~Moments earlier~

"Duko." A Dormaji with heavy rock formations across his jaw, chin, and cheeks called out.

The one he spoke to had particularly dark rock formations across their body compared to the lighter hues of the other Dormaji. If one paid close attention, the other six names on Thi Lan’s list traveled in a line just barely behind him. In fact, they were ranked exactly like this.

Zurkai was the closest to Duko in terms of this ranking, and he also happened to be the one who had called out Duko’s name just now.

Of course, they were not the seven strongest of the Dormaji. But what they were happened to be the seven strongest currently present.

"This battle is not yours to claim alone. I will have a piece of this." Zurkai finished his words.

It was odd. Zurkai was a half-step behind with his own group of followers. And yet he spoke as though he didn’t truly fear Duko. It was almost like the ranking was a simple matter of fact that he acknowledged. But that acknowledgement didn’t extend to a reverential belief that this ranking would always be true.

"Do you believe that it is a matter of honor for so many Dormaji to appear to deal with a Cracked World?" Duko asked coldly. It was like he hadn’t heard the threat in Zurkai’s words at all.

"It is not." Zurkai said indifferently. "And the coward we seek has allowed two women to fight on his behalf as well. It is an even more pitiful display than I expected. If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have allowed things to go this far. Now it looks like I take pleasure in bullying women."

"So what then makes you think I have any desire to claim this battle from you? What honor would that bring me? I am here to ensure that your weakness does not further tarnish our clan of people. Nothing more, nothing less."

Duko came to a stop, his crimson eyes still focused on the distance. The blackened rock formations across his body rippled, but he hardly reacted at all, his eyes deadpan, unmoved, unbothered.

He looked up as a pulse of light radiated from the distance, and then his eyes narrowed.

"That..." he whispered softly to himself.

"Is that so?" Zurkai said with a chuckle. "In that case—Brupin!"

"Do you think I’ll take commands from you?" Brupin, their last ranked, sneered.

"Oh? So you don’t want to claim this victory on your own? Go on and show us why you deserve to be ranked higher."

"No thank you. I know my limits, I’m no child you can goad."

Zurkai chuckled. "Monai, then?"

The only female amongst them was slender and almost willowy. She stood a head taller than even the rest of their giant frames were, and her hair was formed of an array of bulbous stone heads. At first glance, she almost looked like a member of an entirely different race.

The rock formations that made up her body were polished and evenly proportioned, almost looking like the shell of a well-groomed turtle and radiating the slightest green tinge.

She was actually not ranked sixth. Zurkai had skipped over the sixth, and even the fifth and fourth for that matter, going right to their third.

"There is a problem," she said lightly.

Duko frowned and looked back. This was the first time he had shown any real interest in what was going on between them at all.

The anatomy of the female Dormaji wasn’t just in looks or how they groomed themselves, but most importantly in their intelligence. While the women didn’t gain as much of a physical boost in combat, their dip in intelligence was much lesser.

And, in a relaxed state, they were at least an order of magnitude more intelligent than their men on average.

From the moment that pulse had appeared in the distance, Monai hadn’t taken her eyes off of it.

"If we do not hurry, they will be able to turn the spatial distortion barrier into a barrier we cannot cross without an equivalent spatial item. Procuring such a thing will delay us by several days. Many things can happen in several days."

Zurkai’s eyes narrowed. "How is that possible? The parameters—."

"It is as I’ve said," Monai said indifferently, as though that was already the end of the matter.

"Then we will need to—."

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

The ground shook violently and arms erupted out of it, reaching up so high and so tall it felt like they graced the clouds with their presence before they slammed down to the ground below.

The Dormaji made their decision quickly, hurriedly scattering.

Amunet’s roar filled the skies and carried a cadence far too booming and omnipresent than should have been possible for her small frame. But... that roar was pulling strength and power from a completely different place.

**

The location was a mid-tier city.

Baron Giyoto sat in meditation, taking deep breaths. He inhaled through his nose as quickly as he could, exhaling through his mouth in a slow, controlled manner before repeating it all over again.

But, on just the third cycle, he frowned and opened his eyes.

He had been having more and more of an issue reaching any true state of focus these days. Maybe it was because he was so close...

His gaze landed on a familiar treasure... the Mech Soul. However, the armor was not here.

The echo of tinkering and clashing metal filled his ears. A gnome bent over a furnace, using techniques Giyoto wasn’t sure made any sense. This wasn’t how crafters did things. Why was the gnome using such rudimentary methods?

And more importantly...

When was he going to finish?

Giyoto felt that it was all just so close... so very close...

BOOM.

The ground shook.

Giyoto’s eyes widened and he quickly stood up, grabbing a long-bodied katana that leaned against a wall formed of tough, compacted clay before he rushed out.

"Dammit." Giyoto cursed. Was the final gnome city he spent so much effort trying to find about to collapse? What the hell was going on?

Outside, an octopus creature taller than even the city walls rampaged, fury burning within it.

Giyoto reached out with his Resonant Sense and immediately went pale.

How had such a powerful creature appeared here?

—

[Name: Caldrin]

[Dominion Class]

—