Heavenly Star Palace

(My cat passed away on December 15. He was doing pretty good on his recovery but out of nowhere got a saddle thrombus and had to be put down. So may he rest in peace. Kinda wanted to write and not write at the same time but I got around to doing it so here it is. Slightly shorter at 1.1k but it was at a good stopping point.)

[Report, this world has been taken over by insectoids.]

[Report, this world's inhabitants have been taken over by phantoms.]

[Report, this world is currently in a war against insectoids]

[Report, this world has been destroyed, there are no signs of life.]

[Report, this world has some small traces of phantoms. It appears they are in the beginning stages of taking over.]

[Report, this world is currently on a war against both insectoids and phantoms.]

[Report, this world is currently operating as normal.]

[Report….]

World after world we continued to witness the effects of what Michael and Feldway were doing. There were many worlds that had been taken over or destroyed. And we had seen a few worlds that had a larger than the normal number of inhabitants.

From what Ciel could identify, it appeared that the insectoids were taking over worlds and using them as their own. And the phantoms were taking over the world and then destroying it before moving on to a different one. Judging by the number of worlds we had gone through it seemed that the problem was worse than we thought.

All of the ones who were with me during this first trip had serious or angry expressions. And of course, the two who stood out were Dino and Dagruel. If it wasn't for Ciel managing a barrier to keep all traces of our visits hidden every person in every world would know we would be there because of these two gigantic angry magicules dispensers.

The only reason they hadn't jumped down to start attacking the phantoms was that I had convinced them to wait until we finished our reconnaissance and started our attack.

"We have a slight problem," Dino spoke up. "Since we are traveling to many different worlds, the way time flows in them is different. So the longer we delay assisting some of the worlds the worse the situation will be.

The time it takes us to fight Feldway could mean centuries passing on some of the worlds we leave behind. More than enough time for those that are still intact to be destroyed."

"Yes, I have thought of that. So far I have been synchronizing the time flow through the worlds we have visited. That would give us enough time to sort everything out." I answered

"But if you do that it will make it easier for them to travel across the worlds. If someone is able to escape during our fight they could rally up the armies they have built up and attack our world while we are away." Guy added with a small frown.

"I was going to leave this until we were done with our investigation, but now is as good a time as any. What if we do a synchronized attack? We have seen that the main forces have all gathered in specific worlds so that they are not too spread out. So if we all attack at the same time it won't matter if one or two manage to leave the world to announce the attack to the others."

One thing that we had noticed is that the majority of the worlds with phantoms had a smaller number of people than expected. But we had found our answer just a few worlds after. It seemed the phantoms were trying to gather in as few worlds as possible so the time differences wouldn't affect them much when they prepared to attack.

These worlds were filled to the brim with phantoms that were ridiculously strong, which meant that their strongest forces were all gathered up in one place.

The insectoids on the other hand seemed to be more interested in conquering the worlds rather than destroying them so they were spread out. Leaving most of their worlds without any really strong defenses. After all, very few insectoids were capable of evolving to the point of obtaining a humanoid form. While they would be a threat to most adventurers back in the cardinal world the armies of Tempest would be strong enough to defeat them.

"But who would be invading the worlds? There are too many even if we all split up. And even then, if what you said about their strength is true, it would not be smart to be separated if the primordial angels show up.

If we all attacked at the same time and they showed up at one of our locations the others would have to leave the worlds they were fighting in to assist. Which would give them time to call for reinforcements." Leon said.

"I believe my people should be strong enough to deal with the phantom worlds. They should be strong enough now." I said.

"That still leaves a few worlds to deal with depending on how many of your people have to team up to deal with each of them."

"No, I will have enough people. They can split up enough to deal with the phantoms. The insectoids are the ones that are going to be a pain. But as long as we deal with the strong ones the rest should not be able to even leave their worlds."

"Are you really going to sacrifice your people to deal with the phantoms?" asked Velzard.

"No, I trust them enough to know they won't get themselves killed."

…

After capturing some important people in a few of the worlds I was able to get information about the worlds that had the highest concentration of phantoms using some of my skills. With that, we now had the information we would need. And most importantly, we had Feldway's and Michael's location.

They had hidden themselves in a place that should be unreachable to anyone other than a few chosen ones. A place that would give them easier access to travel between worlds with ease. The place of beginnings, adjacent to all worlds but isolated from them as well, the 'Heavenly Star Palace'.

The location in which Veldanava had been born.

Even Feldway had struggled to reach the location he once frequented before meeting with Michael. So in theory it should be the best place to locate their main forces right?

Well, it just so happens that I have a little something.

A little skill called Veldanava.

And now that I knew how to find it, it felt almost as if I was staring at a gigantic lighthouse beaming its location.

Informing them of what I had learned I asked them.

"We know all that we need to know now, should we begin? I can inform the people back in the labyrinth about the situation and let them start their attack. But once we start there is no turning back."

With no objections, I opened a portal that showed a magnificent palace surrounded by outer space and with countless stars in the distance.

"Then let's begin."