Mars Central Command

Inside the center of the empire's military surveillance technology central command, a screen wide enough to allow for every important sector within the empire to be shown simultaneously was currently operating under wartime mobilization. All of the screens were now covered with footage live-streamed from avatars who were still wreaking havoc in the Conclave.

However, that footage didn't last long, as it was instantly replaced by the imperial solar system sensor array, with a large highlight surrounding Mars as an alarm blared across the room.

Without even needing instructions, the footage zoomed in on Mars, accessing all of the sensor assets within that vicinity and trying to pinpoint what exactly was happening and come up with a solution.

But just as it was about to start receiving the feeds of the area of interest, the entire screen was replaced by a large, red-colored sentence: [AN ATTEMPT TO ACCESS A CLASSIFIED SECTOR HAS BEEN DISCOVERED: ACCESS DENIED].

"Okay, that is a first for me," a Sensor Technician First Class said when he saw the sentence on the screen. This facility had the highest level of permission to access classified information, second only to the Emperor and a few officials, since it was responsible for the security of the empire.

As a result, they were used to having access to everything their sensors laid their eyes on, making the current situation quite bizarre for all those present.

But before they could even wallow in that surprise, another warning replaced the previous one on the massive screen.

[MANA REACTORS OVERDRIVE RISK. PLEASE PROVIDE ADDITIONAL REACTORS]

"Whatever they are doing there is depleting the online reactors faster than they can produce energy. Bring the backup reactors online, FAST!" the control center commander shouted, not wanting to be the cause of whatever was happening in the classified sector failing because of a mistake from his side.

Without wasting time, the backup reactors were brought online as they were instantly ramped to maximum power output before being connected to the system. But it didn't seem like it was enough, despite a new backup reactor being brought online and connected each minute.

"Contact high command, inform them of the situation, and ask them exactly what is expected of us so that we are not intervening blindly and worsening the situation," the commander said upon seeing that no matter how many backup reactors they brought online, the situation was not stopping.

"Yes, sir!" a Sensor Technician First Class shouted back before following the orders.

…………………………..

{Need aid to protect the Emperor,} Nova sent out an aid communication request to all those who were called by the Emperor, updating them on the situation.

Seraphina was the first to act. She instantly stopped providing mana to the closest dome, immediately exposing the center location to the vacuum between the domes as the air inside the inner dome started being displaced, sending chaos around everything within. Nova, who understood her capabilities, synergized with her by keeping the Emperor inside the activated shield while turning the one holding the Emperor's doppelgänger passive in small sections, allowing for damage to be dealt. Seraphina then repeated the same process for the other layers, finally opening access to the center of the situation for all the called individuals.

Lee activated a gravity field in his surroundings, immediately increasing the attractive force towards his direction, pulling everything that was not held down towards him. Nova followed, synergizing with Seraphina and then with Lee, as she turned the shield around the doppelgänger back to passive to be pulled towards Lee, creating a distance between it and the Emperor.

But it seemed that was the worst move they could make. The moment the active shield surrounding it was released, the doppelgänger released a large amount of mana as a magic circle materialized around it, activating a flight spell and fighting against the gravitational pull from Lee. Through this whole period, its eyes never left the Emperor, who Nova was holding and pulling towards space through a tractor beam connected to a ship a few kilometers above.

The doppelgänger immediately raised its hand and, in a near-instant, activated a new magic circle which instantly increased the ambient temperature as a fireball the size of a football was created, hot enough to cause the sand on the soil of Mars to melt. But just before it could fire it at the Emperor, the magic circle itself was interfered with. For a moment, it turned its head towards the direction of where the interference came from, finding Rina floating with her eyes glowing yellow as if there was a bulb behind them.

"Stop chasing my husband!" she shouted, and despite being a few kilometers away, she was heard by everyone as she had imbued mana in her sound.

The doppelgänger's eyes lingered for a moment when it laid eyes on Rina, but that short moment seemed to be enough for the rest to finally be able to take action. A root materialized from the ground, binding the doppelgänger as she tried to absorb the mana in it, with the same happening for the rest of the treefolk.

But to the surprise of many, the moment they started absorbing mana through the roots, the roots themselves started withering rapidly before turning brittle and breaking just from the gravitational pull from Lee, a byproduct of the tarnished mana generated as a result of the doppelgänger's soul having received the transfer of the mana poisoning, which killed an avenue for dealing with it.

The doppelgänger didn't seem to care as it returned its focus to the Emperor. Within the three seconds they had managed to hold it, Nova had pulled the Emperor a few kilometers away as a wormhole opened behind them, and they started entering it to escape.

"YUO COUSWERD INDAOFBORBHFWF!" the doppelgänger shouted gibberish as veins started coming out of its mouth in a fit of anger as it saw its target escaping. At the same time, fifteen magic circles appeared around it, sending a massive shockwave for kilometers, disrupting and covering its area with sand that was pulled towards Lee. The doppelgänger was now seen heading towards the Emperor, who was just about halfway through entering the wormhole, and it seemed to be on route to reach them moments after they went through. Everyone immediately reacted, trying to stop or delay it, which failed as it arrived just as the wormhole started closing and went through before it closed.

Shit, was the summary of what went through everyone's mind who witnessed it.

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