Dominating In The 3* Region

3 and a half months later.

The port that has once been home of battles and more than 200 million deaths of soldier and auxiliary units was vivacious and colorful again. It was reconstructed and like it had never suffered any sort of turmoil. Currently, there was 1 particular organization that showed rare interest in managing the port from all other organizations. Usually, it was only a Third Step organization that was left in charge.

They would have to cooperate with other Third Step organizations and supervise those of lower Steps, but it was the leading Third Step organization that would keep things steady. However, if a Fourth Step organization was to be placed at the top, they would single-handedly deal with everything by themselves.

Such was the case nowadays. And while this meant that the Fourth Step organization had a much better safety results and efficiency increase, it didn’t mean they had everything under their hands.

Whoosh, step.

For example, a young girl could be seen walking around a market near the port’s docks. She constantly stopped near the food, cultivation resources, and Craftsmaking stalls, buying little and observing a lot. Suddenly, she stopped in place for a second before resuming normal activities. However, she changed directions and moved towards what looked the docks in general.

Her countenance was pretty serious, and she looked alarmed. But even as she moved, and her speed increased, nobody seemed to notice her abnormal behavior, besides a few glances here and there. She quickly dissipated through the roads and crowds.

… The port had a centralized precinct instead of a central building. In this case, it was the organization in charge. They had a villa-like establishment and was situated to the center and south, slightly near the shore. At the top of its gates, it said the words ‘Incantation Pavilion’.

Inside it, within the largest room at the top of the tallest building, a large male Titan wore bright yellow robes as he just woke up. His bed was tangled with bare beauties from various Races. The attendant before the Titan was waiting for the Titan to commence, ignoring the beauties in his bed. Finally, the Titan finished arranging his wrists before smiling at the attendant.

“So, it is time, no?”

“Yes, sir. According to previous analysis, the Sect’s ‘Fleets’ should arrive in about a week or two. Our stealth recognition devices will arrive in 2 days, and the rest of the ‘Fleets’ we’ve helped build in approximately 2 weeks. We only need to stop the Shadows for a few days before we push them back south. That’ll leave them helpless and subjective to extermination.” Said the attendant.

“Heh, I can’t wait.” The Titan said, grinning his toothy fangs. He patted the servant’s shoulders, who was a stout and short fella, before shaking his head in contemplation. “It’s truly a pity that Sect Master Darkness won’t show up, but I’ll settle with his disciple. Even if no Second Step cultivator can catch her, I guess I’ll just have to step in and grab her myself.”

“Sir, if you do that, then everyone will know our Pavilion was trying to trick them. They’ll surely fight us to get the Sect’s Art.” The attendant cautiously reminded the Titan. The Titan smiled from the left corner of his mouth, hooking it upwards a lot, and patted the attendant’s left shoulder.

“You are right, but there are 2 things you’re wrong about, or missed.” The Titan walked to the window of his bedroom and opened the curtains to enjoy the sunlight. “One, our Incantation Pavilion doesn’t need to fear other Fourth Step organizations. We are the greatest talisman supplier. Would they dare? Haha! We can even move amok as we wish. What can they do to stop us? We can even offer them discounts and free gifts.”

“Second, the Head doesn’t care about the repercussions. Taking our Art is important, nothing else. Remember that, our Art. Not the Forbloffende Traes Sect’s, not the Art everyone wants. Our.” The Titan patted the attendant’s arms before moving towards the exit. The attendant gulped, understanding the meanings of his sir’s words.

“Let’s go, I want to see our babies in those fellas’ hands. Nothing like seeing the weak get a feel of being strong.” The Titan ignored the complaining beauties writhing because of the sunlight and stepped out of his bedroom, with the attendant right behind. “Hm?”

“Sir?” The attendant, a mere peak Second Step cultivator, looked up at the Titan, who suddenly stopped, faced a direction, and frowned a bit. Then, he seemed to become suspicious as he ordered the attendant, becoming stern. “Bring some people to check the docks. There’s no danger, but some unnecessary ‘things’ are moving bout. Get people to it-”

“Sir! I just received word from our ‘Fleets’ in the water— the Forbloffende Traes Sect has shown themselves! They are bombarding our ‘Fleets’ in the middle! They’ve been invisible for who knows how long!” The attendant was about to say something when his attention was drawn elsewhere.

“What?!” The Titan reacted, his attention brought away from the docks as his Godly Spirit Sense concentrated towards the sea. There, he saw tremendously huge fleets advancing towards them. The few fleets they’ve already prepared only managed to block them after a third of their numbers were obliterated, with about 40 fleets becoming flames above the water’s surface.

Then, the Sect’s Fleets continued rushing forward, with the skies taken by countless Fighters as their fleets were left outnumbered in no time. Furthermore, each Small Fleet and Fleet moved in their own path, as if they had a different goal but were moving with the same purpose.

Those Fleets circled and snaked through the Region’s fleets, leaving them confused as the plethora of warships rushed about everywhere, not allowing them to efficiently focus on a target. The Titan himself wasn’t sure how to accomplish these things, even though he’s studied similar tactics and has seen better in spaceship battles. Either way, those were very old records, not even from the previous Change, even.

“Nevermind, then!” The Titan shouted, startling the beauties in the other room as he stomped towards the exit, restraining himself from bursting out and flying to the sea. All he could do was watch the fleets his Pavilion painstakingly built and trained their crew members suffer.

“And send those people to the docks!” As the Titan left, he shouted some last words as he turned around the hallway, leaving the attendant behind. The latter sighed in relief, dropped his shoulders, and was about to send word of his sir’s orders, when he felt a strange tremor below his feet.

“What the…?” It was impossible for the port to suffer any earthquake. Its foundation was laid so it would mitigate them, unlike cities or other civilian settlements. So, if even he could feel it atop the tallest floor in the port area, then…

“!” On the other hand, the Titan, who was about to step out, stopped and widened his eyes as he looked in certain directions. There, many of the people they convinced to join them and bought them were resting, waiting for any instructions. These people ranged from mercenaries to First and Second Step organizations.

RUUUUMM- BLEE- BLEE- BLEEE- BLEEEE…

Now, however, they were in the Titan’s eyes but not for a good reason… Just a second after the Titan noticed, the entire port rumbled as some glows emanated from provision boxes for both citizens and to distribute to the cultivators. It just so happened that they were being moved in preparation for the new fleets in a couple of weeks, and they were placed where everyone mingled.

“Dispeeeeeerse!!” The Titan shouted at the top of his lungs, even causing the cultivators and citizens there to lose their cool as they were blown backwards, but they didn’t listen well until it was too late.

Swish, whoosh, whoosh- rustle~!

A few shadowed figures moved about, covered with leather armor from what seemed to be reptile skin. However, their speed was too fast, and their faces seemed masked by something. As they moved, they stole the attention the Titan should have gotten instead, making those troops near the glowing provision boxes stand up and prepare to chase them.

But they wouldn’t have a chance.

Ka- pum… The first detonation went off, followed by another and another. The place where the enemy troops gathered was enormous, with tens of millions resting their daily afternoons there. At these moments, several shadowed figures rushed to the water, where nobody expected them to flee to. After all, their fleets would easily catch them. But after the first few detonations…

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM…

BOOOOOOM- BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM- BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM- BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMM…!

Suddenly, the first explosion rose into the air. It came from the rear, to which even some peak Second Step cultivators crouched and covered their ears before looking backwards, only to see a several-kilometers tall earthy color streak into the sky.

Immediately after, the other areas where glowing boxes made detonation sounds followed suit. The entire port seemed to turn nighttime, and before they knew it, pillar after pillar of glowing colors from the Four Primary Elements rose into the sky. They looked beautiful at first, but after a few seconds of staring at them, they were somber and terrific.

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What’s more, the location they went off wasn’t empty at all… For each explosion, several tens of thousands of meters in diameter were turned into rubble, with the rest slowly melting as the nearby cultivators who weren’t reached by that diameter lost their skin and some limbs.

But the shadows who caused this were still alive and kicking, rushing to the water. While their faces were masked, the Titan had to use his Soul to know their expressions. As the Titan wondered what sort of intricate Soul manipulation was this, he became chilled when seeing the expressions of the shadowed folk.

They were all… calm and impassive… like they hadn’t just mutilated a variety of force that the Incantation Pavilion took decades to bring under their command. Like it was nothing!

“The Forbloffende… Traes… Se-!!” The Titan could only respond with his inner thoughts as his tone became louder and louder. However, just as he was about to erupt in fury, the sea roared even louder.

BOOOM BOOOM BOOOM BOOM… Missiles arrived first, and when those who could watch far into the south, past the shores, they saw endless trails of smoke rising into the air behind countless black warships rushing towards them. The missiles landed on the docks and annihilated anyone on them as the black warships arrived closer. Then, someone managed to shout something before a voice crushingly spoke out loud towards the 3* Region.

“Look, black warships! Aren’t those the Shadows? It’s the Forbloffende Traes Sect!!”

“The Forbloffende Traes Sect declares war on the Operion Cascade Sect! … The Forbloffende Traes Sect declares war on the Four Goldens Cult! … The Forbloffende Traes Sect declares war on the Penumbral Eye Clan!!!…”

“No… way…!” The 3* Region immediately realized something as the Forbloffende Traes Sect imposingly moved onto their port’s destroyed shores. An actual war was coming. And it wasn’t just any battle for recognition. The Forbloffende Traes Sect really just declared war on everyone they could, which were barely known organizations of the First and Second Step!

As the war declarations continued to ring, the fleeing shadows had already become a few tens of thousands. It didn’t matter what the Sect came here to do, it directly insulted everyone in the port, at least from the First and Second Step. Many organizations rapidly mobilized, intending to cut off and catch those shadowed figures to get something in return.

Nevertheless, just as they were about to rush in with their lives and take the shadowed figures’ in return… over a hundred Frigate spaceships exited stealth above in the skies. They neared the KS special units, who rushed into the sea. The latter flew towards the Frigate and Destroyer spaceships as their chasers became flabbergasted… Who the fuck brought spaceships to a First and Second Step fight?

However, when they saw the emblem drawn onto those spaceships, they became appalled. Without further ado, the spaceships immediately barraged those people with machine guns, even crazily rotating and backing away to gain more room to aim. After the matter was done, and the First and Second Step organizations recognized their precarious situation, the port became hectic once again.

Immediately, the Titan had to let the people and organizations his Pavilion ‘adopted’ on their own to take care of the port’s matters. The civilians had to be evacuated, after all. Moreover, this time, it wasn’t a strife to be recognized. The Forbloffende Traes Sect clearly knew what happened.

If the Titan hadn’t observed the atrocities that occurred in his port, with all those shadowed figures hidden among the people for who knew how long, he would’ve wondered how something like this could happen. Unfortunately, the exposed truth was there, and all he could do was curse in his head while the civilians started being evacuated.

It didn’t matter that the Incantation Pavilion’s plans were discovered, they couldn’t do as they wished after the Forbloffende Traes Sect exposed themselves. With all those war declarations, even other Fourth Step organizations would be drawn to these occurrences. If the Incantation Pavilion wanted to keep things as lowkey as possible, to remain silent was the only method.

Of course, the other Fourth Step organizations would still know about their intentions from the get-go, but as long as the Pavilion wasn’t reckless… they might have a go at getting the Art for themselves. For now, it was the First and Second Step organizations that ‘dared’ to launch an assault to the Vrida Region being punished back by whom they treated as food.

“Forbloffende Traes Sect! How dare you barge into this port again?! Do you really think you can do whatever you want like before?” - “Shadows! You’re now a Second Step organization. Do you think everyone would just give you time to adapt? Come here! We’ll gladly show you the ways of the world, ingrates!”

“Goddammit! You didn’t have enough before? Don’t mess with us, you puny 1* Region’s people!!” - “Wait, what?! They- their cultivation base…” - “No… ow, Lords… How?!” - “They’re at the Second Step organization’s… peak! They’re at the peak! RETREAT!”

And so, the Forbloffende Traes Sect’s vengeance began. This time around, as the civilian evacuation was performed, the Shadows moved through the port, ignoring the former as they hunted those whom they’ve declared war to. It was as if they could tell which person was their enemy, and which wasn’t.

The port was engulfed in flames by a couple of hundred million soldier units and a bit more of auxiliary units. Shadows appeared everywhere, stealing the limelight from the noon to deep in the night, when most civilians were brought away. But the Shadows weren’t stopping, not at all.

On the other hand, while the disembarking was smooth, the Shadow navy was left in a difficult position, with the spaceships moved further inland and offered support to the land forces. The rest of the 3* Region reacted, all First and Second Step organizations available moved to the sea, utilizing the navies they built after being inspired by the 24 years of battling for recognition.

Unlike back then, the 3* Region’s lower Steps’ forces were ready to move out and face any invading enemy from a high or low Step. Thus, many First and Second Step forces from Third and even a couple of Fourth Step organizations’ joined the battle. On the other hand, Tetor’s small portion of the Shadow navy arrived on time to launch a 2-pronged attack on the enemy navies.

From day 1, under Saon Gori’s instructions, the Forbloffende Traes Sect’s navy never ceased moving, navigating and catching any enemy fleet or warship in the 3* Region’s shores. If this was a battle just 1 Step higher, it would’ve become a crisis for the 3* Region, who could only defend with a lot of their regular manpower.

But it wasn’t, so the other higher Step organizations could only watch as the Shadows slowly left the port behind. Meanwhile, the naval battle, encompassing several dozen low Step organizations, and forces of equal might and level, was enormous, as expected.

Nearly a hundred enemy fleets rushed to the dozens of Shadow Fleets. The former was incensed and with high morale, knowing they could burn down this notorious navy. And indeed, they could obliterate the Shadows, which they didn’t deny and instead treated seriously.

Saon Gori led the Fleets to battle. Encircling the enemy with the water black barrier that the enemy was aware of how dreadful it was, and with the Rositina bullets the enemy still wasn’t fully aware of. They only knew that the Shadows possessed a new turret that could deflect even bullets, let alone rockets, shells, and missiles.

The Shadow Fleets found their synchronized bombardment once again surpassing the enemy’s expectations, not needing to change tactic. Even then, Saon Gori was the temporary supreme commander of the navy. Thus, his orders were precise and aggressive as the encirclement didn’t spread further, but actively shrunk without waiting for the enemy to be continuously destroyed.

The days went on as the land forces walked outside the port, or drove through the wild lands, with only one objective in mind. To conquer the organizations’ territories of those who dared ‘plan’ the assault on their home.

What were those organizations thinking? It was widely known about the Forbloffende Traes Sect’s vengeful inclinations. How could any party still in the First Step want to deal with them? Yet, not only First Step organizations, even Second Step organizations joined the ‘fun’.

Thus, since they liked playing like that, the Sect wouldn’t shy away from returning the gesture. Now that the Shadows stepped outside the port area, the rest was for history records and writings. Now, it was no longer a matter of recognition… but of the truth of all nature and the world… Conquest!

“The Forbloffende Traes Sect has conquered the Turtle Head Cult!” - “The Shadows destroyed everything in the Obsessive Wish Dynasty! They’ve moved the civilians through the port!” - “My Lords… so many conquests… but don’t they become part of our Region after the first one? They…” - “Yes, they’ve been able to rightfully use the port since then.” - “Is this good or bad?” - “It’s something.”

… Months passed, the world watched as the Shadows extended throughout the 3* Region. It wasn’t a lengthy spread out, but it was still considerate for a Second Step organization. They matched what a Third Step organization would do during a time when ambitious organization leaders would be born and expand their territory a little, or directly challenge their equals.

For countless weeks, numerous moments where the Region only saw the Shadows extend their darkness towards the rest of the Region, forming a considerate, well-thought road that seemed to form a high-quality route. The 3* Region’s people observed blackish energy streaks, flashes, and smoke drifting from the Shadows.

The naval battles stopped only after 4 months, after which half the Shadow navy became crippled, however… Saon Gori’s commandeering led to even another few hundred enemy fleets becoming trash, fallen under the 3* Region’s sea territory without life or care.

What’s more, amidst the wars ending on the land forces’ side, the air forces were deployed to the newly occupied organizations’ territories. From there, they’d set off and further increase the pace at which the land forces conquered more organizations, subjugating them with 80% death and 20% respect. Their aggressiveness was unquestionable, but the higher Step organizations only felt slight respect for such a Second Step organization.

What’s more, as the Forbloffende Traes Sect gained more territory and continued directly taking other organizations under their unstoppable command, nature didn’t react. Just like when Olivia Clark was named Sacred Celestial, but substantially less, the 3* Region watched in shock as the events transpired.

When the air forces arrived, the Region was astounded to see hundreds of thousands of the Sect’s Fighters fly across the port’s skies, passively, and not receiving any sudden firepower. But the next time they took to the skies, they unleashed endless death and claimed inexhaustible terror in their victims’ hearts.

This was the Forbloffende Traes Sect; it rang in the First and Second Step organizations’ heads. After all, those who were near the ‘route line’ the Shadows traced, conquering and destroying while also sending civilians away, had more than enough reasons to fear the Shadows. What if the darkness suddenly reacted to their eyes and the Sect’s roots moved towards them?

What if they felt too terrified from thinking about it that they attracted the Shadows’ attention? What if they were next? What could they do? Fight? Just the Shadow air forces were enough to cripple all their defenses and neutralize their arsenal, what could they do then?

Then, as if to demonstrate, the Forbloffende Traes Sect didn’t disappoint the ‘observers’. Those were Fourth Step organizations who were spectators from the beginning with incredibly… curious interest, thinking of the past hundreds of years the Neutral Existences have lived in peace.

The Shadows spread to the north and south from the ‘route line’ they had traced. Unbeknownst to some, except for the Fourth Step organizations, the Forbloffende Traes Sect had already destroyed the organizations who grouped to invade them. In fact, the last 2 organizations were random ones, but most of the region didn’t know that.

However, with those 2 organizations, they completed a half a circle connecting from one point at the port’s area in the northeast, to its far west. It spanned over a couple of hundred thousand kilometers, with at least Second Step 32 organizations coming under their rule. But now, the Shadows were moving again? How… unstoppable were they against those at the same Step? How… bizarre!

Of course, after some time, it was bound to bring about a talk from the Fourth Step organizations who had to put peace back in order. Even if it meant doing so forcefully.

…