The sudden burst of life startled Tezca.

It was like a switch was flipped. The seemingly endless flood of corruption from Malrort was blown away like a pile of dust in hot winds. Replacing it was the blessing of rejuvenation, laced with the fragrance of spring. 

The monster turned toward Rem.

“What did you do?” Tezca said.

“Giving a girl a chance,” Rem said. “I already told you that you have no faith, right? How could you still fail to get it after such an obvious clue?"

The truth registered like a brick thrown in the face.

Technically, the plan made sense. Cytortia’s potential as a divinity descending from heaven and earth made her a prime material to communicate with and connect to the planet. If True managed to convert her to its cause, they would have a direct conveyor to push out Malrort’s influence. However, Texca couldn’t comprehend this decision. It made no conceivable sense for that girl, a weakling, to be given such a duty.

Before Tezca could voice his denial, a chain of amber light shot from the ground and wrapped around him.

The beast of Malrort turned to look at Hakeem, who was supposed to be flat on the ground. Instead, the [Monarch of Realm] was up despite the blood caking his lip. This shouldn’t be happening. Monstrous creation of Malrort Tezca might be, but even he knew firing [Dimension Slicing] would have tanked Hakeem’s output at the very least. Mathematically speaking, firing it twice in a day should push him over the limit.

However, Hakeem De Darwin was up and running. And if the toughness of this chain was to go by, he was back to 100 percent.

A thought rushed through Tezca’s head, and he turned toward Rem.

Dressed in tattered clothes, Rem’s bruised and limping body was recovering to the naked eye. Cuts and scrapes on his skin mended themselves at rapid speed. Inside, his fractured bones were righting themselves.

“How the hell are you f*ckers healing?” Tezca screeched, demanding the knowledge he worked out the moment he voiced the question out loud. Something in his brain immediately clicked as he realized that useless chick was nowhere to be found the entire battle.

“No fucking way,” Tezca muttered. “You are telling me that useless weakling’s healing potential is this strong.”

Rem chuckled.

“Let me be honest." Rem shrugged. “This is working way better than I expected.

…

Rem was downplaying the absurdity of Cytortia Nova’s power.

No one expected such a miracle. Even the rapidly recovering Nova herself watched her slack jaw as the planet’s vitality performed a vertical jump. Everywhere the serpent’s senses reached, people were being healed. The raving maniac, exposed to liquid evil, regained their senses. A suicidal victim in a straight jacket blinked as the will to live returned. The garrison members who were working to death suddenly felt like someone had poured the fountain of youth down their throat and jump-started their hearts with a liquid-joy injection.

Everything on the planet was affected by the surge of vita particles returning to them, from the skulking Lin to Chandra and Tai witnessing the clashes of the mighty

The Great Serpent Nova oversaw this surge of power and tried to analyze the origin, only to find more questions.

There was no doubt that this miracle came from Cytortia. Nova's youngest foster daughter was levitating in the air like a priestess ascending to heaven. Her eyes closed in the prayers, and the blank white card made of pearly material crumbled to dust and flowed into her body.

Despite her wealth of knowledge, the phenomenon Cytortia was undergoing struck Nova dumb. Aside from deducing that the pearly card was important, the Great Serpent could explain nothing else.

It wasn’t surprising. The awakening of sparks and the thesis circuit were exclusive to the Cosmic Tree of the Braves. Someone outside of that sphere wouldn’t understand its internal workings. Even those on the inside, such as Rem and Hakeem, were never told about the thesis of [Cradle] and its significance.

True’s theses were unique on their own, but [Cradle] was exceptional because of its status as a shrine to the Cosmic Tree True itself.

The thesis of [Cradle] didn’t create arts or vassals like [Sage] or [Monarch]. Instead, it formed an internal territory directly connected to True. If Rem and Hakeem were enforcers, Cytortia was a priestess who delivered communion with the cosmic tree. Everywhere her territory touched was practically a temple.

Under the card’s one-time-use effect, this territory was expanded to a planetary level.

That alone would spell the end of Malrort’s influence, but the spark of [Rejuvenation] was more than healing. The power was akin to time manipulation aimed at shepherding the target back to its optimal state. Under its power, injuries and fatigue were rewound, and even the cost of using some techniques was amended.

All those bonuses came at the price of Cytortia having the splitting headache of a lifetime.

…

Tezca didn’t exactly know what Cytortia’s spark was capable of, but he knew his time on top was over. With a few limbs down, his secret exposed, and his enemies getting their stamina refilled, Tezca’s reward for standing and fighting was becoming a punching bag.

The situation should be clearer than ever, yet there was something that didn’t make sense: Cytortia’s current range was too absurd. A newly awakened girl shouldn’t be able to cover the entire planet with her power.

Rem and Hakeem must have done something, but what tricks would allow the girl to channel the power of an almighty cosmic tree so easily? True was a new cosmic tree with no established structure. Even after buying time with everything they had, they shouldn’t have the resources to pull off this miracle.

Wait, Tezca’s thought stumbled toward another absurd possibility.

“Did you insane f*ckers appoint that girl as the commandant?" Tezca screeched incoherently. “Are you insane? You are appointing a no-name weakling as a pillar of your entire military force!”

Rem snorted. Any hint of hesitation was already resolved when he handed that white card—the appointment offer—to that girl.

“King Arthur was also a no-name before he pulled the sword from the stone,” Hakeem said. “I don’t see any knight in Camelot having a problem with that.”

“Yeah,” Rem declared. He was grinning wide enough to scare a hardened criminal. “It is more appealing to let a cute girl hold the joystick than a burly old man.”

Tezca didn’t know what to say. On one hand, this operation had failed on every level. On the other hand, the greatest threat against Malrort just appointed the equivalent of a corgi to be their commander and chief.

It should have been a victory for Tezca, but the specter of death was still there to haunt him. Anyway, staying here to face the two living headaches wouldn’t be good for his mental health. Especially when Nova could come in and end him at any moment.

There was no clearer sign to quit.

Using a silent command, the monster summoned the pool of black water hanging above them all. Although diminished by the power [Rejuvenation], the water from the flood still possessed the energy for one translocation.

Hakeem attempted to stop Tezca with another [Dimension Slicing] but the waterfall of dark fluid isolated the targeted space before any of his attacks could land. It marked the end of the fight; neither side could launch any moves on the other anymore.

“You will regret this,” Tezca said, leaving the words behind as swirling black water engulfed him and vanished into the thin air with the monster.

“Maybe,” Rem said to no one. “But I think not.”

Hakeem breathed out in relief that their campaign on this planet had come to an end. He soon noticed the golden glow around him. Hakeem turned toward the similarly glowing Rem in surprise.

“I think this is Symphony summoning us back,” Rem said. “Trust me, dude, it is much better this way than being kept here as a guest.”

“It is quite sad to leave without saying goodbye to Guido,” Hakeem said sadly.

In a golden light, the two left. Leaving behind Chandra and Tai, who made their way out of the hiding places to the utterly devastating block of the Four Seasons Court, which was reduced to nothing but a flat piece of land,.

Nova would arrive later and issue an order to search for the two who had vanished. Rewards were an issue, and their images would be spread across the Astral Sea, yet not a shadow of Rem and Hakeem would be found.

And neither was Cytortia Nova.

…

The incident that day would become infamous as the [Flood of Evil] Disaster.

Officially, this tragedy was caused by Jehovah Atrum's illicit Reverse Beast experiment and ended when the Great Serpent Nova rejoined the fray after suffering a surprise attack

It was an open secret that the official story was a lie, born of Nova’s own fractured ego and the need to keep the public’s trust in the system

Lies aside, the fatalities from this incident ranged in the thousands, with many more missing. The funeral procession was seemingly unending. Cries and mourning turned the air gray, choking the life out of the Solstice Festival to the point of cancellation.

For Lin Nova, this event was a grim omen. Too many things were changing. Chandra and Tai suddenly decided to go find the Oracle of Heavens. Nova went silent, and she was in the dark about what was happening next.

Under those circumstances, Lin decided to search for an answer.

Lin walked down the street, blackened from a volatile scorching courtesy of the [Flood of Evil] Disaster. She ignored the collapsed building and the recently homeless people passing her, but the smell was another story. After having the city soaked in liquid evil, the stench of acid and sulfur cloaked the air, even after a month of rebuilding.

Lin summoned the air refresher kept in her [Majestic Sea] and took a deep breath.

In front of her was a door to the pub, where secrets were discussed. The same pub Rem and Cytortia went to a month ago.