The sky split from east to west.
It wasn't a crack.
It was an opening.
Blue Star had known eclipses, meteor showers, and celestial phenomena throughout its long history, but nothing resembled what unfolded above the Imperial Capital. The heavens peeled apart like layers of paper, exposing a dimension beyond mortal comprehension.
Dark oceans floated upside down.
Mountains drifted through crimson clouds.
Colossal skeletons of creatures larger than continents hung suspended in endless space, their hollow eye sockets glowing with pale blue flames.
Then came the sound.
A single heartbeat.
It echoed across the entire planet.
Every human.
Every beast.
Every living thing felt it.
Kael Viren looked toward the distant horizon, his golden eyes narrowing.
"It has begun."
The Gate expanded until it covered nearly half the sky.
An enormous obsidian bridge extended from the other side, reaching toward Blue Star like the arm of a sleeping giant awakening after countless ages.
The Emperor stood atop the highest tower of the Imperial Palace, smiling.
"My honored guests..."
He spread both arms.
"Welcome home."
The bridge trembled.
Footsteps echoed across dimensions.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Each step shook the entire planet.
The first figure emerged.
Standing nearly thirty meters tall, its body resembled polished black crystal. Six arms rested calmly at its sides, each carrying a weapon forged from condensed darkness. Two curved horns extended backward from its head while countless glowing runes covered every inch of its skin.
Its golden eyes swept across Blue Star with complete indifference.
Behind it came another.
And another.
Thousands followed.
An endless army marched across the dimensional bridge.
Their pressure alone caused mountains to crumble.
Rion stared upward, unable to breathe.
"...This..."
His voice trembled.
"...this isn't an invasion."
Flamingo answered.
"No."
Its flames flickered uneasily.
"This is a migration."
...
Within the Imperial Palace, every minister had fallen to their knees.
The Emperor remained standing.
The crystal giant stopped before him.
Although the Emperor possessed immense authority, he barely reached the creature's knee.
The giant lowered its head.
"You have fulfilled your contract."
Its voice sounded like continents grinding together.
The Emperor smiled.
"The Gate is open."
"It is."
"Our armies await your command."
"They do."
The giant's glowing eyes narrowed.
"And where..."
"...is the Vessel?"
The Emperor slowly pointed west.
"Kael Viren."
At that name...
Every creature on the bridge stopped walking.
Silence descended.
The giant looked toward the distant mountains.
"...Interesting."
...
Thousands of kilometers away...
Kael suddenly felt eleven different reactions inside his body.
Dragon Hybrid growled.
Harvester became completely silent.
Flamingo's smile disappeared.
The Moon Goddess frowned.
Even the Blade Avatar tightened its grip around its sword.
Kael's heartbeat accelerated.
"What is it?"
Harvester answered first.
> They know us.
Flamingo continued.
> No...
> They remember us.
Kael frowned.
"What does that mean?"
The Moon Goddess finally spoke.
Her usually calm voice carried something Kael had never heard before.
Fear.
> Those are not ordinary Otherworld beings.
> They are the Ancient Civilizations.
Kael remained silent.
She continued.
> Every gene inside your body originated from one of them.
His pupils contracted.
"What?"
Dragon Hybrid roared.
> They are our creators.
Silence filled Kael's consciousness.
Everything suddenly made sense.
The experiments.
The impossible compatibility.
The Emperor's obsession.
None of it had been random.
Kael had never simply received powerful genes.
He had become...
A living archive.
...
Inside the dimensional bridge...
The crystal giant raised one massive hand.
A projection appeared before every Otherworld commander.
Kael's face.
A single sentence appeared beneath it.
PRIMARY TARGET
STATUS: CAPTURE ALIVE
One commander stepped forward.
Its body resembled living silver liquid.
"Alive?"
The crystal giant nodded.
"The Vessel contains Eleven Sovereign Bloodlines."
"If we recover him..."
"Our civilizations can be reborn."
Thousands of eyes immediately turned toward Blue Star.
Not with hatred.
With hunger.
...
Far beneath the ocean...
Something enormous opened one eye.
A dragon larger than a country slowly awakened.
Deep inside the northern glaciers...
An entire frozen civilization began moving beneath the ice.
Within ancient ruins forgotten for millions of years...
Stone statues started breathing again.
The Gate had awakened more than invaders.
It had awakened history.
...
The Law observed everything.
Millions of calculations flowed through its endless consciousness.
Probability after probability collapsed.
One conclusion remained.
> Error.
> Error.
> Error.
Then...
For the first time since the creation of Blue Star...
The Law issued an emergency command.
ALL ARBITERS
IMMEDIATE DEPLOYMENT AUTHORIZED
PLANETARY COLLAPSE PROBABILITY: 98.7%
...
Kael slowly closed his eyes.
When he opened them again...
There was no hesitation left.
"The Empire."
He looked toward the Imperial Capital.
"They were never preparing to conquer the world."
Flamingo nodded.
"They were preparing to hand it over."
Rion gripped his staff.
"What do we do now?"
Kael looked at the massive Gate dominating the heavens.
His voice was calm.
"We stop the Emperor..."
"...before the first Civilization King steps onto Blue Star."
At that exact moment...
A deafening roar erupted from the Gate.
The obsidian bridge cracked apart.
Every Otherworld commander immediately knelt.
Even the crystal giant lowered its head.
A colossal shadow slowly emerged from the darkness beyond the Gate.
Only one crimson eye became visible.
Its pupil locked onto Kael across thousands of kilometers.
Then...
It smiled.
Kael felt every gene inside his body resonate violently.
The crimson eye spoke a single sentence that echoed across the entire world.
"At last... our lost Sovereign has returned."
Kael's expression hardened.
"I don't belong to you."
The eye's smile widened.
"That... is what makes you worthy."
The Gate expanded even further.
And for the first time in history...
A true ruler of the Otherworld prepared to descend upon Blue Star.