The plan in motion

Before leaving his palace, Carter had already scouted the solar system, finding a total of eight planets, though only five were inhabited. That was why he had chosen just five Saints—one for each world that held life.

"For this planet, I need someone skilled in strategy and survival," he said, his gaze shifting among the gathered Saints. "Rorak, you will spread my word here."

Rorak immediately kneeled, bowing his head in reverence. "Yes, my lord, as the One Deity wishes."

With a wave of his hand, Carter separated Rorak and his assigned ten Eternal Believers, encasing them in their own gravity barrier. "Good. Your mission begins now," Carter intoned, his voice both a command and a blessing. "Do not fail me. Only success."

With that, he sent Rorak and his group surging downward, the gravity barrier protecting them as they entered the atmosphere. They streaked across the sky, undetected by the eyes of the X3X , until they landed silently, deep within an untouched region of the planet. The mission had begun.

Carter sent the remaining four Saints to their designated planets, observing as they and their Eternals plunged through the atmospheres of worlds that were also under the iron grip of the X3X. Each landing was executed flawlessly, slipping through layers of high-tech satellite security and defense networks, barely detected by the eyes of the enemy. It had been a formidable task to avoid the surveillance, yet Carter's power ensured they reached the surface undetected.

"Step one is complete," he murmured to himself, watching the five distant planets fade back into the vastness of space. Though he held no control over these worlds and couldn't directly oversee his Saints, he was confident they'd fulfill their missions in time. "I trust, with the blessing of age immortality, they'll see this task through. In time, their efforts will bear unexpected fruits."

With a final look back toward the solar system, Carter adjusted his course, soaring into the depths of space, but this time in an unknown direction, far from his own planet.

"Now that my Saints are in motion, it's my turn to seek what I need," he whispered, a quiet determination lacing his voice as he sped toward distant, uncharted space.