Inside the second chamber inspected by Aaman, no living soul was to be found. The vast space lay utterly deserted, save for two ornate sarcophagi resting at the center. Unlike traditional coffins meant to lay flat, these two stone sarcophagi stood completely upright, embedded vertically into the subterranean wall.

Why conceal something so vital within standing sarcophagi? Intrigued, Aaman expanded his sensory domain to scan the structures. Deep within the stone casing, his perception picked up a faint, disturbing aura—a quiet, dormant energy that radiated absolute danger.

Channeling his internal aura, Aaman directed a thread of spiritual perception into the twin sarcophagi to decipher what lay inside.

FLASH!

Aaman’s consciousness reeled from a violent, suffocating backlash. The sudden influx of dark magic repelled his probe with terrifying force, slamming his vessel backward across the cavern. He crashed hard against the stone wall, his body trembling uncontrollably as cold sweat soaked his brow. The sheer density of the dark aura locked within those coffins was sickening, exerting a crushing pressure that made his breath catch in his throat.

Reorganizing his focus, Aaman hesitated. Should he force the coffins open to inspect their contents directly, or fall back and report immediately? Yet his instinct as a master intelligence officer prevailed: if this sealed energy was a secret weapon prepared by Lord Demon Shura, uncovering its true nature was a strategic imperative.

Though the aura within the sarcophagi was dense and horrifying, it remained firmly bound behind dormant seals. The entities inside emitted no active intent. They were dormant dreadnoughts waiting to be unsealed and commanded by the Demon Lord against the righteous alliance.

Determined to see the truth through, Aaman resolved to inspect the coffins regardless of the risk. It was his duty as a scout for the continental defense divisions.

Stabilizing his internal parameters, Aaman gathered aura into both palms, maintaining a tight, suppressed field so as not to alert the dark operatives stationed in the outer cavern. Dropping into a low combat stance, he prepared himself for any immediate ambush the moment the seals were breached.

Grasping the iron latch of the first upright sarcophagus, his fingers trembled slightly before tightening his grip. Channeling a refined thread of aura into the mechanism, he slowly pulled the heavy stone door open.

The door creaked as it swung wide. Aaman braced his stance, his eyes fixed on the interior. Before departing on this reconnaissance mission, he had secured formal authorization from Commander Yarko, citing the confidential clues provided by Aji.

Commander Yarko had granted immediate approval without reservation. It was clear to Aaman that Yarko held Aji in absolute reverence, accepting his tactical insights without question. Aji possessed an extraordinary authority that earned the unyielding trust of grandmasters and alliance leaders alike.

The sarcophagus door swung completely open, revealing a figure standing motionless within the stone recess. Was it a dark operative? A mutated thrall? Apprehension tightened in Aaman’s chest as he stepped closer to examine the face.

The figure stood erect, its arms hanging limply at its sides as though locked in deep slumber. Its face was utterly void of expression or free will. Yet as Aaman cleared the dust from the features, recognition struck him like a bolt of lightning.

He stared at the aged, weathered face, his mind racing as he cross-referenced the features with the historic portraits enshrined across every grand academy in the five continents.

It... it cannot be!

How could a legendary figure so deeply revered across the entire martial world be standing inside a dark sarcophagus within Lord Demon Shura’s private sanctuary? The reality of what he was witnessing defied all reason. Shock and disbelief paralyzed his mind as he stared at the dormant body.

Driven by a sudden, desperate urge to confirm his fears, Aaman turned to the second upright sarcophagus. Grasping the latch, he pulled the heavy stone door open without hesitation.

Inside stood another aged figure, resting in the exact same state of suspended animation—arms hanging limply, facial features serene, completely void of a living soul.

Aaman’s legs buckled, and he collapsed onto his knees, staring up at the two open sarcophagi in absolute horror.

Two of the most celebrated, legendary figures in human history—revered as the ultimate guardians of the righteous sects—were standing before him as mindless, living corpses trapped in dark seals!

Before Aaman could process the sheer impossibility of the discovery, a sudden surge of volatile dark magic erupted from the base of the sarcophagi. Pitch-black energy coiled around the two corpses like suffocating serpents, binding their frames in a dense, swirling vortex.

Aaman scrambled backward, deploying a defensive barrier to avoid being touched by the spreading corruption.

The dark magic grew increasingly dense, swirling into a blinding eclipse that completely engulfed both figures and their stone coffins. The air hummed with volatile spatial distortion as the vortex reached its peak density.

SWOOSH!

In an instant, the dense dark magic vanished without a trace, leaving behind an empty wall. The two sarcophagi and the legendary figures housed within them had been completely erased from the room.

It was a long-range spatial retrieval executed directly by Lord Demon Shura.

The two corpses were the ultimate secret weapon prepared for the coming invasion. Recognizing the dire gravity of the situation, Aaman knew he had to move immediately. He needed to reach Aji and the alliance council before those two entities were deployed onto the battlefield.

This changes everything!

The two reanimated legends had undoubtedly been transferred directly to the dark army's vanguard, converted into mindless dreadnoughts to shatter the righteous alliance. Refining his high-tier stealth domain, Aaman slipped past the remaining outer guards without triggering a single alert.

He raced toward the capital city of Prisma at absolute velocity, utilizing his dual mastery as a peak swordsman and assassin to cut through the terrain. He had to deliver this report to Aji personally, ensuring the alliance recognized the true horror of Shura’s preparation before the front lines collapsed.

Meanwhile, in the hidden bastions of the Fosfit continent...

Warlord Tora and his standing legion were met by a specialized spatial detachment dispatched directly by Shura's court. The detachment comprised ten high-tier spatial masters—specialists who had dedicated their cultivation entirely to bending dimensional coordinates to consolidate the dark army's global invasion.

Materializing from a wide-mouth spatial rift, the ten specialists appeared directly within Tora's staging grounds. Tora, a towering juggernaut among the 10 Annihilation Demons, turned his blood-red eyes toward them.

"Has the mandate been issued?" Tora demanded, his deep voice reverberating off the canyon walls.

The lead spatial master wore a high-collared dark cloak emblazoned with an intricate, glowing spatial array over the shoulder. Dropping to one knee, he pressed his right fist over his heart in formal salute.

"By decree of Lord Demon Shura: the hour of global subjugation has arrived!"

Tora grinned darkly, adjusting the heavy iron chains wrapped around his massive frame. Reaching behind his back, he set his razor-sharp twin chain-cleavers into their locks. He signaled his sub-commanders to sound the war horns, signaling his standing legion of one hundred thousand dark operatives to form up into marching columns.

They were to be transported directly to the primary assault sector via a wide-mouth spatial gateway.

Operating in seamless synergy, the ten spatial specialists arranged themselves in a circular array. Channeling their combined dark parameters, they forced open a massive dimensional gateway at the center of the staging grounds. The portal expanded rapidly, standing five meters tall and four meters wide, its frame pulsing with volatile void energy.

The lead specialist bowed respectfully toward Warlord Tora, announcing that the gateway was fully stabilized. He instructed the legion to march through in tight columns of three.

Tora bellowed an absolute command, ordering his troops into formation. Taking the lead, Tora stepped through the portal threshold first to present his respects to the Demon Lord, while his one hundred thousand dark operatives filed into the gateway in disciplined, unbroken lines.

The ten spatial masters held their stances, maintaining continuous aura output to preserve the gateway's structural integrity against atmospheric feedback. They held the spatial conduit open without flinching, sustaining the field until the final rank of Tora's legion vanished into the void toward the Orpris continent.

Once the entire legion had cleared the gateway, the specialists dissolved the portal, preparing to jump to the central vanguard to support the primary assault.

The dark army's global invasion had been meticulously engineered; total victory felt absolute. The spatial masters had been promised regional sovereignty over the continental capitals once the righteous alliance was eradicated. Having spent decades in subterranean isolation mastering dimensional mechanics, they viewed this campaign as their ultimate ascension.

They were the single most critical asset in Shura's grand design—the absolute aces that enabled a million-man army to materialize on the enemy's doorstep in a single breath.