GREATER GOOD

Mo''Lexi's head snapped up, her expression changing.

"No-!"

It was too late.

The center of the explosion was none other than the room that held the portal, and the backlash was devastating.

Space itself was worn and torn apart. There was nothing calm and tranquil about two worlds fusing together, let alone more than a half dozen.

While lives away from the edges of these worlds would be mostly preserved, those so close to the edge as was in this case, would find themselves teetering on the blade of life and death.

Mo''Lexi could only watch in shock and horror as the crates that had been so diligently worked on, combining countless centuries of resources from the Cult, were unceremoniously shredded to pieces.

Alastar was blown away, as was Aina's clone, but it was like Mo''Lexi had lost her soul.

How could this happen? According to their calculations, there were still several more months before the demons could map out the in-between worlds, and several more years after that before the seal's lingering energy would truly collapse.

Whether it was one or the other, there was time, so much time...

She stood in a daze, the tears in reality unable to harm her, at least not at this level.

Suddenly, the situation just felt... hopeless.

...

Leonel entered the portal and found a huge commotion on the other sides.

The first thing he spotted were the skies. After so many weeks in the hangar, where the only "breathing" room he got was in the dark trenches of the in-between world, he felt like he could finally take a breath.

He had never thought himself to be one who pined for the sun so much, but it seemed that anyone could become claustrophobic when their freedom was being restricted.

The next thing he noticed were the enormous stone platforms.

These platforms clearly had defined grooves and complex mix and matches of various ores that formed a very delicate balance... at least they did before the storm of energy shredded them all to pieces.

Leonel had a feeling that this was another piece of the puzzle, a part of the Human Race's plans to turn them into convenient farm animals. It felt good to see them blasted apart, but while everyone was running around like headless chickens, he grinned.

He had all this Crafting skill and nowhere to expel it all because the resources he had on hand were all of an Incomplete World standard. Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

In his time since coming back to these Complete Worlds, he noticed a lot of things that he had entirely missed in the past. For example, it wasn't just the worlds here that were Complete, but even the Forces as well.

It was why when he first stepped into the Cataclysm Zone, it had felt like both an Eighth Dimensional world, and yet not at the same time.

If Leonel had to make a guess, he would assume that if there was a ranking of Bubble Worlds, the Human Bubbles would be nearer the bottom. However, because the Forces were more whole and complete than Leonel was used to, it had still felt to him like an exceptionally high level world.

Regardless, he felt that Anastasia would probably know about this. He'd have to remember to ask her later.

The point was that since the Forces were more complete, so were the resources born from them such as Force Herbs and ores. Even the weight of a grade was worth more here than elsewhere.

In fact, if Leonel was correct, this was likely true across worlds. Meaning, a Black Grade treasure that came from El'Rion's world might be stronger than even a Life Grade treasure that came from here.

As he thought, his steps never stopped. He unceremoniously stored away large pieces of flying rubble as he scanned the region, trying to get an understanding of what was going on.

In just a few seconds, he had already stashed mountains worth of these precious resources. Thinking about all the things he could create with these alone, he felt like he was floating on a cloud.

This wasn't because of the resources themselves, per se, but rather because he felt like he was finally gaining a bit of control over his life back.

He might have realized that maybe being a King wasn't the path for him, but one mainstay of that process remained...

He still hated to kneel.

Leonel's figure flashed behind a large falling piece of rubble, his gaze sharpening. He felt that someone was coming over in an attempt to control the situation.

The current region was pretty much filled with people on the same level as Bogrum and those other two. They should have had positions similar to Leonel's role in the hangar. The rest of them were participants from Incomplete Worlds that Leonel recognized. That meant that whoever was coming should have a role similar to Mo''Lexi's.

Out from one frying pan and into another, but he had been ready for this.

In this volatile environment, the control these experts had over the Dream Realm was limited, so he had more control over using it. At the same time, even if he was found... so what? He could just say that Mo''Lexi had sent him into the in-between world, and when everything started to break down, this was the only place he could escape to.

He had options, and he liked options.

Leonel's senses swept over. As a Dream Sovereign, he was far less affected than everyone else, but in the end, he restrained himself, communicating with Anastasia.

This wasn't the time for him to get cocky.

"I'll need you to be my eyes and ears, Anastasia."

Leonel didn't get a response, but he knew that she would listen. Soon, a stream of energy about the surroundings began to enter his mind.

He was overwhelmed at first, but Anastasia pulled back until he was able to bear it quite easily.

Anastasia was able to scan an entire Incomplete World in just a few seconds. Her senses were obviously far beyond Leonel's own.

Leonel saw the one who was approaching and his eyes narrowed.

It was Vivak Godlen.

While he was out, Leonel hadn't been able to listen in on the conversation of the so-called "Gods", but Anastasia had. She had heard enough to know this man was of the Godlen family.

'So it was the Godlens, huh?' Leonel thought to himself, then remembered his grandfather's words.

The Godlens were aligned with the greater good?

No... his grandfather's exact words had been.

'The Godlens are the most aligned with goals that you might describe as... the greater good.'

What did those words mean? Why the hesitation? And how could they be good if they were part of these plans as well? How could they be good if they hid corruption within their Lineage Factors?