The situation in Cassandra Island had changed completely in the ninety-nine days since the Second Epoch Cycle began. What had once been a hidden refuge had slowly become something closer to a displaced homeland.
The affected Dynasties of Spheraphase had brought their people here because there was no other option. Cassandra Island had become the shelter for refugees who knew that if tomorrow went wrong, there might not even be a homeland left to return to.
None of then stayed in the modern town though since none of them knew how Earth technologies worked. So, they stayed in the forests and meadows of the island.
The Therianthropes of the former Dynasty Skyrover and Dynasty Fedres had settled closest to the training zones and coastal plains. They adapted frighteningly quickly, almost naturally slipping into military order the moment Veneri gave a warning that tomorrow would be a day of battle. Nobody questioned him anymore when it came to war. If the Richinaria Monarch said battle was coming, then battle was coming.
Massive camps stretched near the shorelines where armored warriors sharpened weapons, made formations and reinforced Divine barriers. Wolf Therianthropes barked commands. Lion Therianthropes hauled weapons large enough to cause damage. Avian Therianthropes scouted the skies, already preparing for aerial combat.
Their Unification Divinity was Transformation, which further increased their true Therianthrope forms. This was extremely helpful to them and by then, they had gotten used to it.
Children still played in the distance, strangely enough. Refugees always adapted faster than anyone expected. Life refused to stop even when the world threatened to.
The Elves of Dynasty Mintheris had chosen the quieter regions of Cassandra Island, reshaping forests around themselves almost instinctively. Groves infused with Mintherenia's blessing had begun sprouting unnaturally fast. Nature barriers were being raised. Healing sanctuaries were established. Their Divine Rank beings spent their time looking after their bows and staves while younger elves got ready to help in support.
They had the Nature Resonance Divinity as an Unification Divinity. This already proved to be a major asset to improving their Pinnacle and Base Tethers.
Meanwhile, Dynasty Starisnova had transformed part of the island into what looked like a observatory mixed with a military encampment. Spatial formations shimmered in the sky while others prepared battle arrays. The Starisnovas were many things but unprepared was never one of them. With their Telekinesis Divinity as a Unification Divinity, their efficiency was greatly increased.
Back in Technographia, Dynasty Richinaria had already begun preparing too. The island was ready for battle. Since the Richinarias came with their island, their chances of victory was extremely high. The Unification Divinity of Energy and Barrier was well mastered now.
Everyone was preparing except three Dynasties. Dynasty Hanaceres, Dynasty Andelaris, and Dynasty Vazakiel were different cases entirely.
The first issue was race.
Unlike the other Dynasties, there were no Spheraphasians directly tied to their races living inside the Hidden Citadel. There were no demon refugees, angelic populations or Vazakiel civilians. Their numbers simply were not built the same way as the others. Also, the angels that Natalis and Denisia came with went to heaven. They were not trapped like the other civilians as they are beings who could move between realms. The twins were highly restricted though.
Dynasty Vazakiel was an even stranger situation. They were not involved in the Second Epoch Cycle for one major reason.
Dynasty Vazakiel served Axia herself—the World System.
Their existence was deeply intertwined with the very system Spheraphasians used to function. If they left their positions and fully entered the Second Epoch Cycle, the consequences would ripple into the system architecture of the world itself. And EPOCH, for all her insanity, would never dare involve them. The risks were too catastrophic.
More importantly, Axia would personally intervene if EPOCH even tried. Which meant, for once, an entire Dynasty had effectively been exempt from the madness.
Honestly, Veneri envied that a little. If Adelasta was a part of them, she wouldn't be with them.
He eventually moved toward the military sectors where the former Dynasties Fedres and Skyrover had established their command structures. Or rather—
Skydres.
The name still sounded weird in his head sometimes.
Apparently, somewhere between political practicality and marriage, Dynasty Fedres and Dynasty Skyrover had looked at the state of the situation and collectively decided they might as well stop pretending they were separate. Since Dynasty Hanabas and Dynasty Ceres had fused into Dynasty Hanaceres, the same logic followed here.
Fedres and Skyrover merged and formed the Skydres Dynasty. Which meant only seven Dynasties existed now.
When he arrived, he found Xander and Farrynelle already in the middle of chaos.
Divine Rank beings moved constantly around them taking orders. Combat formations shifted every few seconds as commanders argued over placement, troop divisions and reinforcement routes.
Varmina stood nearby organizing battlefield logistics with terrifying efficiency while Kazrion was practically barking military commands hard enough to make people stand straighter out of instinct.
Honestly, it looked exhausting.
Xander noticed him first.
"Oh, great. The suicidal monarch finally decided to show up."
Farrynelle snorted immediately.
"You say that like he ever misses a dramatic entrance."
Veneri gave them a deadpan look.
"Nice to see both of you too."
Xander walked over and clasped his shoulder firmly.
"You good?"
"No."
"Fair enough."
That got a laugh out of Farrynelle.
"See? This is why I like him. At least he's honest."
Kazrion glanced over from command duty.
"Monarch."
Varmina nodded politely but did not stop working.
"Preparations are eighty-three percent complete."
"Eighty-six," Kazrion corrected immediately.
She narrowed her eyes. "It was eighty-three ten minutes ago."
"We got faster."
"You people are terrifying."
"Military family, Veneri," Xander said casually. "You get used to it."
Farrynelle leaned against the table and sighed.
"Still gonna be troublesome."
"Troublesome?"
She pointed at the giant tactical map.
"You literally told everyone tomorrow's a battle day. Do you know what that does to warrior Dynasties? Nobody slept. Everyone thinks they're dying tomorrow."
"Fair enough."
Veneri looked around again. There were Divine Rank beings everywhere. Veterans were preparing for war. Families kept watching from safer areas while pretending they were not worried. He looked back at Xander and Farrynelle.
"You two fused Dynasties."
"Marriage paperwork escalated," Farrynelle said instantly.
Xander nodded seriously. "Very tragic."
Veneri stared at them. They both burst into laughter.
"No, seriously," Xander said after calming down. "Hanabas and Ceres merged into Hanaceres. We figured Skyrover and Fedres basically function together already."
"And we were already basically attached at the hip," Farrynelle added. "So now we're Skydres."
"Sounds cooler too," Kazrion muttered.
Varmina did not even look up. "It was bound to happen. Wonder why our ancestors didn't do this sooner."
"See?" Xander pointed. "We even have approval. Still weird that Vazakiel isn't involved though."
"They're Axia's people," Varmina said plainly. "If Dynasty Vazakiel moved, the system gets affected."
Farrynelle shrugged. "Honestly? EPOCH might be crazy but she's not stupid enough to mess with Axia directly. Besides, if Vazakiel joined this mess, we'd probably all somehow end up in an even worse situation."
The camaraderie sat naturally between them despite everything. That was the thing about surviving impossible situations together. Eventually, the apocalypse just became another meeting topic. Then Xander looked at him again but he as serious.
"So, you still sure about tomorrow?"
Even Kazrion stopped talking. Varmina looked up. Farrynelle crossed her arms. Veneri looked at all of them for a moment before answering.
"Yes. Virathus will attack."
Xander sighed hard enough to sound physically inconvenienced.
"Yeah. This is gonna be troublesome."