"Does what Aji explained match the exact dark energy signature you detected, Gayatri?" Barsha asked, turning to the young spellcaster after Aji's revelation left a chilling silence over the council chamber.

Gayatri nodded gravely. "Yes, it aligns completely with what I sensed. Aji mentioned earlier that he intended to investigate right after I described those massive energetic clusters appearing across every continent."

Gayatri elaborated on the sheer volume of dark signatures she had mapped out. However, she admitted that she hadn't been able to calculate the exact count of one million dark operatives hidden by the Demon Lord. While she couldn't pinpoint exact figures, the sheer density of their collective aura left no doubt about their staggering scale.

Alicia was invited to share her thoughts next. She noted that the confidential records left behind by her grandfather, Saint Yonan, explicitly detailed the spatial mechanics of the Second World. If those archaic notes matched their current crisis, then a hidden dark legion emerging simultaneously under Shura's direct mandate was no longer just a theory—it was an imminent reality.

Barsha listened attentively as Nagada, Astro, Lao, and the remaining Sky Squad members voiced their perspectives. The consensus was unanimous: they needed to mobilize immediately and relay this critical intelligence to Commander Dasatama, Warrior Jiro, and the continental high council.

Although the alliance had already issued a global call to arms in anticipation of the dark army's return, they had lacked concrete data regarding the enemy's total troop numbers and their primary vector of attack. This intelligence provided the exact clarity needed to organize a precise defense.

"Very well," Barsha commanded, her voice turning crisp and decisive. "We will split into tactical teams and report to the alliance leaders and continental advisors immediately. Everyone must move swiftly—we have to mobilize every available element of the martial alliance."

CLATTER!

Barsha cut her sentence short. She froze as Gayatri abruptly pushed her chair back and stood up, placing her right hand against her temple. Gayatri's body wavered as a sudden, intense wave of spiritual resonance washed over her senses, throwing her off-balance.

"Gayatri! What is it?"

"What's wrong, Gayatri?"

The entire Sky Squad instantly focused on Gayatri, who appeared visibly shaken by an overwhelming sensory influx. Lao stepped forward, placing his hands firmly on his sister's shoulders to steady her.

Lao recognized the signs immediately—his sister was reacting to a sudden, massive shift in the atmospheric channels. Gayatri's sensory perception was second to none; she could instantly read energy fluxes and distinguish between subtle aura signatures.

Right now, she was locked onto an extraordinary surge of dark magic, tracking its manifestation in real-time.

"It's too late... They are already here!" Gayatri gasped, her eyes wide with shock. "The dark army has begun its deployment! They are materializing at the southern tip of the Orpris continent! Legions from every hidden sector are converging upon a single set of spatial coordinates—dark energy signatures are erupting one after another across the southern horizon!"

Aji's eyes narrowed. Expanding his own spatial perception, he picked up the sudden, violent surge of dark magic concentrating at the southern border of the Orpris continent. He could feel the heavy resonance of high-tier bullet portals tearing open dimensional gateways—a massive spatial rift unsealing the atmosphere.

As a master of spatial manipulation, Aji was uniquely attuned to large-scale dimensional bending. Whenever high-density spatial gates were forced open to transport massive payloads, the kinetic feedback vibrated through his core. Beside him, Alicia experienced a similar sensation, picking up the atmospheric distortion generated by vast teleportation arrays.

The dark army was executing a synchronized convergence.

"We have no time to lose!" Gayatri urged, her voice ringing across the room. "The dark army is fully mobilized and teleporting directly to the southern tip of the Orpris continent. Orpris is their primary target! We must move now!"

Her declaration snapped the Sky Squad into instant action. Every member nodded, quickly dividing their assignments to alert the alliance grandmasters while preparing for the coming clash against Lord Demon Shura's forces.

Barsha coordinated the deployment vectors. She personally set off to locate Commander Dasatama, while other squad members rushed to activate communication arrays to contact the continental advisors across the four outlying landmasses.

Time was against them. Within a few short hours, the entire dark legion would complete its convergence and launch its invasion across the Orpris continent. Channeling her absolute speed, Barsha deployed Ghost Speed at full capacity, blurring toward the central fortress where Dasatama's command post was situated.

Meanwhile, other Sky Squad members dashed toward the central portal station to relay the warning to distant provincial capitals as quickly as possible. While several members handled communications, a specialized five-man scout team—comprising four male warriors and one female operative—was dispatched to conduct long-range reconnaissance on the emerging dark army.

Streaking southward from the capital city of Prisma, the scout team deployed high-tier shadow stealth, completely masking their internal aura footprints to evade enemy spellcasting wards and sensory eyes. Moving completely unseen through the terrain, they reached the elevated ridges overlooking the southern plain.

Yet as they peered over the crest, what met their eyes left them frozen in absolute disbelief...

Massive dimensional gateways were tearing open across the landscape, floating side by side in close formation. Ten colossal spatial conduits—constructed using high-yield bullet portal spellwork designed for heavy troop movement—hovered above the plain.

These spatial gateways possessed a curved diameter far surpassing the standard teleportation arrays installed in major provincial capitals. While standard municipal portals were constrained by spatial bandwidth—limiting transfers to ten individuals every five minutes—these war gateways operated on a completely different scale.

To the scouts' utter horror, a endless, disciplined column of dark operatives was pouring continuously out of the ten massive rifts, filing into pristine battle formations across the plain.

Their numbers were staggering, stretching beyond the horizon.

The dark legions streamed endlessly from the eight primary spatial conduits that remained wide open. The spatial arrays functioned with terrifying efficiency; as thousands of dark cultists stepped onto the physical plane, they seamlessly moved into designated ranks, awaiting the final mandate from their commanders.

Clad in dark armor and gripping their armaments, the dark operatives radiated unbridled bloodlust. Restless and eager for slaughter, they shifted in their ranks, hungry to march against human civilization and subjugate the realm.

The spatial conduits continued to discharge dark troops without pause, swelling the encampment to a terrifying scale. Recognizing the critical gravity of the situation, the Sky Squad scouts exchanged swift hand signals. They needed to fall back immediately and inform military defense command and the martial alliance that time had run out.

Disengaging their stealth domains gradually as they created distance, the five scouts turned and retreated at maximum velocity to rendezvous with Barsha and the rest of the vanguard.

War was inevitable.

Reaching the central command post, the scouts delivered their report just as Barsha finished briefing Commander Dasatama. Acting instantly, Dasatama activated a high-tier communication artifact, convening a real-time emergency council with regional sovereigns and chief advisors across all five continents.

Projected through multidimensional artifact projections, the continental leaders materialized in the war room. Dasatama clearly outlined the dire reality: Shura's forces had already breached the southern border of the Orpris continent, assembling just outside the greater sector of Prisma.

Their primary target was the Orpris continent itself—the heartland of the martial world. Shura had deliberately chosen to strike the alliance's stronghold first to inflict maximum psychological terror. By launching an unannounced, full-scale assault on the grandest continent, the dark army sought to plunge the orthodox cultivators into instant panic, knowing that fear and chaos would dismantle their fighting spirit before blades even crossed.

Shura intended to make an example of the Orpris continent, using its fall to force the remaining four continents into absolute submission. It was a strategy designed to crush the morale of the righteous sects, demonstrating that even the center of martial power could be overrun in a single stroke.

Recognizing the stakes, the continental leaders pledged their total military support, promising to dispatch every standing division and independent cultivator willing to take the field. They had already placed their regional garrisons on standby following the initial warning; now, the time had come to execute a global deployment.

Vast armies were instructed to relocate to the Orpris continent immediately. However, because municipal teleportation arrays lacked the capacity to transport heavy legions simultaneously, only elite vanguard detachments were routed through the portal networks. The vast majority of the continental armies mobilized via high-speed overland transports and naval fleets, racing toward the central continent from all four cardinal directions.

Because the Orpris continent occupied the geographic center of the five landmasses, surrounding reinforcement columns pushed forward at absolute speed, hoping to arrive before the dark army breached the capital's outer defenses.

For the orthodox forces already stationed on the Orpris continent, their mandate was absolute: hold the line against the dark army's initial wave at all costs, buying precious hours for global reinforcements to arrive.

The storm had arrived. High above, the darkened skies stood as silent witness to the impending deluge of blood and steel. The global war that had been delayed twenty years ago was about to erupt once more.