Down in the Temple of the Spiral, Krug was tending to the Violet Flame.

The air above the central brazier suddenly shimmered. The space distorted, and a small, heavy object dropped from the ceiling, landing softly in the ash at the edge of the fire pit.

Krug flinched, raising his hands, but quickly realized it was a manifestation from above.

[ KRUG, ] Red’s voice echoed in the cavern.

Krug instantly dropped to his scaly knees, pressing his snout to the stone floor. “I hear You, Ka-Lam-Tee. Your Anchor listens.”

[ TAKE THE SEED. PLANT IT IN THE CENTER OF THE TEMPLE, WHERE THE ASH MEETS THE EARTH. ]

Krug crawled forward. He picked up the pulsing black truffle with trembling, reverent claws. It was cold to the touch, contrasting sharply with the heat of the Violet Flame. He didn’t ask what it was. He didn’t ask why.

He moved to the back of the temple, where the solid rock gave way to the deep, damp soil of the swamp’s foundation. With his bare claws, Krug dug a hole. He gently placed the Spore inside and covered it with the dark earth, patting it down softly.

“It is done, Lord,” Krug rumbled, bowing his head.

Up in the Void, Red watched the interface update.

[ ITEM PLANTED: SPORE OF THE OMNI-WEB ]

[ STATUS: GERMINATING ]

[ ESTIMATED TIME TO MATURITY: 7 DAYS, 00 HOURS ]

Red frowned. “Seven days? Aurelius’s vanguard could cover a third of the distance by then. I need intel now.”

Red smiled, a shadow stretching across his faceless avatar. He hadn’t used his very first, most broken multiplier in a while. Since he couldn’t use miracles in the Truce Zone, his DP reserves were practically overflowing.

“Let’s speed up the download,” Red whispered.

He selected the patch of dirt where the Spore lay.

[ TRAIT ACTIVATED: 100x GROWTH ]

Inside the temple, Krug was still kneeling by the dirt patch.

Suddenly, the ground rumbled. CRACK.

Krug stumbled backward as the soil violently erupted. A shoot of pitch-black wood burst from the earth. It didn’t grow; it exploded upward. Within seconds, the shoot thickened into a trunk the size of a barrel. Branches violently unfurled, snapping into place with the sound of cracking whips.

The bark was dark as night, but deep, glowing veins of violet and blue pulsed rapidly beneath the surface, pumping magical data like blood. Leaves the color of midnight unfurled, shedding a soft, eerie blue light that mingled perfectly with the Violet Flame.

In less than ten seconds, a fully formed, ancient-looking sapling stood in the center of the temple, its roots already cracking the stone floor as they dove miles deep into the crust of the swamp.

Krug stared at it, his eyes wide. He dropped to his knees again, tears welling in his reptilian eyes.

Krug raised his hands to the glowing branches. “The God breathes life into the dead earth! Praise the Spiral!”

But up in the Void, Red wasn’t looking at the tree. He was looking at his map.

[ OMNI-WEB UPLINK ESTABLISHED ] [ SYNCHRONIZING WITH ROOT NETWORK… ]

The dark, fog-covered map of the continent suddenly exploded with light. Red didn’t just see his swamp anymore. The roots of the tree connected to the fungal networks, the ancient forests, and the deep earth.

Tiny red dots appeared on the far western edge of his map. Thousands of them.

[ SEISMIC SENSORY ONLINE ]

He zoomed in. He could see the exact formation of the Golden Army. He could see their supply wagons. He could see the heavy cavalry taking the main roads. He could even see the specific points where their vanguard was stopping to set up camp.

Thanks to the Spore of the Omni-Web, Red could estimate their numbers.

[ ENEMY POPULATION: ~30,000 ]

[ MOBILIZED MILITARY: ~16,000 ]

[ ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL: 3 WEEKS ]

Sixteen thousand. Even adjusted down, it was a terrifying number.

Red’s entire population—including the hatchlings, the elderly, and the females—was barely over a thousand.

“Sixteen-to-one odds,” Red muttered, adjusting his spectral tie. “And they’re humans in plate armor. My Troglodytes are strong, but they can’t punch through a shield wall of that size.”

He needed more information. You don’t fight a hostile corporate takeover without looking at the competitor’s portfolio.

He opened his interface and dialed the only person who had survived a war with the Golden King.

[ OUTGOING CALL: GORR (RANK 4) ]

Click.

Gorr’s avatar appeared. She was sitting in a dark cave, rhythmically crushing a piece of quartz in her massive stone fist. She didn’t look up immediately.

“Well, well,” Gorr grunted, blowing stone dust off her knuckles. “If it isn’t the Architect of the Century. Tell me, Spiral, are the birds enjoying your giant obsidian head?”

“I’m glad you found the Conclave entertaining, Gorr,” Red said dryly.

“Entertaining? I haven’t laughed that hard in decades,” Gorr chuckled, the sound like boulders grinding together. “But the joke is over, boy. The punchline is marching toward your swamp right now.”

“You don’t get it, do you? You think this is just a numbers game.” Gorr leaned into the screen. “Aurelius doesn’t play by the standard rules. He doesn’t just sit in the Void and cast miracles from the clouds.”

“Explain,” Red demanded.

“He walks,” Gorr whispered, a hint of actual dread in her voice. “He can physically manifest his true body in his own territory. No time limits. No restricted mana. He walks among his people like a living nuke.”

Red frowned. “If he can descend, why hasn’t he wiped me out himself?”

“Because he can only do it in his domain,” Gorr explained. “That’s how he wages war. He doesn’t just send troops; he sends builders. His army will march to your border, and they will build Sun Shrines. The moment a piece of your swamp gets converted to his territory… he steps through. And the moment he steps into the swamp, he will vaporize your city with a wave of his hand.”

Red processed this. ‘Domain expansion. He’s trying to drag his safe zone with him.’

“And the army?” Red asked. “Are they strong?”

Gorr scoffed. “Strong? Not his Vanguard. I don’t know what kind of broken ability he rolled when he spawned, but his top Paladins… they have God-skills, Rubedo. I watched a human knight punch a hole through a mountain with a fist of pure light. He shares his power with them. They’re demigods.”

Red felt a cold knot form in his stomach. ‘Domain manipulation and power-sharing.’

“I lost seventeen thousand Molekins to him,” Gorr said, her voice dropping to a bitter rumble. “You have a thousand swamp-rats. You are mathematically, physically, and spiritually outgunned, Rubedo.”

“You want my advice? The only advice that will keep your core intact?” Gorr asked.

“Let’s hear it.”

“Swallow that massive ego of yours,” Gorr said bluntly. “Call him. Apologize. Tell him the statue was a glitch in the achievement system.”

“But it wasn’t, and he knows it.”

“He knows it but he doesn’t want to accept it. Beg to become a vassal state. Pay him tribute. If you kneel now, he might let you keep your rank.”

Red sat back in the Void. He looked at the map. He looked at Bastion, where Krug was currently tending the Violet Flame, believing with absolute certainty that his God was invincible.

Red reached out to the interface.

“I didn’t survive a Spore Colossus and drag my people out of the mud just to shine some trust-fund kid’s golden boots.”

“Rubedo, don’t be a fool—”

“I don’t kneel, Gorr,” Red interrupted. “And I don’t do apologies. If Aurelius wants my swamp, he’s going to have to bleed for every single inch of it.”

Click.

[ CALL ENDED ]

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep