Chapter 275: Declaration of War (Patreon)

Edi

“And with that, this instance of the C rank Universal Tournament is officially over.” Edi ignored the several thousand C ranks who’d just appeared in the cages around him and Olivia, including many who hadn’t participated in the tournament, instead focusing on the illusory image of his master in her Starflower disguise sitting behind a desk and reporting on what had just occurred in the tournament. “In first place, the man who can slaughter A ranks with ease as a C rank, the Heavenly Spark Soul King, Aalam Alvaro, emperor of the Heavenly Soul Universe. In second place, the head tutor of the Heavenly Soul Universe, the Devil Blade, Vanar Tedros. And in third place, his surrender revoked after his opponent broke the rules, the head of the Heavenly Soul Universe’s Royal Guard, True Dragon Isaiah.

“Finally, rounding out the top four after making a deal and joining the Heavenly Soul Universe as a spiritual pillar, Sword Saint Milan, the next high priestess of War Dance Koraline.”

The image of Starflower slowly morphed, becoming Edi’s master’s normal appearance, long silky semi-translucent black hair with purple highlights down to the middle of her back, golden mysterious eyes, and the type of figure which would make men drool.

“My name is Li Mila and I am the empress of the Heavenly Soul Universe. With our force being the only one still represented in the tournament and the interference of the Primordial Humans faction of gods, we have decided to not proceed with the tournament’s subsequent rounds and have instead chosen the winners and losers of every battle ourselves.

“For everyone not already mentioned, please check the System announcement for the official rankings.”

Edi’s master smiled in that way she did whenever she was about to make someone feel pain.

“With my role as MC for the Universal Tournament now concluded, let’s get on to other business.

“First, what we of the United Federation of Planets want. This is simple. We want to be left alone.

“We’re talented enough we’ve been able to set the records for points from the F and D rank Universal Towers and receive the max possible rewards from the E rank War of the Chosen and C rank Universal Tournament—and we can get our own resources without having to take them from anyone in the Prime Material as we are perfectly capable of taking over other universes no one else from this universe can.

“If you don’t attack us in an unprovoked manner, we are a generally peaceful group.

“Be like the leader of the Violet Mountain Sect or the Primordial Human’s Bellessia, however, and kill one of our own for no justifiable reason whatsoever, and you will earn our wrath.

“The Violet Mountain Sect, a B rank force, was destroyed back when Isaiah, my husband, and I were E ranks. Now we’re C ranks, soon to be B ranks, and it is finally the Primordial Humans turn.”

Her face lost its smile and began to show anger Edi knew had been burning quietly for thousands of years.

“You murdered our first leader with a vile bloodline curse, burned our temporary leader to a crisp, and tried to assassinate my husband in front of the entire universe.

“You think you are safe because you are powerful and because the universe won’t let you fall while you’re still the first line of defense against the demons and the undead, but you’ve forgotten three important facts. One, there can always be someone more powerful, as my husband has shown here today. Two, every other divine force in our universe has the power to defend us from the demons, such as the elves. And, three, everyone from the Heavenly Soul Universe is descended from the Yin Yang Sage, the woman who managed to blackmail every undead empire you allowed to exist in our universe by holding their lives in her hands. We’ve learned the Yin Yang Sage’s true inheritance, and my husband has improved on it. If you decide to go the route where you will be destroyed, it will not be difficult to replace you and do a better job.”

Edi’s master took a deep breath and her scary smile returned.

“Now, to make our animosity official. I, Li Mila, President of the United Federation of Planets, declare war on the Primordial Humans, all their subordinate forces, and all their subordinates’ subordinate forces, et cetera. The terms of your surrenders are set. And you all have 5,184 years before everyone in your forces are completely annihilated.”

With that, Edi’s master, a doppelgänger, stood up and bowed before fading away.

“So, how do you think I did?”

Edi almost jumped as his master, seemingly her true body this time, appeared out of nowhere and sat down on the armrest next to him on the loveseat he and Olivia had been sharing.

Meanwhile, Olivia did jump. Then she quickly bowed, placing her right hand to her heart. “Cousin.”

“Relax, Olivia.” Lord Isaiah, Olivia’s master, walked over, looking no worse for wear after having appeared on the planet’s teleportation platform, his deep voice booming.

“Yes, Master.” Olivia, who interacted with Edi’s master and her own about as much as Edi did, at least enough that she’d know how lacking in formality the two generally were, seemed to have to struggle to relax in front of her father’s first cousin way more than Edi would expect, and Edi found this weird.

Then, however, he read the finer fluctuations in Olivia’s aura and realized the source of her nervousness wasn’t Edi’s master, but Edi himself, the emotions only triggered with his master’s arrival and her ability to read people like books.

Before dealing with his own emotions around this discovery, however, Edi decided to answer his master’s original question about her performance. “If you wanted what I think you wanted, you probably achieved it.”

“Good.” Edi’s master nodded as she stood up again. “I was nervous.”

Then she looked around at all the trapped C ranks and smiled warmly, either about to do something nice for them all or kill every single one. With Edi’s master, it was hard to tell.

“Hello, everyone. As you’ve just seen, my name is Li Mila and I am the head of the United Federation of Planets, the force you have all now joined.

“For those of you who haven’t officially become members and are confused about what is going on, you signed a blood oath with one of my husband’s deceased servants, those artifacts from the Havadim Imperium fake, and, as a result, you’ve effectively signed your lives over to us.

“Lucky you.

“Those cages around you are currently blocking all your karmic bonds, both making you impossible to track and silently breaking all the contracts you’ve entered into other than your blood oaths, freeing you from the restrictions from your previous forces. The full process will take about 28 days, after which you’ll be free to sign a new contract with me to become official citizens of the Heavenly Soul Universe, with all the same rights as every other citizen, myself and my husband included.

“Unlike my husband and I, you won’t be able to leave this universe, at least for now. Otherwise, however, you’ll be free to travel, free to be merry, and free to explore.”

Edi’s master then turned her head to look at a cluster of cages holding those who had already been there for years. “For those of you who have already been here for a while, the same offer is of course still extended.”

She snapped her fingers and Edi could sense contract requests being sent to everyone who’d been in the cages for a while, the cages designed to not block or affect either her or Edi’s powers. Then Edi’s master teleported to an empty cage, opened it with a wave of her hand, and dropped what looked to be Prince Daevic’s body inside.

Her wedding ring allowed her to share the subspace built into Lord Aalam’s Left Hand of the Runescribe in addition to having a subspace of its own, so this wasn’t surprising, but, when Daevic’s soul flowed out of a relatively plain metallic bracelet she was wearing on her other hand and seamlessly merged with his body, reviving him almost instantly as the cage closed around his unconscious form, Edi couldn’t help but open his mouth in shock.

“He’s not dead?” Krysta La’Vordi, the individual in the cages who looked the most comfortable, sounded surprised as she looked at Edi’s master.

“Of course not.” Edi’s master smiled as she turned to look at Ms. La’Vordi. “He’s Aalam’s brother and he doesn’t have a divine class, so taking him in is not a risk. Why would we want to kill the poor abused man?”

Edi’s master then made a gesture and a small orb appeared in her left hand before disappearing and landing above Ms. La’Vordi’s head, something invisible flowing out of it and into Ms. La’Vordi’s body before it crumbled to dust.

“The terms of our deal have been followed.” Edi’s master smiled more warmly than before. Then, along with Lord Isaiah, she started to walk back toward the teleportation platform. “I’ll see you in 28 days, Krysta.”

“Is there really no other purpose to these cages!?” Sword Saint Milan, who’d already unsuccessfully tried to cut through her cage with one of her swords, shouted out.

“Each cage has a powerful dao finding formation built into it, making them ideal places to train.” Edi’s master turned to look at the woman as she and Isaiah stepped onto the teleportation formation. “Other than that, it also scans your body and soul at a very deep level.

“All but six of the living children with Bellessia’s bloodline are in there with you, after all. And my husband is interested in isolating his mother’s genetics.”

With that, Edi’s master and Lord Isaiah disappeared, almost certainly having to deal with other matters, leaving Edi and Olivia to deal with the former prisoners who started to accept his master’s contracts, Edi very much thinking there was more to the cages than his master had said.