Chapter 90 – Dominion in the Shadows, Thunder in the Light

The entire sky above the city of Ayodhya was covered with silver-blue clouds, but this was no storm. It was the will of heaven watching a force move through the shadows — unseen, unheard, but felt.

Beneath this celestial silence, inside the Chaos Sect's Hidden Pavilion, Rayan sat cross-legged with his eyes closed. A ring of light pulsed gently around his body. The Chaos Ring gleamed on his hand, glowing with a soft black-silver hue, pulsing in rhythm with the dragon mark on his forehead.

Suddenly—

Ding!

[Dominion Sub-System Activated]

Codename: Shadow Sovereign Protocol

Function: Covert Sect Expansion (Real World)

Requirement: Establish 3 Shadow Nodes in Different Regions

Bonus: Receive upgraded access to Global AI Surveillance Override

Rayan's eyes snapped open. A quiet fire burned within them.

He wasn't just building a Sect inside a game or within a virtual world anymore.

The real world was his battlefield now.

City Node 1: Mumbai – The Slum Network

Inside a dim, cramped VR café in the slums of Mumbai, the hum of old computers and the stale air barely masked the tension. Most players here wore outdated helmets, but one setup was different — it glowed in soft chaos-purple.

A nano-drone zipped past the grimy curtain and projected a small screen onto the wall.

The screen flickered to life. On it: Rayan's face covered by a digital hood, his voice modulated, untraceable.

"Welcome to Dominion."

The five teens gathered in the corner stared at the screen. Some had background in coding, some were ex-convicts, and others were simply desperate — survivors of a forgotten system.

"You are free to reject this offer," the voice said, "but if you accept, you will never be hunted again. You will become the hunters."

One by one, they nodded.

The drone released five micro-serum vials — Chaos Gene Serum — embedded with an encrypted seed. As the nanites entered their bodies, their eyes flashed silver.

[Initiating Neural Bond with Chaos Sub-AI (Real World Instance)]

[Assigning Code Names: Phantom, Ember, Coil, Hex, Titan]

[Node Mumbai: Activated]

The Dominion Sect's first real-world base had just been established.

City Node 2: Hyderabad – Digital Shadow Campus

At the Indian Institute of Techno-Cultivation (IIT-C), nestled between labs and weaponized VR systems, a secret lab under Lab Wing-C was suddenly breached — not physically, but digitally.

A series of security cameras fizzled into static. Then, from a clean glass server pod, a synthetic voice emerged.

"Identity override: Dominion Directive."

A young professor, Dr. Kaira Sen, paused her experiment as her tablet blinked furiously. On it appeared a question:

Are you tired of building for corrupt regimes?

Beneath it: a digital contract coded in shifting script, encrypted in ChaosScript — the same code that powered Rayan's Chaos AI.

Dr. Sen's fingers trembled as she clicked Accept.

Suddenly, a storm of AI code entered the university's surveillance system, replacing security layers with Chaos-sealed filters. The entire south wing of the IIT-C lab now reported to the Dominion Sect.

A physical crate, no bigger than a shoebox, arrived via drone within the hour. Inside it: a micro-core reactor, custom-built for cultivating spiritual circuits.

[Node Hyderabad: Activated]

City Node 3: Varanasi – Monastery of the Broken Flame

The final node was the strangest. Varanasi's streets were ancient, sacred — untouched by most modern surveillance. But underneath a forgotten monastery, buried beyond prayer halls and ruins, was a hidden chamber of monks.

These weren't normal monks. They were rogue cultivators, banished decades ago after refusing to join government-controlled spiritual divisions.

They called themselves The Broken Flame Brotherhood, and they had survived for thirty years underground.

When the voice reached them through ancient bronze screens — relics made before even the concept of smart devices — they didn't question it.

Rayan didn't offer them technology. He offered them freedom.

The monks, led by Grandmaster Ishaan, lit three crimson candles, marking the ritual of oath renewal.

In the shadows of the oldest city on Earth, the Third Node ignited.

[Node Varanasi: Activated]

Back in the Hidden Chaos Pavilion

[Dominion Sub-System Upgrade Complete]

[Current Reach: 3 Nodes | Status: Operative]

[Initiating: Global Surveillance Override - Tier I]

The Chaos AI blinked into being beside Rayan — a humanoid avatar of light and data, shaped like a black phoenix with glowing code feathers.

"Master Rayan, your reach has now expanded. Would you like to begin the next phase?"

He nodded.

"Phase 2. Begin Project Echo-Net."

[Project Echo-Net: Global AI Network for Civilian and Government Monitoring Under Dominion Protocol]

[Objective: Build a Shadow Web across Earth to track demons, cultivators, and government secrets]

Meanwhile – Arya Kapoor and Asha Rani Investigate

Inside a private research facility under Kapoor Corporation in Bangalore, Arya stood before a holographic map showing energy signatures across India.

Next to her, Asha stared with narrowed eyes. Since their last encounter with Zero — the mysterious player inside the cultivation game — both of them had begun investigating his real-world footprints.

"Here," Arya tapped. "Three locations activated simultaneously. Slum AI, Tech Cultivation Lab, and… a monastery?"

Asha whispered, "That's not a normal map, Arya. Look closer."

Arya zoomed in.

The energy patterns weren't technological. They were… chaotic.

Asha's eyes widened. "It's him."

"But how?" Arya frowned. "The energy's fragmented. It's not being detected by government sensors. It's like… he's building something."

Both young women stared at each other, the same thought forming in their minds.

He's building a Sect in the real world.

Journalist on the Hunt – 'The Ghost of Mumbai'

Across town, the city's top investigative reporter — Rohit Banerjee — lit his seventh cigarette for the night. His room was filled with files, photographs, and data boards connecting events, news clippings, and black market rumors.

One name circled everything: Zero.

Alias: The Ghost of Mumbai. The man who'd wiped the Verma Syndicate's accounts clean, hacked military satellites, and had access to forbidden cultivation scrolls — all without leaving a single trace.

His most recent lead?

A drone hacked and reprogrammed to deliver spiritual cores to an orphanage tech lab.

Rohit clicked on the image. In the corner of the drone's metallic surface, faint but visible — a sigil of chaos.

"Found you…" he whispered.

But before he could print the article, his laptop blinked.

"You've been warned."

Everything went black.

His room — all electronics, lights, and even the CCTV — shut down.

Underground Demonic Energy Detected

At the same time, the Chaos AI issued a warning to Rayan.

[Alert: Demonic Resonance Detected Beneath Delhi Sector-9 Government Facility]

[Estimated Rank: High Lord-Class Demon]

[Containment Active – Government Cultivator Division Involved]

Rayan stared at the report. The files had come directly from the Indian Ministry of Spiritual Defense — hacked, decrypted, and translated by the Chaos AI.

Inside the government's secret labs, they were running demon-human hybridization tests.

Worse — they were losing control.

Images and video footage revealed horrifying sights: humans fused with beastly limbs, eyes that glowed red, and screams that echoed beyond any normal frequency.

"They're experimenting with demons… trying to control what they don't understand," Rayan muttered.

Yulin, the Chaos Dragon, stirred in his beast space. His voice rumbled through Rayan's mind.

"The Earth has always been a battlefield for the dark ones. Your world governments are just waking up. But they're already late."

Rayan clenched his fists.

"Then I'll wake them up."

Mission Phase 3 – Demon Hunt Directive

Rayan stood atop the roof of the Dominion Shadow Tower — a hidden skyscraper disguised within an old Mumbai power plant. From here, he could see the city skyline glowing under false peace.

The next interface appeared before him.

[Activate Mission: Demon Hunt Protocol (Earth-Level)]

[Primary Targets: Government Facilities housing demonic energy]

[Objective: Infiltrate. Observe. Eliminate if required.]

[Optional: Recruit hidden cultivators inside government labs.]

Beside the panel, five of his first real-world recruits — Phantom, Ember, Hex, Titan, and Coil — stood in black Dominion armor, each empowered by nanite-threaded body suits, cultivator serums, and Chaos-enhanced neural links.

Each had risen in power within days — faster than most game-world cultivators could ever dream.

"We move at night," Rayan said.

"And we make sure the world never forgets the name — Dominion."