Village Head's Debauchery

However, considering he wasn't a traitor, he had to clear up the situation as quickly as possible or risk being unjustly punished. The more time they wasted on this issue, the greater the danger to the base.

"Okay, I believe you," the Supreme Base Leader responded. "An enemy that can effortlessly kill four Viscount-ranked Spirit Beasts and the Grand Commander, a 20,000-year-old Viscount Spirit Beast, is not something we can face on our own. This might be a coordinated attack from one of the Court's enemies. I'll send a message to the headquarters for reinforcements."

"If a battle breaks out, we will likely lose everything we've worked so hard to achieve, and we'll have to be on the front lines, so be ready," she added before the communication link was cut.

Layrin looked at the scroll and the scenes on the mirror-like screens surrounding him once more. With a thought, the pages of the scroll folded by themselves, returning to normal. The mirror-like objects before him vanished into his body.

He grabbed the scroll, placed it into his robe, got up from the sitting area, and walked out of the room.

….....

At a distance away from the Falling Rock Stream,

An owl swiftly tucked a communication stone into his fur before spreading his wings and taking off into the distance. This wasn't his true Spirit Beast form; he had taken another form to blend into the environment and hide from the enemies.

He didn't dare fly too high into the sky for fear of alerting them to his presence. 'I need to get out of here as quickly as possible. Maybe when I return, I will understand what is going on,' the owl thought.

He didn't dare believe that the Grand Commander and four of the Six Cores were dead. Instead, something had transpired that he wasn't privy to. Regardless, he was sure that he would pick up on something once he returned.

Unbeknownst to him, a figure was following him closely from behind.

It was none other than Ilse.

Her right hand was outstretched, and on it was Orion, the entire group—including several boxes containing the Primserion's Divine Apostles, J'garin, Zymera, and Iy'yra—all small enough to fit on a black platform created above her palm.

They were hidden behind an undulating space that entirely erased their presence. Unless one reached a higher comprehension level of the Law of Space or the Spirit Space Law, it was literally impossible for anyone to detect their presence.

They followed behind the owl as he led them toward their base.

...

After they emerged from the undulating space, the waves became stable, merging back with the surrounding space.

Below them was a vast floating island of more than 700,000 square meters (7,534,737 square feet) in area. The edges of the island were filled with tall, lush forests, followed by countless grand towering spires, fortresses, buildings, and other architectural wonders such as towers that curved downward and various districts.

Looking at it gave Orion an understanding of the Spirit Realm's architectural structure. Though he had seen a few from the regions they had reclaimed, they couldn't be compared to the ones before him.

A shimmering defensive barrier surrounded the floating island, with numerous runes flashing at various intervals, casting an illusion that concealed its presence from the outside world. Only those with enough strength to sense its presence or the knowledge to decipher the runes could perceive it.

Below the floating island lay a volcanic wasteland that raised the temperature to a scorching degree and filled the atmosphere with dense, harmful smoke. Despite the preparations they had made to hide, they had taken additional measures to ensure their base was foolproof.

For someone like Orion, who had begun studying runes and their various types from Seraphina and Margona, who could be said to be the best teachers of runes, inscriptions, sigils, and other mysterious symbols, he could recognize the similarities between the symbols, allowing him to sense, decipher, and see through them easily.

Others with little knowledge of this could only sense the island's presence and vaguely see it.

"The defensive mechanism is made with a Spirit Barrier Shield, making it nearly impenetrable for any weak Spirit Beast to enter forcefully, a Spatial Distortion Field hiding the base's actual location and making it appear as part of its environment. It also restricts direct teleportation. There are 14 spatial gateways disguised as Spirit Wells, which should be the only way they can enter and freely exit their base," Ilse explained the barrier's mechanism in detail.

She swiftly transferred in-depth information regarding what she had just mentioned into their minds.

Spirit Wells are concentrated focal points where pure Spiritual Energy is gathered. They are commonly glowing springs or geysers, with tendrils of Spiritual Energy spiralling into the air. The destruction of a Spirit Well is one of the well-known reasons why regions are destroyed and reformed.

The longer the Spirit Well remains active, the more concentrated the Spiritual Energy becomes in the region, making it more suitable to serve as a residence for much more powerful Spirit Beasts.

"It could withstand bombardment from various Viscount-ranked Spirit Beasts' full attacks at once without outright falling apart. However, for us, a simple effort is enough to crush it," she added.

Zera nodded, agreeing with her deduction.

Orion nodded in understanding. "Very well. Block the surroundings and break the barrier. Let's announce our arrival. It's time we find out who is behind the Celestial Spirit Court," he responded.

.....

At the heart of the Celestial Spirit Court External Base Division, within one of the towering spires, was a vast room featuring a high vaulted ceiling crafted from white polished marble. The ceiling was illuminated with runes and glyphs that glowed faintly, lighting up the room with their hue.

At the edge of the room, away from the door, was a golden throne crafted with the most precious stones from the Middle Layer of the Spirit Realm.

Seated on it was an elegant woman with light pink skin and an otherworldly beauty, appearing to be in her late 20s. Her eyes were a mixture of violet and nebula pink, like collapsing stars. She had long, silver-coloured hair that spilt onto the floor beside her. She wore black and silver full armour with intricate markings and runes flashing on its surface.

Laid on the right side of her armrest was a helmet with an open visor only at the eye area, matching the entire armour. Her hand was placed upon it.

This was Viscount Veyrahl, the Supreme Base Leader of the Celestial Spirit Court External Base Division!

Before the throne were six high-back chairs. Each was a replica of her own but slightly less elaborate, arranged in two lines facing each other and extending forward. These seats were for the Grand Commander, the Watcher, and members of the Six Cores, the elite of her forces.

Yet, at this moment, only two members were seated.

The first was a man with long platinum hair, his eyes glowing as though they were forged from fire, dressed in a white robe. The other was a man with grey-brown skin, dressed in a blue full-form fitting armour made from an unknown lightweight metal.

They were Viscount Layrin, the Watcher of the Celestial Spirit Court External Base Division, and Viscount Thri'el, one of the Six Cores of the Celestial Spirit Court External Base Division!

Hovering before them was a large mirror-like screen replaying the scenes of Grand Commander Mansarri and the four cores before they were trapped within the black sphere barrier and died. They had observed it a few times before the scenes dissipated.

The atmosphere was tense as silence enveloped the room.

"As much as I hate to admit it, this is not an enemy that we can fight on our own. However, we must avenge our fallen comrades," Viscount Thri'el said, his tone and expression solemn.

"I have already sent a message to the headquarters about our current situation. They said that they would send an envoy over to verify who the enemies are so they can provide the proper support we need. The envoy will arrive here in two weeks, and during that time, every official member of our Celestial Spirit Court base should retreat back to the base as stealthily as possible."

"Although there is a slim chance they can uncover the location of the base, it's not something that we need to risk. As for the others, they can go into hiding and await our next orders. Perhaps, suppose the rebellion continues to spread across our entire territory, with their aid, we might be able to uncover who our enemy is," Veyrahl responded, her tone solemn and gaze sharp.

They nodded in understanding.

Five Viscount-ranked Spirit Beasts, ranging from 12,000 to 20,000 years old, a Baron-ranked, five Aristocrat-ranked, and countless Knight-ranked Spirit Beasts had died within their territory in less than three weeks, and they were unable to explain how they had died or who their enemy was.