In the office of the Headmaster, Lucian was sitting on his sofa, drinking wine while watching the setting sun from his windows. It was Victory Day, and many were celebrating in the city, not knowing that maybe a century later, they may have a second, similarly named holiday… if everything works out right, that is. But until then, he was not in the mood to think about celebrating anything.

"Anxious?" Somia asked, appearing in the room and looking at him calmly.

"Yes," Lucian answered, not hiding his thoughts. "This is what I never wanted to experience. After leading my friends to their death on that expedition, I feared I might. The Undead down there were too many and too abnormal. I had a feeling something was off! Yet two centuries have passed, and I started to believe I was mistaken… Sadly, I was not."

"I knew it since I started exploring No-Space," Somia answered, sitting next to him, yet her incorporeal form didn't have the weight to push down on the cushions. "It was then affirmed when I met Erias. I always believed it would be an obvious fact. All the clues were there. We never dealt with them for real, only chased them away. It is not the same."

"It was good to believe we truly won." Lucian smiled tiredly.

"I can't argue with that."

"How's he doing? Any new messages?"

"No." She shook her head, "I exist in two places at once; if he has something he wants to convey, I'll tell you. But… he is busy… and nobody from here can offer any help."

"I guessed so… Does he know how much time has passed since he, well, died?"

"Yes." Sonia nodded, tilting her head to the left a little, "But time is something he is not worried about. Especially because they exist in a realm with a different flow of time."

"Really?" Lucian asked, furrowing his brows while emptying his cup. "How's that come to be?"

"Don't know." She shrugged, "I only have hypotheses, but it was not a thing that Erias was concerned about. But my idea is that they cut off part of the Realm and hid it in a warped bubble of time and space. It is… inconsistent at best in there. There are many places where it flows very slowly, but at some places, it is extremely fast; it is an incoherent mess, to be honest with you!" It was the first time that Lucian heard so much emotion in her voice, and he was sure, Somia was genuinely frustrated with the topic. "I just can't figure it out! And that is one thing that can bother me to no end!"

"You like to know everything, don't you?" He teased, yet Somia simply nodded, making him twitch the edge of his mouth.

"So, time is a messy thing in there, maybe because of No-Space. It is also just as chaotic, and they carved out their place in it. Forcefully. Erias could tell you more as he has been in there for way longer, but he is too focused on other things and never bothered to tell me. So… I had to come up with my own research and conclusions." She added, sounding as if she was pouting.

"So that is why there are big gaps between sightings of Intelligent Variants…." Lucian murmured, starting to feel that what he experienced at the start of the 4th Era may have only been a few years back for the Undead. "Can't we stop their creations? I mean… the birth of more Undead?"

"Not really." Somia shook her head, "They are masters of No-Space; I have to admit that fact… Their knowledge is way above mine, and they know many secrets I do not. Believe me… If we could, we would have done it already! Erias is there for this exact reason. To stop them for good. He is close, though! So… just survive."

"Yeah… he may be close, a year or two away, eh? Yet that may turn out a century for us or more…." He shrugged, and Somia had no answer for it. "Don't listen to me; it is the wine speaking. I should get back to my tasks instead!" He stood up, slapping his face hard, and walked to his desk to look over hundreds of documents, all quests and missions that would go up on the Academy's Mission Hall after the end of the short winter break.

"What will you do?" Somia asked, also walking over and looking at the papers.

"I'll send the students out. The 1st- and 2nd-year students can stay here and explore but the rest… They need experience, and the controlled space of the Island is no longer enough. They will be allowed to go down and go on quests to gain true, live experience."

"I'll unlock the bracelets for those who leave." Sonia nodded, "They will be able to keep up the connection with the Institute so we can monitor them."

"You can do that?"

"Of course." She answered as if it was apparent. "I AM the bracelets. The trinkets are nothing but an interface to connect to my consciousness. I simply close myself off for those who leave the Academy without my permission."

"..."

"I thought you know." She added, but Lucian could swear; her eyes were smiling proudly, teasing him.

…
….
…..

While Somia and Lucian were talking about that place that Erias simply named 'Nowhere,' a group of vibrant, almost shining souls were gathering in a sunlit, verdant garden. All of them were wearing white, clean robes and had porcelain-like skin, white hair, and emerald green eyes. They were numbering exactly 12, standing in a circle like a peculiar clock made out of humans, six of them being women and the other half being men.

"Did you examine what caused it?" The one standing at the 12 o'clock position asked, his voice was authoritative, and he exuded the aura of a leader. He was thin, good-looking, especially with his young, handsome features and slick, swept-back hair. Even his stance carried the air of nobility and a kind of importance as he looked at the rest, waiting for an answer.

"One disciple descended to gain an advantage over his peers and bring back a prize that would make him into a core disciple." Standing on the 3 o'clock spot, a woman answered blandly, clearly uninterested in the 'accident.' She was beautiful beyond belief; her long, white hair flowed freely behind her, while her white dress was sticking onto her hourglass-looking body, outlining all her perfect curves.

"It happens from time to time." Another charming man added, occupying the 6 o'clock position and yawning softly. "The new blood is impatient… since being inducted into our Sect, they are itching to get back into Meriath."

"They don't have our patience." The first woman said with clear disdain in her voice. "This is why I say we should not recruit new disciples from their ranks. Their souls are not up to par with what we are used to!"

"We need fresh recruits." Another busty woman with a flirting expression, standing at the 9 o'clock spot, said, glancing at her with a pair of eyes burning with the flames of rivalry. "Their talent doesn't matter! They only need to work in groups and control the armies under the supervision of our Elders! The real work will be done with our core members! We need them, and you know that! We can't harvest enough energy for the Sect Master without relying on our vast armies! We can start rebuilding after we regain strength and defeat that monster outside our Gate."

"She is right." The first man, standing at the 12 o'clock position, spoke again. "We are close in healing our Master." He smiled, watching them, "After he is back at full power, we can stand strong once more, but we need a plentiful harvest for that! So be it if we must utilize sub-par disciples to control our puppets! We can purge the Sect after he is back in his prime! Or…” He asked seriously, watching them all, "Are any of you strong and brave enough to stand against that beast at our doors, waiting for us?"

"..."

"Thought so..." He scoffed with disdain in his voice as he was the prime disciple of their Sect Master and also the only one of this Council of Supreme Elders who fought with the Sect Master against that dreadful demon.

"That thing is a bane of ours…" The woman at the 3 o'clock position murmured, "You can't blame us; we can't fight her! You saw what she did to the others… eating their souls like picking berries…. With one breath, she gulped down the Sect Master of the Everflame Sect, along with his strongest spell!"

"Hmph… cowards!" He snorted, sneering at her, turning her face even paler before it went bright red from anger and shame. "I fought and survived the encounter! That thing is not omnipotent! Master heavily injured her before sealing us away so we could recuperate! Don't forget! Time in our Realm is different than outside! While we regain our full strength, that thing will remain injured! By the time we open the doors, we will be able to kill her and exact our revenge!"

"What about-" The man at the 6 o'clock spot asked.

"Don't worry about those… ‘Immortals!’ Their name is just bravado! I spoke with Master… He says that after regaining strength, he feels that his 2nd Cosmic Tribulation is near. With the boost of a successful harvest… They will be nothing after he takes that step! They are still newcomers; their home was not even part of the Cosmos when ours were already a ruling force!"

"..."

"..."

Some of them looked around, wanting to say that surviving the 2nd Cosmic Tribulation is already a big gamble… only one in a million chance, if not worse... Is their Sect Master really that confident? Daring to try it? Or is this a desperate attempt, grasping at the last straw to survive? Their war never ended; it just… paused after retreating. Even if their enemy is a newcomer in the Cosmos, they wield incredible powers and various spells, techniques, and unique individuals. They were beaten back by them repeatedly when they fought, and after it had blown out of proportion, turning into a full-on war between Realms, they were the last Sect standing from their side while all the others perished. Could they… even win? After all this?

"Enough chit-chat." The leading man continued, watching them with cold eyes, feeling that only he had enough backbone left in the once proud Soulbound Sect. "I bring the orders of our Master! Start the harvest at once! Send down the first wave of disciples for reconnaissance! When we map out the state of our dear Meriath, we can start establishing our outposts in our old allies' headquarters."

"They are monitoring a lot of them."

"I did not say it would be easy! Or are you all gone soft in hiding? Got used to the leisure life, being stuck in here like an obedient prisoner? Are you all lost your backbones?"

"..." Many of their faces turned angry hearing him berate them so openly, which made the one in the 12 o'clock spot grin.

"Good! Those looks are much befitting of someone of your status! We are going to do the usual! Find souls down there who are willing to join our Sect. Induct them into the ranks of Outer Disciples and use them to scout more efficiently. Start marking bodies we can occupy when we descend down ourselves!"

"We have already taken a look." A voice said that remained silent so far, and it was the same man who watched Solren and Razael kill his puppet bodies.

"And we found some interesting ones!" The child-like woman also chuckled, standing beside him as they occupied the 10 and 11 o'clock spots.

"At least some of you are proactive." The leading man nodded approvingly.

"Our physical containers degraded a lot. Soooo… we wanted to bid on the best ones before the rest of you enter in on the fun!" The girl giggled playfully, eager to join the low-ranking disciples in their mission.

"The time for that will come." The group leader said, his voice becoming much softer and calmer. "But after last time's failure, we can't afford the same mistakes. Plans will be followed to the letter, or you will offer your souls up to Master as a penance for any blunder in hindering his work!" He finished with an evil grin.

"...!" That alone made everyone flinch and tremble, wiping any kind of smile from their faces, replacing it with pure shock and terror.

"Get working! Only call up a meeting if something important happens! I will be busy tracking down our annoying, unwelcomed visitor hiding in our Sanctuary! He has been causing trouble recently, and because you lot were unable to apprehend him already, it seems I need to step in personally! Master was not happy…. Not... at... all."

Again, just that coldly uttered sentence, accompanied by his vicious smile, made everyone tremble once more, looking around at each other nervously, unable to relax until he disappeared from his spot.

"Let's go… we need to organize the start of the Descent of the first Inner and Core Disciples. It is best not to anger the Sect Master by delaying his plans!" The woman in the 3 o'clock position said, also disappearing as soon everyone else was gone, preparing the invasion of Meriath and kicking off the Second Dark Age for real.

Corty

Hey-ho~! A lore-focused chappy for the last day of the week~! Now, I know this may be a bit confusing, and if you have questions, feel free to ask, and I will answer them. But everything will make sense as we go forward in the story, I promise you!

Those who read my Mad God book may gain an even clearer picture with this chappy but worry not; everything will be clear later on. For now, I want to let you all speculate, maybe re-read some older chappies for clues~! Theory crafting is fun! Although I won't spoil it for you all, I won't confirm or deny any of your ideas and may only answer with some blobs~!

Also... back on trending so soon? Thank you for reading, liking, and commenting everybody! It means a lot to me!