"Keep them for now. I must immediately start my breakthrough. Alert Else, Verena, and Yvonne of the current situation and have them prepare."
Konrad instructed and hearing this, Astarte bowed and vanished in a white haze.
"As for you Krann, take command of the legion and stand ready to assist the mistresses if need be. I believe more of those -Zenith Ants- will show themselves. Their true depth is hard to fathom. No negligence is allowed."
Krann then took his leave, and only Konrad now remained.
"I didn't expect that Zenith Ants still remained within the Ancient Crystal World. Where could the nest possibly be?"
Konrad wondered. Having obtained a tremendous amount of knowledge from either the infernal souls or Selene, he knew very well what those creatures were. Those two were nothing more than average soldiers with unremarkable bloodlines.
"I'm as surprised as you are. According to common knowledge, the Ancient Crystal World's Zenith Ants were all killed by my father. But now it appears they found a road to survival. In the demonic hierarchy, they used to rank very high. This bodes no good for us."
Selene replied.
"Indeed. Maybe it's time we use the World Gate to ditch the Ancient Crystal World."
Konrad jested. From completing the seventh level of the main quest, he obtained two items, the World and Harem Gates. With the World Gate, he could travel to any mortal world without restrictions while the Harem Gate allowed him to open a door to any harem ring wielder and either bring them to his side or reach theirs.
Jasmine, Iliana, Nils, Freya, and Daphne were currently sightseeing in distant mortal worlds while laying down the foundation of their future invasions.
As for the eighth level, besides the Valkyrie Armors, he also obtained two startling items.
"Don't say it if you don't mean it."
Selene rolled her eyes.
"Touché. Oh well, my turn."
Konrad then sat crossed-legged in meditation, ready to start his breakthrough.
…
Meanwhile, within the Celestial Church, a crushing silence reigned. If the rapid series of events should have swept the church with sorrow and dread, the appearance of those higher reinforcements certainly was a much-needed respite.
Or so it was meant to be. But reality often betrayed expectations. As soon as they appeared, the devas first gathered the legion of Celestial Church members in one spot. Then, a bald, silver-eyed man sitting crossed-legged within the air floated toward them. In the middle of his forehead, a vertical eye opened and swept the gathered church members.
"Three."
He stated and beckoned, causing Konrad's three spies to appear before him. Their eyes widened in stupor, and seeing the three of them chosen out of this sea of individuals, they knew their identities exposed.
But how?
*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*
A golden-haired man stepped forward, stopping beside the silver-eyed baldie.
"As efficient as ever. I sometimes envy you brahma's third eye."
He declared in a jovial tone before shifting his eyes toward the three spies.
"I know, I know. You're wondering why we could so effortlessly find your traitorous lot out of this sea of people. It does not matter. You should instead be thinking of how to save yourselves.
But you can't…"
The golden-haired man stated then waved his hand, causing the three to burn into ashes.
His eyes then swept the gathered church disciples, before him, and seeing most of them tremble with glaring fright, he sighed and again waved his hand.
All the moon, dream and paragon spirits, legions of souls, were burned to ashes, not even given the time to scream. Now, only the sun spirits remained.
Their eyes widened in a stupor. However, none of the devas standing by the golden-haired man's side made a comment.
"The first three died because they were enslaved by the enemy and served as his eyes.
The rest died because their elders surrendered. Lord Surya, the Sun God, was moved by your elders' resolve. Therefore, you shall be treated with courtesy and given the opportunity to follow us back to Heaven once we cleanse this world."
The golden-haired man explained, causing the sun spirits stupor to vanish into nothingness. Now, only joy remained!
"Thank you, lords, for the opportunity!"
They roared in tandem and kowtowed toward the devas, but before their foreheads met the ground, the devas had already vanished.
Clearly, they had no interest in the remaining sun spirits' show of loyalty.
…
"According to our knowledge, the Tower of Rebirth was built from the combination of Isylia and Marduk's strongest God-Artifacts. However, it seems to contain principles the two of them shouldn't have been able to grasp.
Primarily, a connection to Nirvana and other kinds of unknown forces. Since it originates from our house, we Ravmalakh naturally wish to study it. Does anyone of you have an objection?"
The golden-haired deva asked the two figures standing beside him. As the leaders and mightiest members of the expedition, only they could call the shots.
The silver-eyed baldie said nothing. However, the slender figure at his right immediately disagreed.
"Following this reasoning, should we also give you the boy?"
She rhetorically asked. And the "boy" she mentioned was naturally Konrad.
"We are not that greedy. You can have the boy; we only want the Tower. Of course, ownership is one thing, but in the future, you should do us the courtesy of involving us in the experiments."
He replied toward the lady whose glowing white hairs eclipsed everything else within the room.
When he contacted those houses, to avoid pitfalls, Anatol didn't reveal his assumptions on Konrad's true nature, merely stating the truth for what it was. The boy's bloodline was a mystery he couldn't comprehend but certainly connected to the Ravmalakh.
At first, they didn't take it too seriously, thinking that the mortal ant was merely exaggerating the situation to obtain their aid. But after browsing through some memories, their attitude underwent a drastic change.
Konrad's true nature and the Tower were the two reason why those high-ranking devas chose to accept the strenuous trip to a mortal world.
How could the Mara so readily give him up? But at that time, the silver-eyed baldie's voice echoed.
"Handle the Tower as you wish. But if the boy's true lineage turns out to be of nephilim kind, he must die, period. We Brahmas will not allow such an abomination to exist within this world."
He cut, his tone calm but uncompromising.
Hearing this, the other two shook their heads.
"In any case, we can discuss handling and repartition after we capture him. Let's go."
The three deva leaders then turned into light beams and shot toward the Holy Continent.
