"What's going on...?" Elegan muttered with a dazed expression as he watched the slowly rising fragments of crystal.

The crystals were taking on a new shape, some of them becoming sharper while others could be completely round or square.

"They are taking the right shape to become the new core. Soon there will be a new center in our Void and it will not just be a Fifth Chronicle core. This one will be endowed with my energy, the energy of the Nameless King." Wain spoke with an excited smile on his face.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

The crystals approached the center, enclosing a dense cloud of dark energy. Piece by piece, the crystals sealed the energy within them, slowly becoming one whole-the new core of the Void.

"Well, well, I couldn't control what form it would take, but it's pretty good, isn't it?" Wain grinned as he turned to Elegan.

"Yeah... It looks incredible. I couldn't even imagine that the core of our Void would be so majestic." Elegan muttered in disbelief as he gazed at the massive nine-pointed star.

Thin threads of darkness hovered around the star and were quickly directed to different points in space while dense energy flowed out of the nine vertices of the star, which the threads used.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

The threads emerged from the ice island and headed toward all four territories of the zone. They pierced literally everything, sky, rocks, earth, and even monsters, giving them the energy to move on to the next Chronicle.historical

"Looks like it went as you planned, doesn't it?" A sly voice came from behind at the sound of light footsteps.

Wain turned around and saw Reto, who was without a bottle of wine or glass in his hand, which was very rare for him.

"Damn, considering you decided to come here to look at the new core instead of draining another bottle, I actually succeeded." Wain grinned with an excited expression.

Reto shrugged, "Don't you think I can't control myself, that's pretty hurtful." Reto sighed and looked at the star, "I haven't seen much of the other zones' cores, but still, I'm sure we got the best of them all."

Step. Step. Step.

At the same moment, the others reached the ice cave as the many steps gave away their owners.

"Frigus, you were faster than I thought." Wain said with a slight smile as he looked at Frigus.

Next to Frigus were everyone, Nicole, Sarras, Ferner, Lui Bu, and Edena. All of them stared wide-eyed at the slowly spinning star whose energy mesmerized them.

"It's quite beautiful, isn't it?" Reto smirked before pointing to the star as if it were the greatest treasure.

"How much energy is there? I can feel it, but I don't know the right words to describe how much it is..." Edena muttered as she got goosebumps.

"Hah, I don't know. I just used Nicole's tactics and channeled as much energy as I was even capable of." Wain shrugged, "Anyway, let's not linger here because the best part is waiting for us upstairs."

Wain swung with his coat and headed forward with a confident stride. The others gave themselves a few more seconds to enjoy the view of the star before following Wain.

Elegan was the last, as he was most concerned that nothing should happen to the core. Earlier there were many protective barriers around the crystal, but when the crystal collapsed the barriers were gone.

'Hmm... Such a core would be very difficult to destroy, but extra caution wouldn't hurt, right?' Elegan muttered inwardly as he stretched out his hand.

A massive magical circle appeared in front of him from which purple runes began to fly out. They headed toward the star, hovering in the air around it. Dozens of runes hovered around the core, gradually creating new layers of protective barriers.

'Fine, a little more and it will be enough.' Elegan said to himself, watching the transparent purple barrier.

Whoooooooooosh.

Suddenly the dark energy coming out of the star turned into several eerie ghosts with massive jaws. Like wild beasts, they pounced on the barrier, quickly tearing it apart.

"What the hell...?" Elegan's eyes went wide as he was completely baffled.

Most of the spirits returned to the core after destroying all the runes, but some remained near it staring intently at Elegan.

The two spirits with the most powerful aura headed toward Elegan. They looked formidable as their jaws seemed capable of tearing him apart in a single movement, but they did not attack him.

The spirits examined Elegan as if they were trying to figure out if he was the enemy or not, then their menacing faces changed to knowing smirks.

"Agh... Looks like the new core doesn't need any extra protection, right?" Elegan sighed in relief, realizing that the spirits didn't see him as a threat.

As if in response, the spirits nodded slightly before returning to the core. They were invisible protectors who only appeared when something might threaten the core.

"Well, maybe that's even better. Now I definitely won't have to worry about anything happening to the core it has great guards." Elegan smiled slightly before leaving the room.

Whooooooooosh.

As he left the ice cave, the space at the entrance shuddered as a barrier with a massive jaw sign appeared there.

...

Wain and the others stood at the edge of the ice island watching as the area gradually changed. There were fewer threads as more and more places were already filled with energy, but there was still a long way to go before the transformation was complete.

"How much time do we have?" Frigus asked with a serious look as he put his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Not much. Get ready, our Void will soon reach the Fifth Chronicle and then someone will attack us for sure." Wain said calmly as he nodded.

"Are you sure about that?" Nicole tilted her head in confusion, "I'd be afraid to attack your Void."

"Hah, they don't know what awaits them yet. Those who decide to attack us will greatly regret it because they can't yet determine the type of zone we're in. Our enemy thinks we're a weak victim and only sees us as an area with a sudden burst of energy." Wain muttered as a sly smirk appeared on his face.