The Empyreal Gem Master

A communication between the vessels of the Star Alliance caused a shocked silence to descend for all those who heard it.

The sharp and agitated voice of a woman surrounded by Chaos instantly calmed down as she asked again in a low tone.

"Stellar Ruler Bartholomew? From the Death Lands of the Void?"

She had to repeat it.

She repeated it because it did not feel real!

And yet the voice that had indubitably received the command from above repeated

"Yes. Stellar Ruler Bartholomew. We are merely to escort him back as he focuses on healing. He will likely remain on the Void Vessel as we complete our task- you know someone of his stature does not like to be bothered. Our paths will cross after 128 million miles, and we will continue our route to that Emerging Realm then. It should, at most, add another hour or two to the journey."

…!

A Stellar Ruler that was injured from the Death Lands of the Void would join them on their endeavor.

Not to take any action, but for them to simply escort him as he healed from his injuries!

Nobody had an ounce of denial after they heard this as a moment later…

"Let's go!"

The three Void Vessels began to move in harmony as they took a detour of over a hundred million miles, adding over 2 hours on their somewhat extended journey as nobody thought that such a time difference…was enough to do anything.

Even if they arrived in that Emerging Realm a day later, it would still be inconsequential as whatever force was responsible for the murders of five of their Void Rulers would meet their end along with that Emerging Realm!

And so, time passed in the stellar void of space.

Stars burned scorching and radiated immense heat, and other stars absorbed all heat while radiating immense cold.

News stars were born millions of miles away, and a star or two died at the same time.

Time passed.

2 hours went by!

Many millions of miles away from the Realm of Ephesus, three vessels intercepted a figure that was floating on a tattered piece of wood, his white robe bloodied as he looked in dire straits.

And yet…a dozen Void Rulers came out of the Void Vessels and lined up before him while bowing down, their hearts filled with a sense of awe and trepidation from this being as even while injured, the pressure he radiated was that of a star.

It was Stellar!

He felt like a burning sun that could scorch their defenses in a short period of time if he so chose as the way he could regulate his assimilated and fused Covenants of Nature…was not something any of those here could match!

"We greet Stellar Ruler Bartholomew. We have an abode ready for you on our Vessel."

A man adorned in a black robe bowed towards the Stellar Ruler while speaking, and this tattered entity nodded as he floated towards the central vessel here.

"Mmm, bring me some good wine and fine women. A few delicacies too."

He spoke out commandingly as the Void Ruler that had spoken nodded without another word, all of them returning to their Vessels while others escorted Stellar Ruler Bartholomew!

After this, their pathway was straight towards an Emerging Realm where their Void Rulers had fallen simultaneously! Enjoy new stories from empire

—

"Ah…"

In the Realm of Ephesus.

In the skies that used to be tinged with gray radiance!

Alexander sighed with contentment as three of his clones faced each other, their surroundings filled with a storm of colorful swirling particles of Covenants of Nature.

Every time he breathed in, he felt like the surroundings were breathing in with him.

And every time he breathed out, he felt like his breath alone could alter the surroundings!

He felt that powerful.

With every passing second of the last three hours, he had been feeling like he was a massive tree that was only growing more and more branches- each one connected to a covenant as he became unfathomably in tune with these…concepts.

Yes.

Concepts.

This was what he felt they actually were- ideas that were relegations of nature itself, and thus they were called Covenants!

Regulations to be followed.

And he had been assimilating one regulation after another as the moment he did, he felt like his being- his three Aspects of himself…become more and more complex.

If he was a little sapling with a few leaves before, he was growing to become a decently sized tree with stout branches right now!

And every single assimilated Covenant of Nature that he added was akin to him nurturing and watering himself as he would only grow larger.

In these last three hours, his Enneagram had continued to spin as it announced the unlocking of new core features, and yet he put all notifications aside to continue his focus on assimilating Covenants of Nature as at this moment…he held 12 assimilated Covenants of Nature.

"..."

12.

The number that Dark Ruler Masako had uttered out as the highest she had seen or heard of was 9!

But she did say that this was not the maximum possible number, but simply the number that someone had reached before they easily began fusing Covenants of Nature into their Gem Socket Blueprint as they soon became Stellar Rulers.

And he exceeded this number by three in the span of less than three hours as at this moment, he felt immensely powerful.

The aura he radiated.

The reserves of Ascendant Energiea and Vigor.

The speed he could cycle his Energeia across his Enneagram that was currently buzzing with fervor.

Everything felt amplified many times over as he breathed out, his Four Enneagram Clones continuing their progression to assimilate the remaining 4 Covenants in the last hour as he used the mind of his main body to listen to the alerts of the Enneagram that he had pushed aside this whole time.

One of the bigger changes had come the moment that Evolution became fully assimilated, followed by the Body, Soul, Origin, and Destiny!