Chapter 3061: Arrangements

Emery was still observing his dark avatar when a Khaos Gate suddenly opened nearby.

The light avatar stepped through.

His body was battered, covered in wounds, and his flesh was already showing signs of breaking down. He looked as though he had barely managed to return in one piece.

The dark avatar glanced at him and couldn’t help but sneer.

"What? It’s barely been a week."

The light avatar ignored the remark and calmly turned toward Emery.

The mission had been far more difficult than expected. Their enemies had already learned to recognize and prepare for them, resulting in several dangerous encounters and repeated attempts to ambush or eliminate them.

But that wasn’t what Emery was most interested in hearing.

He wanted to know the quality of the True Clone.

A week earlier, the light avatar had returned for the same reason. At the time, however, Emery himself had been running dangerously low on reserve power. Creating the Undying Clone had consumed far more of his blood essence and raw energy than he had managed to recover.

He had therefore allowed the dark avatar to handle the process instead.

Now, the results had finally come.

It was a pleasant surprise.

The Undying Clone could actually create a True Clone.

"About twenty percent less in both duration and strength," the light avatar answered.

Emery paused, letting the information sink in.

Eighty percent.

That was more than enough.

A faint smile appeared on his face as the implications quickly became clear.

If the dark avatar could reliably create True Clones with around eighty percent of the original’s strength and lifespan, then it completely changed his plans for what came next.

While the dark avatar began grumbling at the light avatar, Emery’s mind was working through a possibility.

If his dark avatar could create True Clones, his true body should be the one leaving for the mission instead.

The true reason was the Heaven and Earth Trials within Skyroot Mountain. Completing the final two levels of the trials was Emery’s primary goal upon returning to the Tartarus Realm, and he seriously doubted that his dark avatar would be able to accomplish them in his place.

His true body could attempt the trials himself, using them as an opportunity to break through to the Three Cosmos Realm, while the dark avatar could remain behind and continue searching for Kieran and the fourth Khaos Gate.

Emery had been preparing for the worst-case scenario.

Once he crossed into another realm, there was a high possibility that his connection to the Khaos Gates would be severed. If something went wrong with the path prepared by the Magus Alliance, Emery might have no way to return.

That was why finding the fourth Khaos Gate had become so important.

With another gate, he would have a potential route home even if the Alliance’s arrangements failed.

His final days of preparation were therefore planned around this possibility.

One crucial detail was to leave the three Khaos Guardians behind for his dark avatar. He would also leave the Gravestone Ruler and Willow Sword.

He would only bring the items he absolutely needed.

######

Another week passed before Emery was finally ready to leave.

By then, everything had been prepared. The ship was waiting in the central courtyard of Neo Terra, its engines humming quietly as the final checks were completed.

When Emery arrived, Kayelin, Feyanor, and Soltz were already waiting beside it. All three were among his strongest allies, and all three originated from the Tartarus Realm.

Klea stood a short distance away with Guinevere balanced on one hip. She tried to keep her voice calm, but the concern in her expression was obvious.

"Come back in one piece."

"I always do."

Guinevere was half-asleep against her mother’s shoulder. She mumbled something that might have been, "Bye, Daddy," or perhaps it was nothing more than a sleepy yawn.

Either way, Emery smiled and leaned over to place a light kiss on the top of her head.

Shinta stood a step away with her arms crossed, watching the exchange without saying anything. She had never been particularly good at sentimental goodbyes, and apparently wasn’t about to start now.

When Emery finally caught her eye, she simply rolled her eyes and jerked her chin toward the ship.

"Go on, then. Don’t make it weird."

Emery couldn’t help but let out a quiet laugh.

He turned toward his dark avatar one last time before boarding.

The avatar stood silently nearby, ready to remain behind and continue everything Emery had entrusted to him.

Whatever awaited him in Tartarus, knowing that his Undying True Clone could remain behind gave Emery something solid to rely on. His avatar would continue protecting Neo Terra and carrying out the tasks Emery could no longer handle himself.

For the first time, leaving didn’t feel quite as uncertain.

The ship lifted off, bound for a Magus Alliance space station positioned at the far edge of the Alpha Quadrant.

The station came into view long before they actually reached it. It was a massive structure surrounded by countless docking arms that extended in every direction, each one occupied by a warship rather than anything remotely civilian.

There were no merchant vessels or transport barges in sight.

Every hull carried the colors of the Magus Alliance, and their designs made their purpose unmistakable. These were military vessels, built for war.

One ship dwarfed everything else in the station.

The Ashcrown Vanguard was a massive command carrier, easily three times the length of any other vessel in the fleet. Its enormous hull was lined with enough cannon ports to level a small moon on its own.

Even from a distance, Emery’s divine sense reached into the station and detected an impressive number of powerful presences.

The moment Emery’s ship docked, the four of them were met by Alliance personnel and escorted inside without delay.

Veyarel appeared almost immediately.

"Figured I’d save you the trouble of finding registration on your own."

"Appreciated."

Veyarel led the group personally toward the command deck.

As they entered, Emery immediately noticed the atmosphere had changed. The usual bustle of a space station was nowhere to be found. Every movement was orderly, every person focused on their assigned task.

Then Emery spotted Rosin Karat.

He stood near two other figures whose mere presence seemed to weigh down the entire command deck. Even without releasing their full power, the pressure radiating from the two Supremes was impossible to ignore.

Emery’s gaze swept across the deck before he finally understood the scale of the operation.

Everything he had heard about this mission suggested that the Alliance was treating it as a genuine military undertaking rather than a symbolic expedition.

A full armada of twenty ships, carrying more than fifty Grand Magus and three Supremes, was preparing to enter Tartarus.