Chapter Thirty: A Crack Throughout the Ten Universes

A man walked through a modern city, going about his day like any other.

His black hair blew in the wind as his black tailcoat covered his armor. The people around him acted as if he didn't exist, and went on with their days as if everything was normal.

The man smiled when he suddenly noticed everything freezing.

"What is it this time? The end of the world?" The man asked before laughing for a second. When he saw nothing happening, his expression turned serious. "Damn, really? I thought we had more time."

Warden suddenly appeared through a small crack and nodded, extending his hand to the man. "It seems that the discovery of the Promised Land has pushed the end closer to the present. Will you help me?"

The man rubbed his head as he looked to the frozen sky. "Someone found it, huh? How long ago was it found, and who by?"

Warden sighed. "It was found by Alice Night, and that was ten years ago."

He and the man stared at each other for a moment before the world trembled. A crack broke throughout the sky and rendered the magic used by Warden useless for a few seconds.

Warden stared at the sky. "We never had the time to prepare, even if we began a million years ago."

———

Alice sat in the library of the ruins of the Promised Land and read a book. It spoke of how the ten universes were originally one, and were somehow divided by an ancient evil.

She sighed and put the book down. "That's great, but none of this knowledge talks about Heaven's Gate!" Alice stood up and walked to the army's vault, only to stare at them.

The Guardian, who took the shape of a ring spoke. "Light-bringer, the gate to Heaven can only be opened by someone with a powerful will."

"I know. You've said that many, many times already. As far as I know, no one in this world has a will that powerful." Alice tapped on one of the shadow soldier's helmets.

"Then you must find one."

Alice rubbed her chin for a moment. "How long have I been down here?"

"Ten years, Light-bringer. I also believe your body has undergone a change due to the knowledge you have gained."

"What changes?" Alice quickly walked to the room she had been using as a bedroom and took off her clothes.

The burning broken halo symbol was still on her shoulder, and her body looked the exact same as it did ten years ago.

"If I'm suppose to somehow give off an air of some kind, I don't see it."

"I meant your wings, Light-bringer." The guardian spoke again, sighing afterwards.

Alice slowly extended her wings and looked at the giant mirror in the corner of the room. "They're much larger..." Alice rubbed one of them. "...and there are ten of them..."

As she looked at her reflection she suddenly began feeling dizzy. "How have I not noticed ten years have passed?"

"Time usually works differently here. I guess the barrier has deteriorated completely." The guardian spoke as Alice collapsed to the ground.

"I think I'm going to sleep..." She curled up into a ball, covering her naked body with her ten wings.

The guarding looked around from in the ring. He watched outside of the pit and stared at the sky. "I guess the barrier is still up. It looks like the problem is with the universe itself."

———

Xander and his men spent ten years combing the entirety of the Savage South, for a summon brought forth by its "ancient ruler".

Xander sighed a relief once they covered the last of the terrain. "It's a good thing that thing isn't here."

One of the elves looked up at the giant. "I don't mean to dampen the mood, or bring up the fact it's been ten years, but what if it never-"

The ground began to shake violently as the large group instinctively looked towards the stars.

"Commander, has there always been a crack in the sky?" Someone else asked Xander.

Xander shook his head. "I don't believe so."

Suddenly, the ground under them shook again, only to splinter and crack, falling into a deep pit under them.

"CRRRRAAAAAAAAA!!!" A screech came from within the pit as the soldiers fell into it, leaving only Xander standing on the surface.

"Damnit!" He jumped back and unsheathed the great sword on his back. He quickly grabbed a crystal from under his armor and smashed it under his foot.

A massive figure came out of the hole and stared down at Xander, blocking out the moonlight.

It's giant yellow eyes squinted as it readied itself to jump at him.

Xander took a deep breath and gripped his sword tightly. "Queen Maria, I fear I will not be coming home."

"CRRRRAAAAAAAAA!!!"

———

Queen Maria sat in her office as she stared at the broken crystal on her desk. She quickly stood up and ran outside of the room, clearly much healthier than she had been.

She ran all the way to the basement level of the castle and hit a magical device which instantly sent a siren through the city, followed by a broadcast of her.

"My people, I am sorry to inform you that we have no choice but to join the Third Theocracy's rule. Although they are a new nation, and a shady one at that, they have manpower we will be needing in the future."

"Many of our great grandparents and their parents before them could've told us about the split between the people of Inferna and the Savage South, but not what caused that split."

Maria cleared her throat before continuing. "When we thought we were going to win the civil war, the Ancient ruler of the Savage South gave the traitors access to a being known as Hyrdos. It was a great being that turned most of the traitors into anew species which quickly died out."

"It took many years for the being to disappear, but not without weakening us first. We will need the Third Theocracy to destroy it."

The broadcast cut off and many people began to freak out. Some took their families north, while others began to train and prepare themselves.

A few months passed as the continent was thrown into chaos, awaiting the day Hyrdos would attack.

Meanwhile, Alice woke up with a yawn and stretched for a few minutes. "That was a good nap." She stood up and stared at herself in the mirror again, this time with her mouth agape. 'Is that me?'