Planet Master

189- Magadan

When the two groups got out of the chamber, they could see a strange crimson sky. In the distance, there was a trace of black but it was overwhelmed by the crimson color.“Is this the manifestation when an Outer Being appeared?” Dian murmured.

Tatsumi could hear what Dian had said and became wary of the sky. The fact that the Outer Being could induce such a change to the sky showed that their power was extraordinary.

He breathed out and then breathed in to calm his nerves.

Charlene already calculated how much power the Outer Being had for them to change the local sky.

Furthermore, in the horizon, many shadows moved independently from the Outer Being. Dian’s group could not understand the shadows which were projected even if their insight was great.

“What is that?” Ame asked.

“That is the manifestation of the Outer Being.” Tabitha said on behalf of Tritis.

Ame pursed her lips; she did not understand the significance of the manifestation but Tabitha treated it as if it were a normal occurrence.

But what she wanted to know was the reason the shadows moved the way they did.

“What we know is that the manifestation is the sign of the coming of the Outer Beings. The more shadows in the manifestation, the more numbers the Outer Being had.” Tabitha said with a slight concern.

“Yes. Then those lots of shadows in the distance, does that mean the Outer Being is not only strong but also numerous?” Tatsumi stepped forward and looked into the distance, where he could see large shadows that overlooked the Magadan Frontline.

“You look concerned?” Charlene realized that Tabitha and her group had gone silent and had somber expressions on their faces.

“Does this mean that the situation has become more serious?” Ame quickly thought of some scenarios and how to break them.

“I can feel the desire coming from the manifestation.” Long Wu narrowed his eyes as he looked at the shadows.

“What desire?” Bore asked.

“Desire to be…whole?” Long Wu instinctively answered with a furrowed brow.

“You are good.” Dian affirmed Long Wu’s words. That caused Dian’s group to take the Outer Being seriously.

“Let’s report to the Magadan Commander. It’s this way.” Tritis said as she led the two groups toward the fortified fortress not far from the chamber.

As for the supplies and weaponry, they would be brought by the crews. The task of the two groups would be decided by the commander who supervises the Magadan Frontline.

“And for your information, we are at the rearmost of the Magadan Frontline.” Tritis informed Dian and his group.

Then Dian and his group became alert and careful during their move.

They became guarded in case there was a sudden attack from the Outer Being. This cautiousness earned a good point from Tritis and her group.

Then they arrived at the fortified fortress. The fortress was actually the command center for the Magadan Frontline. Frontline-59 was one of the important Frontlines after all.

After they underwent checks and verification, they were granted entry.

Then they had to wait in the large corridor where there was a specialized door for the commander.

“Why are we in this form again?” Dian asked Tritis.

“Because of some laws which even us cannot circumvent, we have to be in the form most familiar to our race.” Tritis explained.

“These laws, are they binding even to the existence like you?” Dian wondered.

Tritis could only nod. This form was undoubtedly more restrictive than their Personal Manifestation but with their races helping them, their safety was increased.

For Dian’s group, that was a revelation so surprising that even Tatsumi and Ame had a change in plans.

‘I thought Father God retains his power even in that form. But if these laws are even preventing them from using their full power, it means we also need to protect Father God.’ Tatsumi thought and shared it in his mind link to Ame.

‘I am thinking about letting Him become part of the protected ones like Charlene and her people.’ Ame quickly thought of something.

“Father God, I am thinking about your safety so could you please go to the center?” Ame asked.

Dian sighed as he realized that his group had realized that in his current form, he was vulnerable. But he thought about Tritis' situation and realized that she had risked her life by going with him.

“Your Excellency, do we have to go here like this and potentially risk our existence?” Dian asked out loud so that his group could hear.

“Well, this is something you need to face when you go to the Frontline.” Tritis answered.

Dian felt slightly touched since Tritis had risked her life for something so trivial as helping him. Then Dian felt that he and Tritis had become the most important thing in this Frontline for their groups.

Tatsumi also realized this through Ame’s words. Dian's presence was important enough that his safety became the number one priority during their stay in the Frontline.

But then they also had Tritis’ group. Although from what Tatsumi felt about her group, there seemed to be a lot of support rather than combativeness.

“We are going to be the vanguard.” Tatsumi said to his group.

“But is it the right decision, though?” Bore asked.

“We are the only ones who can properly combat the Outer Being. Although the other group is stronger than us, but they are support. Their role is not direct combat.” Tatsumi stated.

“Hmm, it is not wrong to regard us as support.” Tabitha interjected. Ame raised her brows and Charlene smiled slightly although it was a bit ambiguous from Tatsumi’s perspective.

“But we can also help you greatly on the frontline. My group is the one who can enhance the effectiveness of you combatants.” Tabitha added.

“Enhance in what way?” Tatsumi asked.

“You will know later when we face off against the Outer Being. I want to see your combat prowess first to gauge the enhancement effect on you.” Tabitha said.

Tatsumi clicked his tongue but understood her reasoning. He only hoped that their enhancement was worth protecting.

But then the door to the commander's room was opened and from the inside, a stern and slim figure came out.

“Oh, Your Excellency Tritis. What brought you to my humble command center in this Frontline-59?” Unexpectedly, the commander was a female half-beast with white whiskers and black stripes on white on top of a humanoid figure.

Dian thought quickly about the identity of the commander of the Magadan Frontline.

“We are seeking to eliminate some weaker Outer Being. But as you know, they are elusive and only act when it is certain that they will gain something.” Tritis said.

Dian felt the pressure coming from the commander to be slightly worse than Tritis but more refined like a sheathed blade ready to be drawn. When her gaze landed to Dian and his group, she was surprised to see a humanoid figure without any animal characteristic.

“Oh, what do we have here?” the commander then stepped out from the door and looked at Dian because she realized that Dian was the Planet Master of the humans.

“Is this what they talked about? The missing link in the half-beast characteristic? A human?” the commander looked at Dian with narrowed eyes while also looking at Tatsumi, Ame, Charlene and Long Wu.

Although she could feel the Ether from the three, she could feel the presence of the undead element on Long Wu and was surprised.

The commander thought.

“Greetings, commander.” Dian cupped his hand since this was a respectful move that he had learned from his race.

“Oh, being respectful, I see.” The commander let out a smile that exposed her sharp teeth. Dian could only look at her and blinked his eyes.

“Well, looks like you are close to Her Excellency Tritis so I can at least know that your rank is high.” Dian explained his reasoning.

“No need for all that formal stuff. If Tritis treated you this well, I can say that she wants to get close to you, actually, but for your safety, she refrains from taking too much drastic action.” The commander said.

“Leah, please don’t say things that will cause misunderstanding.” Tritis said seriously.

“Don’t lie to me and don’t even lie to yourself. I can see things that you don’t even perceive. You at least care about this human Planet Master, right?” Leah, the commander, said sternly.

Tritis nodded, which caused Leah to nod in understanding.

“Therefore, I know for a fact that when you set things on something or someone, you will devote yourself. That is what I know about you.” Leah’s gaze then softened as she said this.

Dian looked at Tritis and then at Leah interchangeably. Even Tatsumi and his group felt like juicy information was coming and tried to remember it.

“Alright, there is no need for more words. You will be granted the autonomy to act as a Special Commando unit. You can act freely in the Frontline-59.” Leah said while giving Tritis the paper.

Tritis looked at the paper, verifying the content before she stored it in her spatial storage.

Dian thought as he needed to reassess the capability of the Venerables.

“Thank you for helping me.” Tritis said to Leah.

“No need for thanks between us. Like you said, we are friends.” Leah said.

But just then, an alert noise came and Leah who was sensitive to sound, immediately perked up. Her eyes narrowed as she barked, “What is it!?”

“Commander, there appear to be two signatures approaching the fortified command center.” From the hologram that Leah had activated, the people on duty reported the latest situation.

“Can you tell me who they are?” Leah asked.

“Well, they apparently said that they are here to reinforce Her Excellency Tritis. One from Mechanical Race’s mothership and the other from Immortal Court’s Slayer Division.”

Leah knew these two apparent units. They could only come from Venerable Gorith and Venerable Yuan. Mechanical Race’s mothership was known to be versatile while the Immortal Court’s Slayer Division specialized in eliminating Outer Being.

Dian was surprised to hear that. Two Venerables were sending their elite units for Tritis’ sake. Dian felt that his importance grew, but a sense of responsibility weighed more heavily on his shoulders.

Tatsumi and his group did not react much, since they lacked the knowledge, but they thought that any reinforcement should give them more room for error.

Tritis’ group, however, was surprised to hear this. They did not expect that Venerable Gorith and Venerable Yuan would send their people to assist them.

Tabitha was blinking hard, she had some expectation but to be realized like this…this meant that the two Venerables likely caught something since they looked after each other.

“Do you know about this?” Leah turned her head and looked at Tritis in the eye.

Tritis smiled and nodded.

Leah sighed with a helpless tone, “Let them in. They are reinforcement.”

-

Outside the fortified fortress that served as a command center for Frontline-59.

Leah, Tritis, Dian and the others walked to the large opening in the surface of the planet.

“According to what I know, the Frontline stretched from this planet to the edge of the galaxy. It is big.” Dian said to his group which made them gasp with amazement at the size of the mere Frontline.

Then, in front of them were the mothership from the Mechanical Race as well as the Slayer Division who arrived through teleportation formation.

“Your Excellency Tritis.” The Slayer Division which consisted of twelve individuals, greeted Tritis.

Well, they were acquaintances, and sometimes they were doing mission together with their Planet Master so they knew each other quite well.

“Thank you for doing your duty as always.” Tritis replied with a firm tone.

“This is what we should do. So don’t worry about it.” The leader of the Slayer Division said.

Tatsumi could feel a great pressure coming from the twelve newcomers. Even his mind was telling him not to mess with them. The aura they released unconsciously was already life-thretening to him and his group.

Tatsumi used mental scan and realized that those behind him did not fare better. All of them had sweat on their foreheads as they tried to withstand the pressure.

‘This is likely the test to be able to even fight an Outer Being.’ Tatsumi thought positively. After all, he had never seen or met an Outer Being so he overestimated them a great deal to make sure that the safety of the group was guaranteed.

‘Oh, look at this. According to the intel from our Supreme Ruler, there is a new race who get into the potential list. And some deities even said that the human is the missing link…’ the leader who had a camel snout with whiskers and a deer horn looked at the four humans who resisted his unconscious pressure.

Tatsumi felt that as he was under pressure, his will became stronger. This elated him and he endured for longer until he could not.

Seeing Tatsumi moved in front of the group made them realize that this pressure was probably beneficial for them. Even Charlene forced herself to receive this pressure since she wanted to share the burden with Tatsumi. That sentiment was also shared with Ame as she moved just a step behind Tatsumi on his right.

Then Tatsumi felt that the second mind palace in his mindscape suddenly opened its door which was previously chained. Mental pressure then formed a cocoon to protect him from external pressure.

Tatsumi breathed a sigh of relief. The pressure felt suffocating and overwhelming before but now, it was barely bearable.

“Alright, that’s enough testing.” Tritis then said. The leader of the Slayer Division then stopped what he was doing and nodded with satisfaction.

Dian felt that he had learned something precious. It was the moment when the Transcendent Tree of the Planet Master was updated.

[Name: Martial Will

Rank: -

Description: The will born from martial intent. Can be honed and increased due to certain martial activities. Can grow with the pressure of higher Martial Will. Effective against Ethereal Being.]

“Uh, oh. That escalated quickly.” Dian checked this and became stupefied. This was the most important thing to learn, although there was no rank for it. Well, because this was a universal thing and effective for the higher realm transcendent.

Dian also noticed that this Martial Will was effective against Ethereal Being. Was the Outer Being had the characteristic of one?

Tatsumi and his group kneeled down, breathing rough, and felt the mental burden was lifted. But his eyes gleamed with Martial Will so strong it could be used immediately.

Due to Advanced Insight (D) as well as Adaptive Body (D), Tatsumi and the others managed to learn Martial Will so easily in their first encounter with it.

Dian nodded in thanks for the deed toward the Slayer Division.

“No need for that. We are here to protect Her Excellency Tritis. She will be targeted by the Outer Being the moment she steps into the Frontline, just like my Supreme Ruler.” The leader of the Slayer Division said.

Then the mothership sent down something with artificial steel wings and a synthetic body.

“Codename Jeliel confirming Her Excellency Tritis’ safety.” The winged entity uniquely introduced itself.

“Wow, a real robot that can independently move.” Charlene’s eyes sparkled the moment she saw it.

“Meatbags, you better not have any designs on me. I can just turn you into a bio battery.” Jeliel said with its artificial voice. Her voice was like that of the fierce female general.

“No, just wondering how you are created, that’s all.” Charlene tilted her head with an ambiguous smile.

Tatsumi felt chills when he saw the smile on Charlene’s face. Since he had awakened Martial Will, his sensitivity to intent increased a hundredfold. Ame then placed her hand on top of his, sensing the same thing.

Tatsumi turned to look at her and saw her helpless smile. He sighed.

Dian, on the other hand, felt amazed at the Mechanical Race’s creation in front of him.

“Please protect me well, you two. As for what I am going to do, I am going to support his group.” Tritis said while pointing toward Dian and his group.

Jeliel and Ao Guang looked at Dian and his group. He could sense their spatial storage as well as their unique pressure at Rank 3 despite only having a power base of Rank 2 transcendent.

Ao Guang, the oriental dragon that became humanoid form and subservient under the Supreme Ruler Yuan was watching the group led by humans with interest.

Jeliel reassessed the power of the group since the reading was apparently facing an error. It tried to recalibrate the readings once again but got the same result.

But more importantly, it was designed to be a people carrier. Its main body was the mothership itself so this body was an extension of its body.

“Your Excellency, where should we go looking for the Outer Being?” Dian asked since he realized that Tritis seemed to know his objective.

Hearing this, Ao Guang and Jeliel was stunned.

What do you mean you were going to hunt Outer Being?

Since when the Outer Being were hunted? They were a calamity upon the Universe Field and now some lower-rank Planet Master and his nascent race deign to target the Outer Being.

‘Madness! This is madness. What has become of this world?’ Ao Guang thought.

‘Her Excellency Tritis’ objective seemed to support the human Planet Master and his races. Should I reconsider this in my order? I should.’

Then Jeliel reconsidered so many scenarios with Tritis and Dian hunting down the Outer Being.