black Dragons! Show me why you believe you can usurp our rule!"
The deathly black spear spun through the air, and within a second, the rest of the guard detail was slaughtered. Hedrick finally exited the room he broke into and spread his awareness through the facility.
'My perception is being blocked, but I can still sense aura.'
The structure of the facility itself didn't enter his head at all, but the concentrated aura where the Supreme and his closest confidantes resided was all too clear to his eyes.
'For now, that area must be avoided.'
The goal was to draw them out, rather than going to meet them. Firstly, Hedrick wanted to cause as much damage as possible before facing them, secondly, he didn't want to face them in an environment they were comfortable in, but rather one of his choosing, and thirdly…
Thirdly, his pride didn't allow him to be the one who approached first.
The first minute passed.
Hedrick made his way through the facility like a bulldozer. Every Black Dragon in his path, whether strong or weak, was bisected or crushed by the power of his spear.
In a single minute, the kills he'd racked up were many, numbering at least in the hundreds.
By the second minute, extreme peak experts began to take notice of him.
His battles became longer and required more energy. Even if these 3rd and 4th revolution masters were weaker than him, when taken in large numbers, they still weren't soft persimmons.
Golden mana filled the air, the base itself was torn to shreds by its collisions with the eerie black mana of the Black Dragon Clan.
By the third minute, stronger experts began to populate the area.
5th and 6th revolution masters started appearing amongst the crowd, forcing Hedrick into a tighter and tighter corner.
It was at this moment that he realized, this gradual increase in strength level wasn't a coincidence.
They were purposefully wearing him down with weaker forces, slowly introducing stronger beings that had a chance of landing a fatal blow when the time came.
This was a war of one versus many. If Hedrick lost focus for even a single second, he was done for!
He fought with everything he had. He consumed mana-replenishing pills and elixirs with so much vigor that an outsider might have considered him a drug addict.
And somehow, he managed to stay standing against the harrowing assault.
As a single man, his kill count had now reached a number in the ten thousands, and from the fiery look in his eyes that never seemed to fade…
This number wasn't anywhere close to his limit.
***
Two beings entered the atmosphere, almost wholly devoid of Fate Clouds.
Under them spread a bleak scenery of death and destruction, the calamity of worlds, war.
"Master…" the woman among them muttered.
Her long black hair fluttered in the wind, and her golden eyes shone in worry. She was none other than the little princess of this very world, Astoria Golden.
Standing next to her was the universe's favorite purple-eyed genius, Damien, who gazed down at Beast Emperor Star contemplatively.
"So it was like that, eh," he muttered to himself as his irises slowly settled down.
"You little lass, it turns out you're worth much more than expected," he continued with a smile, pinching Astoria's cheek.
However, she was in no mood to receive his teasing.
"Master, be serious! We need to do something!" She exclaimed, pulling away from his hand.
"Relax, relax," Damien responded, "do you think I, your master, am a heartless person? I just wanted to observe for a second before moving."
"Did you find anything? Astoria asked hopefully.
Damien nodded. "Of course! In fact, the secret to saving the world is…"
Astoria's eyes widened in anticipation.
"Drumroll…"
"Master, please!"
"Fine, fine, the key to saving this world is…you, my dear disciple!"
A light shined down on Astoria and illuminated her like a spotlight as Damien pointed at her dramatically.
"Me?" Astoria questioned, ignoring Damien's antics.
"Yup," Damien said with a sigh. It was clear that his cute disciple wouldn't play along with him until after this whole thing was solved, not that she was being unreasonable.
"In fact, when I just glanced at the world through my skill, I noticed something odd in the World Core. Within the regular core, there is a secondary golden core that seems to be made of the same energy as the Fate Clouds." Damien began.
"There's nothing odd about this, since the Fate Clouds are essentially a limb of the world's body, but what I found strange is that the fluctuation coming from this golden core…is the same as the fluctuation from your combined Golden Dragon Space Power."
It was a realization that couldn't be made until this moment, when Astoria had reached a level where her space abilities and Golden Dragon abilities could mix perfectly.
And as if affirming Damien's conjectures…
"Master, is that what's been calling to me since we came back?" Astoria spoke innocently.
Damien grinned. "You genius disciple, why didn't you tell me before? Indeed, the thing calling to you should be the golden core, and its reason should be so you can help it save this world."
"B-but how can I do that? I'm not even at the extreme peak yet."
Damien furrowed his brows in thought, but before long, his head jerked like it'd been struck by lightning.
"Haha, that's simple enough," he immediately said.
Damien grabbed hold of Astoria and teleported, traversing the planet until he arrived at a certain area, just a few million kilometers away from where Elena and her armies were currently fighting.
"Master, why are we—"
"This area is where four so-called Territory Lords reside. Each and every one of them is a powerhouse, but none of them is at the extreme peak yet. If you want to save the world, your first task is to defeat all four of these Territory Lords and prove your grit."
As Astoria processed his words, Damien looked up in a certain direction with a smile.
'Don't worry, old ghost. Just sit back and watch as your daughter shows you how she's grown.'
