Alicia still felt slightly disoriented by what had transpired. She had collapsed after catching a glimpse of a blinding aura. Walking a few paces behind Aji, who had fully restored his internal parameters, she tried to piece her memories together.

She vividly recalled what had happened before she lost consciousness: while helping Aji unseal his spiritual energy nodes, she had attempted to probe deeper into the core of his vessel. Deep within that subterranean space, she had witnessed a colossal sphere of incandescent flames—resembling a radiant, burning planet hovering over an endless cosmic sea.

Was that... Aji’s true internal parameter?

If that vision was accurate, Aji’s power defied all measurement. How could a mortal vessel contain an aura of such staggering scale? Or had she simply experienced a vivid mental distortion brought on by spiritual fatigue? The latter seemed far more plausible; believing that a single youth possessed a core parameter equal to a celestial body felt almost absurd.

Realizing she had fallen behind, Alicia quickened her pace, matching Aji’s rapid stride as they navigated the corridors of the alliance facility. They needed to coordinate with the rest of the Sky Squad immediately. Aji had returned with urgent intelligence, having spent considerable time recovering from his recent engagements.

Aji walked briskly toward the central council chamber, with Alicia trailing closely behind.

As they passed through an adjacent archway, a woman leaning against the heavy wooden doorframe watched them pass. It was Barsha.

A subtle pang registered in her chest as she observed the easy familiarity between Aji and Alicia. They seem so natural together... Clenching her right fist, Barsha felt an uncharacteristic spike of irritation. Was she jealous? Did she genuinely wish for Alicia to step back?

Shaking her head, Barsha forcefully suppressed her turbulent emotions. Personal sentiment had no place on the eve of a global catastrophe. The dark army was preparing its invasion force, and the martial alliance was mobilizing every standing unit to brace for Lord Demon Shura’s assault.

This is no time for personal distractions.

War was upon them. World peace hung in the balance, and an apocalyptic clash was unavoidable. Victory or total annihilation—that was the sole reality that mattered now.

Carrying the proud legacy of her grandfather, Saint Ganada, Barsha resolved to stand firm at the vanguard, uniting the righteous sects against the abyss to protect human civilization.

Refocusing her mind, she turned and headed toward the council chamber. Aji had vanished following their assembly at the Samarkan portal station, leaving only a brief message that he had an urgent matter to settle.

He had acted on Gayatri’s sensory report, taking off alone without consulting the team. As always, Aji operated with complete autonomy, executing high-priority mandates according to his own judgment. Managing a warrior like him was a constant challenge for any commander. Yet no one could deny that his solo actions had consistently yielded monumental breakthroughs in dismantling the dark army's shadow network.

Surging forward with high-speed footwork, Barsha arrived at the council room. The rest of the Sky Squad had already assembled, taking their seats around the strategy table. Walking in with a calm, deliberate posture, Barsha took her seat at the head of the table as squad leader. Beside her sat Aji, looking as serene and unbothered as ever.

"Our vice-captain has finally graced us with his presence," Barsha remarked, her tone laced with cool irritation. "And once again, after taking off on a solo mission. What intelligence do you have to share with the team, Vice-Captain?"

The subtle edge in her voice did not go unnoticed. The gathered squad members exchanged quiet glances. Was their leader simply exasperated by Aji’s habit of taking off without squad authorization, or was something else troubling her?

Aji recognized her irritation. He understood that his independent actions often created friction within a unit structured around team synergy.

"I apologize to the squad leader for acting independently," Aji offered calmly, addressing Barsha and the group. "Recognizing how exhausted everyone was after our recent battles, I took it upon myself to investigate the enemy’s movements directly, following up on Gayatri’s earlier report regarding their sudden mobilization."

He glanced briefly toward Gayatri, offering a subtle nod of acknowledgment for utilizing her sensory findings to validate his reconnaissance.

Alicia remained quiet in her seat, her mind still preoccupied with her earlier encounter with Aji. She recalled her shock upon seeing him deploy long-range spatial portals and construct high-density dimensional gates. He moved seamlessly between martial disciplines—commanding the parameters of a heavy warrior, a high-tier spellcaster, and a master of staff techniques.

He was a complete enigma. If he truly was the sole successor to all Three Legends, such versatile mastery made sense. Yet what had truly transpired twenty years ago? What had forced the Three Legends into hidden hibernation, and how had Aji come to inherit their collective legacies?

The pieces felt incomplete. Alicia felt certain he was harboring deeper secrets—secrets connected to that planet-sized sphere of incandescent power burning within his subconscious sea.

Who is he, truly?

"Very well," Barsha said, reining in her irritation to maintain professional decorum. She leaned forward, focusing on the tactical aspect. "Share your findings. What intelligence delayed your return? We are on the verge of a global clash with the dark army, and we still lack concrete coordinates on their primary vector of attack."

Aji nodded, recognizing her concern. The threat of Shura’s global invasion weighed heavily on every commander. Having personally engaged two of the 10 Annihilation Demons on the Denad continent, Aji understood the full scale of the dark army's true striking power—including the eight warlords still awaiting deployment.

It was time to lay all cards on the table. The Sky Squad needed to understand the exact scope of the existential threat facing the martial world.

"I have verified our operational intelligence," Aji stated gravely. "My findings align with the reports compiled by our intelligence operative, Aaman."

Aji had previously dispatched Aaman to cross-reference historical archives regarding the 10 Annihilation Demons.

"The Four Gates represent only Shura's personal court and auxiliary guard," Aji explained clearly. "What the martial world fails to realize is that the Demon Lord commands an independent, highly specialized strike force—a force created exclusively for absolute global conquest."

A heavy silence fell over the chamber as the squad members digested his words. The existence of a hidden, high-tier military branch beneath Shura's command was a revelation that threatened to shatter the martial world's tactical assumptions.

Seeing their shock, Aji detailed the events of twenty years ago. Before the Demon Lord's initial invasion was disrupted, Shura had summoned the 10 Annihilation Demons from their hidden bastions.

Each of the ten warlords commanded a standing legion of one hundred thousand elite dark operatives. Combined, their vanguard represented a force of one million dark combatants—a figure that excluded the personal regiments commanded by the Four Gates and Shura himself.

Twenty years ago, before those ten legions could merge with Shura's main force, the Three Legends launched a preemptive strike to disrupt the invasion timeline. Recognizing that the orthodox sects were fractured by political infighting and greed, the Three Legends had petitioned the major academies for assistance. When the academies refused to mobilize, the three grandmasters marched into the Demon Lord's sanctuary alone.

That historic battle resulted in the Three Legends inflicting severe injuries on Shura while he was synthesizing the Blood Supreme, forcing the dark army into a two-decade retreat.

Following his setback, Shura issued a recall mandate, ordering the 10 Annihilation Demons back into spatial concealment within the Second World. For twenty years, their existence remained a myth. Now, Shura had unsealed those hidden bastions, summoning all ten legions back onto the physical plane.

"That massive flux of dark magic Gayatri detected across the continents was the unsealing of those legions," Aji concluded. "I personally verified their presence. The final invasion is no longer a distant threat—it is happening today."

The Sky Squad sat in stunned silence. A standing army of one million dark operatives, led by eight remaining supreme warlords and the Demon Lord himself, was a reality far darker than anything they had prepared for.