How could this happen? How could two hundred thousand dark operatives and two Annihilation Demons be completely erased in a single night?!

Lord Demon Shura clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white, a dark, volatile aura erupting around his hands.

Have my strategies been compromised? Shura had never anticipated that at the eleventh hour—just as his grand invasion reached its climax—events would spiral so far beyond his control. Did a formidable figure exist within the ranks of the martial alliance, someone who possessed intimate knowledge of his operations? But who could it possibly be?

Shura's mind raced as he searched for answers. The breach in intelligence was staggering. He had always operated under the assumption that the martial alliance's primary threat lay in the Three Legends—whom he had already brought down twenty years ago. Yet if the rumors held true, had those ancient masters trained a successor? If so, this covert eradication of his forces was undoubtedly the work of that direct disciple.

The intelligence reports he had reviewed earlier explicitly cited a young warrior among the newly formed Sky Squad whom many believed to be the true heir to the Three Legends. Was this single youth responsible for dismantling his vanguard?

"Nesia!" Shura barked, extending his right hand to his side.

"I am here, My Lord!" Nesia replied instantly, dropping to one knee with her right hand pressed firmly over her heart. She was already in a state of absolute readiness; the preliminary mobilization directives had already been transmitted to the remaining Annihilation Demons. Hearing that two of the ten warlords had been eliminated, she knew the Demon Lord would delay no longer. The global invasion had to be launched immediately.

"At dawn, the final war commences," Shura declared, his voice echoing through the grand hall with terrifying gravity. "Issue Primary Directive One! Dispatch the spatial corps to unseal every dimensional gateway and converge all legions upon the designated coordinates. We begin the invasion!"

Primary Directive One!

It was the absolute mandate for immediate mobilization—a decree permitting zero delay. Shura’s patience had reached its absolute end. Twenty years ago, he had been forced to postpone his global campaign to recover his damaged vessel and perfect his mastery over the Blood Supreme and Black Blood disciplines.

With Primary Directive One issued, the total force of the dark army would be unleashed, triggering a global war that would shatter the realm. To Shura, the orthodox alliance remained unprepared; they would be swept away and annihilated before they could organize a proper defense. Nesia smiled coldly at the thought—soon, she would reign over a conquered world at her master's side.

"By your command, My Lord!"

Rising fluidly, Nesia vanished from the throne room in a blur of dark magic. She flashed directly toward the subterranean staging grounds where one hundred elite spatial masters were quartered.

These one hundred specialists had spent decades mastering high-tier spatial manipulation, concentrating their cultivation entirely on opening dimensional portals. Pressing a red rune on her communication bracer, Nesia issued a high-priority summons. The response was instantaneous; within seconds, all one hundred spatial masters materialized before her.

They emerged from every corner of the sanctuary, using localized spatial jumps to gather at the exact coordinates Nesia had transmitted. Unsealing their personal gateways, they stepped out to face Nesia, the sole remaining Gatekeeper.

"We await your orders!" the hundred specialists declared in unison. Each wore a high-collared black cloak bearing a specialized sigil over their right shoulder. They were clad in identical uniforms, bound by a shared mastery over spatial bending.

For decades, they had trained exclusively to manipulate dimensional coordinates. They possessed the unique capability to transport equipment, massive supply lines, and entire armies across continents through high-density spatial gateways. Operating in coordinated formations, they could relocate tens of thousands of troops in a single breath while maintaining the structural stability of the portal.

While certain high-tier spellcasters within the martial alliance could construct short-range spatial portals for personal travel, sustaining a wide-mouth dimensional gateway for prolonged troop movements was virtually impossible for ordinary cultivators.

A standard spellcaster could typically manage a single personal jump before exhausting their spatial reserves, requiring hours to recalibrate their pathways. High-tier spatial manipulation was simply too complex for non-specialists to maintain.

Shura had personally selected these one hundred individuals from the dark army's ranks, identifying those with latent spatial talents and providing them with boundless resources to perfect their craft.

The Demon Lord had granted them lavish accommodations, immense wealth, and specialized dark elixirs to accelerate their spatial comprehension.

In return, they had sworn absolute, eternal loyalty to Shura, standing ready to lend their spatial parameters whenever their sovereign called. Now, summoned by Nesia, they recognized that the hour of global conquest had arrived. They were to be the conduits transporting the Demon Lord's massive legions across the five continents to crush the righteous alliance.

The one hundred spatial specialists felt a surge of excitement. They had waited decades for this moment. Once Shura subjugated the realm, they would no longer be forced to hide in subterranean sanctuaries to practice their spatial arts.

With the dark army victorious, they would walk freely across the continents as regional rulers, feared and revered by all mortals.

"The time has come for you to prove your worth to Lord Demon Shura," Nesia announced, her sharp voice cutting through the hall. "I have transmitted your tactical assignments directly to your communication bracers. You will divide into eight specialized teams and deploy immediately to the coordinates provided."

Her instructions fueled their anticipation. However, a subtle detail caught the attention of the specialists. In previous briefings, they had been instructed to form ten teams to transport all ten Annihilation Demons and their respective legions.

Why were there only eight teams now? The specialists could only speculate that a catastrophic event had disrupted the dark vanguard, forcing Shura to accelerate his timeline while consolidating his forces. If only eight warlords remained, it meant two of the 10 Annihilation Demons had already fallen.

Slayed by the martial alliance before the war even officially began...

"Understood, Lady Nesia! We shall execute the Demon Lord's command at once!"

Nesia nodded in approval as the one hundred specialists stood in crisp, military formation. The stage was set; all that remained was the execution of open war, where the victor would claim total dominion over the five continents.

Moving with practiced efficiency, the spatial masters divided themselves into eight distinct teams, each consisting of twelve or thirteen members.

Weaving complex spatial signs, each team unsealed a massive dimensional portal before them. The two-meter-tall gateways manifested as solid, seamless doors of condensed void, pulsing with a deep, midnight-black brilliance bordered by crackling blue spatial runes.

Without hesitation, the eight teams stepped through their respective gateways, vanishing into the void as they traveled toward the hidden sanctuaries of the eight remaining Annihilation Demons. Each team carried direct orders to construct a permanent, wide-mouth spatial conduit connecting their assigned warlord's legion to the central staging coordinates provided by Shura.

With the spatial masters gone, Nesia stood alone in the chamber, reviewing the target coordinates Shura had selected for the initial strike.

The target was the Orpris continent—the political and martial heart of the continental alliance, home to the capital city of Prisma. Shura intended to shatter the martial world's resolve in a single, terrifying strike. By obliterating Prisma first, the alliance's central command would crumble, plunging the five continents into absolute panic.

Deprived of their central leadership, the remaining cultivators across the provinces would fracture into two desperate factions: those who surrendered unconditionally to serve the Demon Lord, and those who fought fruitlessly until their total annihilation.

Nesia prepared her own armaments. The orthodox alliance was no longer the disorganized, fragile coalition of twenty years ago; they had demonstrated alarming cohesion and high-tier combat parameters, going so far as to eliminate the other Four Gates.

Now, it was her duty to avenge her fallen peers.

Returning to the main hall, Nesia reported to Shura that all eight spatial teams had departed to link up with the remaining Annihilation Demons, ready to assemble the dark vanguard at the primary coordinates.

Shura listened quietly before rising from his dark throne, his presence radiating suffocating aura.

"Now, Nesia, mobilize every standing division directly under our command," Shura ordered, his eyes flashing with lethal intent. "We march alongside them."

"By your command, My Lord!"

Nesia pressed the central red rune on her communication bracer, broadcasting an absolute alert signal to every dark regiment under the command of the Four Gates. The red signal denoted Primary Directive One—an absolute order demanding the immediate, total mobilization of all reserve forces without exception.

Ten minutes later, a colossal dark army assembled in the staging plaza below the fortress—a boundless sea of dark cultists and mutated dreadnoughts. Shura floated into the air above the massive formation, gazing down at his legion. Their eyes burned with bloodlust, fully prepared to slaughter the orthodox cultivators and claim the world for their lord.