In the Academy, Lucian was just arriving at his office, returning from a meeting with Albert, when Somia materialized before he even closed the door.

"What happened?" He asked, realizing this was not normal.

"I lost connection with the group of Lia." She said seriously, "Their Sub-Realm is sealed off; I can't access it. I was trying different methods until now."

"..." He said nothing but walked to his desk, already looking for communication slips to alert the Houses, expecting Somia to continue in the meanwhile.

"I surveyed their space, and it had been sealed by Miasma. The amount used there suggests it is the work of a Grand Elder. Or multiple Elders working in tandem."

"A what?" He asked, confounded.

"It is a long story… what you need to know is it has been sealed by a very strong Undead, one that only can be faced by someone in the Three Ri stage. I can't tell as I can't get in."

"Can you follow it back to its source? Cut it away, maybe?"

"No." She shook her head, "Not by myself, and Erias is busy at his end."

"Great… how are we going to get in then?"

"You can force it open from your end. I just don't know how long it would take… You need strong mages for that! They minimum have to be at your level."

"Good. That can be arranged!" He nodded, "Do you have any idea why it happened?"

"They are either testing something or they are trying to establish a foothold. They did this in the past, occupying full sub-realms and turning them into nesting grounds from where they start infiltrating the Realm."

"Do you think it is the latter?" He asked, his voice serious and deep.

"No," Somia answered after a brief thought. "They are not stupid. They know which realms are being watched, and you had an outpost established there. Just destroying it would be a telling sign. If they want to come in secretly, they will choose one we have no knowledge of."

"So this is a diversion… while they find their nest somewhere else…." He sighed, feeling defeated. They just can't monitor all of Meriath at once, not when hidden sub-realms are being rediscovered all the time. He had the suspicion that they lost their history by no accident, making sure the Undead could always have a place to hide away.

"Most probably. The problem is, we don't know what they have released into it. Usually, it is extremely destructive. They keep the Realm sealed off until it powers up and then unleashed upon the world."

"So it is a Weapon-tiered Undead…." Lucian bit his lips, taking a deep breath to remain calm.

"Most likely."

"We need to hurry…" He murmured, contacting Reyra first, explaining everything that he just learned.

…
….
……

"That was Azurat, wasn't it?" Raufon asked after the permanent dusk returned, and the dragon disappeared into the Core Region.

"Has to be…" Sion whispered, looking wearily at the cracked sky, crouching next to the broken window.

“This is… bad…” Koa added, gulping, making everyone nod.

"Good thing we hid here… That thing could have seen us from high up if we stayed at the campsite!" Keily said, first to slowly stand up and try to see more of their surroundings.

"What now?" Ceiline asked, watching Lia and Rinzen as the latter stared upwards unblinkingly.

"We lay low. Keep to the plan! We keep an eye on the archway from here and see when others arrive."

"What if it is blocked only from the inside?" Sion asked, and Rinzen replied.

"The ones who will come are going to be part of the Six." She turned her gaze towards them, letting a little, small smile show on her face to ease their worries, "Think… Who disappeared here? Lia, Aurora and Koadriana. The direct lineage of the Amarins. Then there is Ceiline, another blood from a House. Lastly… me. Part of the Six. I may disagree with the Council back home, but I know my Mother. She will be furious…"

It was the first time they heard her speak so much and with so much energy behind it that it strangely calmed everyone down.

"It flew towards the Core Region." Aurora signed, thinking, "Do you think it was those green bolts of lightning that called it forth?"

"Or the thing we activated here." Lia nodded towards the desk standing at the other end of the room.

"Then why are we still alive?" Simbad asked, "If it was the one that summoned it, we should be dead. A dragon, alive or not, would surely recognize where the disturbance came from!"

"That is… logical," Ceiline murmured, holding a peashooter, nervously stroking its head, letting it happily blow bubbles in her embrace.

"We can try it out," Lia said, walking over, and to the other's horror, she pressed a button, watching the skies from the broken windows.

They heard the gears moving below them, the formation on the ground flickering and then stopping. The group was glued to their spot, forgetting to breathe, but nothing happened. No shaking, no distant roars or lightning strikes. Everything remained calm and tranquil.

"Whew…" Keily wiped his forehead, first to speak up, "Boss… don't do that again!"

"Ehehe…" She chuckled, just as relieved. "Well… this shows that it was summoned by those strange lightning bolts, not us, so we are safe! Let's get back to work! We need a base of operation where we can rest and hide! First, we board up the windows and reinforce the entrance! Then…” She looked up at the ceiling, "As our way up is blocked, I think it will come down to you, Raufon."

"Want me to blow a hole into the ceiling?" He asked, turning his head upwards.

"Yeah… something like that. If we don't have stairs, we will build our own."

…
….
……

The sun was shining high up in the blue sky, periodically hiding behind white, puffy clouds floating around aimlessly. On an extensive, green pasture stood a 15 meters high ziggurat made out of sand-colored blocks, it's top being flat and open, only housing a giant, complex formation around a plain, stone altar. The formation itself had three concentric circles, each of them occupied by ten disciples, kneeling and meditating. Their posture and looks were similar to those three Lia inadvertently injured; the only difference was that they worked in a group of 30 cultivators, not just 4.

On the altar, a woman was lying on her back, looking to be in her mid-twenties. She was slim and beautiful, her white, curly hair giving her the perfect cushion for lying on such a hard and cold surface. Without warning, she opened her green eyes, gently sitting up, blinking them like someone who had just awakened from a weird dream. Soon after, all the kneeling figures were also doing the same, returning to consciousness, but none of them dared to look up or stand, not until they were given orders.

"Elder Senaita." A male voice spoke up, and when the woman on the altar turned towards it, she hurriedly climbed down, fixing her white robes, cupping her hand, and bowing deeply. She was facing a tall and muscular man, walking up the ziggurat, wearing a similar robe and having short, white hair.

“Grand Elder Cabrao!” She said with a flattering voice, slowly rising, glancing at him with a charming smile.

"I just came to see you and your disciples," He said, holding his hand behind his back, watching the kneeling figures around the altar. "And ask you, how did it go?"

"Without problems!" She said, clearly trying to impress him. "Your work on that sub-realm won't be wasted in my hands; I promise that!"

"Really?" He asked back immediately, and seeing skepticism in his eyes, she quickly added.

"The body of Azurat is back in moving order! My disciples and I can supply enough energy to it to keep it acting and moving without issues! We just need a little bit of time to synchronize our minds with it. Controlling a dragon vessel is… complicated. But we will manage and give it enough orders to… function."

"We know." Cabrao smiled a little, which made Senaita extremely happy at once. "That is why we delegated the job to you and your disciples. Try to reinforce it so it can deal enough damage before falling apart. It is an ancient relic; it best to make it go out with a bang."

"We are doing it!" She nodded rapidly, "We need a few more sessions to reinforce the body and gain perfect control over it! With the energy collectors built in there, it is much easier! There will be no issues, Grand Elder!"

"To ensure that we decided to delegate a few outer disciples to your mission. You need to make as much noise and chaos as possible." He waved his hand, leading Senaita to the edge of her ziggurat, and she could see that a hundred people were gathering below them. All of their heads were filled with colored hair, barely starting to turn white, signaling that they were genuinely fresh recruits.

"These are…" She asked, disgust creeping up on her face as she examined them.

"Use them as you see fit." Cabrao chuckled, "They are fresh souls… They are good enough to work in small groups to control basic puppet bodies. No real loss if they don't… survive."

"I see." She smiled, replacing the disgust in her eyes with sheer cruelty. "In that case, I already have an idea what to do with them."

"That is good!" Cabrao patted her shoulders, which elevated her to new heights, making her blush like a teenage girl. "The others need a very good and noisy diversion. We are counting on you!"

"Ahaha, worry not, Grand Elder! We will give them one!" She cupped her hands again, bowing deeply until Cabrao disappeared, leaving her there with a savage grin.

…
….
……

In the sub-realm of Azurat, the Misfits managed to open the ceiling up on all the levels and tie ropes to them that they could use for moving up and down. It was clear that this building was once built for many families as all rooms had the remains of pieces of furniture reminiscent of cozy little homes. The higher they went, the more luxurious it looked, with golden door handles, gems-filled-wall-decorations and now faded paintings.

With Rinzen's help, they cleaned up the intact windows and settled on the highest floor of the building, separating into four different rooms to have a complete view of the ruined city around them. As nobody wanted to remain alone, Raufon opened the rooms together… which meant demolishing the many walls and using the rubble to board up the entrance on the first floor.

"The quiet worries me," Koa said, sitting on a windowsill, looking out towards the Core Region, which was filled with spiky towers reaching towards the sky.

"..." Lia had nothing to say as she felt the same. Raufon made ample noise, yet no Undead came to investigate. It was as if they were the only living beings in the whole world. "I now get how Razael felt… being trapped underground."

"Yeah…" Aurora signed with her hands, looking at her. She was to write something when a plotted peashooter, sitting next to them, beeped and booped, the same as the others placed in the rooms where a Misfit was resting.

Everyone stood up immediately, scanning the streets because it was a signal from one of the sensory plants, left outside as a guard, sending back alarms. They quickly realized that the warning was of no Undead presence… but that the darkness was returning once more. The already weak light disappeared as bolts of green lightning struck down at the distant towers, and now they saw it clearly. A gigantic shadow rose to the air right after, roaring in its eerie voice before making rounds above the city. None of them said anything, just remained still, watching it. After a minute or so, it landed on the Outskirts and started walking, thumping steps echoing far and wide.

“It looks… unstable…” Keily whispered, and after seeing that the dragon did not react, they were much braver.

"Is it?" Lia asked, whispering, sneaking in from the other room, trying to make as little noise as possible.

"Yeah… he is right!" Ceiline nodded, noticing that the huge body sometimes stopped and laid down before standing back up, trotting a few steps, and going flat again. "Like… if it was sick or something!"

"It is sick…" Rinzen said, continuing looking, "It is an Undead… it is the sickness itself…."

Nobody had anything to say after that; they just watched it fly up and take another few rounds before retreating into the Core Regions. After it landed once more, the dusk-like atmosphere returned, leaving them with a breath of relief.

"Interesting…" Lia murmured, her gaze fixed on the Core Regions, and she did not blink, not until Aurora put her hand on her shoulders.

"What is it?" She wrote questioningly.

"I don't know yet…" Lia whispered, licking her lips once, the gears in her head already spinning rapidly.