Chapter 1226 Three Walls

Michael pulled his hand away.

His gaze traveled across the three enormous rings.

Their purpose was simple.

The outer wall separated the borders of his domain from everything beyond it. The second protected what Michael considered the inner territory. The third formed the central area around the Universal Cornerstone.

Outer Area. Inner Area. Central Area.

Currently, those distinctions were almost meaningless. As there were no settlements or subjects, aside from Michael's undead and whatever monsters still existed within portions of the territory, most of the land was empty wilderness.

Yet Michael had ordered the walls constructed anyway.

He was preparing for something that hadn't been confirmed.

The future of the Origin Battlefield.

Michael still didn't know exactly what would happen when the battlefield underwent whatever transformation seemed to be approaching.

He didn't know whether the Land of Origin would truly become connected to the real universe, and whether the territories established here would eventually become permanent lands, or whether ordinary living beings would one day be capable of inhabiting this place permanently.

But if even some of his suspicions proved correct, preparing now would save him an enormous amount of trouble later.

Michael rose higher again.

From here, another structure became visible. Or rather, something that couldn't really be called a structure.

A gigantic transparent dome covered his entire territory. It stretched from one end of his domain to the other, rising high into the sky before curving downward at the opposite boundary.

Under normal circumstances, it was almost impossible to notice. Only when Michael focused could he see faint distortions moving across its surface.

Unlike the walls, this wasn't something his other body had created. Michael couldn't create something on this scale yet, even if he wanted to.

This was the Universal Cornerstone's doing. More specifically, it was the only true defensive mechanism the cornerstone currently provided his domain.

Michael extended his perception toward the transparent barrier. The moment his senses touched it, he felt an enormous power completely different from the formations within the walls.

The three walls were impressive. This was on another level entirely.

The barrier was powerful, but it wasn't free. Every activation consumed an enormous amount of accumulated mana. That was why Michael's other body hadn't simply kept it active indefinitely after claiming the territory. Doing so would have been wasteful, especially when there had been no immediate threat to the domain.

Only after the announcement that the Origin Battlefield would reopen had the barrier been activated again.

Michael floated in the air for a while, studying the almost invisible dome.

Now that he was personally here, however, keeping it active no longer felt necessary. If something powerful enough to threaten the territory appeared, he could simply activate it again.

Michael raised a hand, and the faint distortion covering the sky began to recede. Sections of the transparent dome vanished one after another until the enormous barrier completely disappeared.

Michael lowered his hand.

He had only just finished when a translucent panel suddenly appeared before him.

Michael's expression changed immediately.

It wasn't a notification from the Origin Battlefield, but his Rank Advancement Task.

[Rank Advancement Quest]

Comprehend A Domain [2.5% Progress]

A Death's Heir is the future sovereign. Even young, every supreme has been stated to be special. Be Renowned.

[Influence Levels: Realmic, Multi-Realmic, Sectoric, Grand Sectoric, Galactic, Multi-Galactic, Cluster Sovereign, Supercluster Sovereign, Cosmic, Universal] [Current Influence Level: Galactic]

[Progress: Complete]

[Own an entity on the level of your Personal Influence. Not less than three levels below. Progress: 25% (Multi-Realmic)] [Owned Entity: The Eternal Crown: You have now revealed yourself to the world and have become a true heir waiting to turn sovereign.] Have Five Hundred Rank 4 Subjects [Progress: 1968/500]

Time Limit: 4 Years, 9 Months.

Michael shook his head, feeling he had read incorrectly.

His eyes immediately returned to the third requirement.

[Own an entity on the level of your Personal Influence. Not less than three levels below.] [25% Progress (Multi-Realmic)]

[Owned Entity: The Eternal Crown]

Twenty-five percent.

Michael's expression changed.

The last time he had properly checked this requirement, its progress was zero, despite everything he had accomplished in the real world.

Now it had suddenly increased by twenty percent and had even jumped an evaluation grade, to Multi-Realmic.

"Multi-Realmic?"

Michael remained motionless in the sky as countless thoughts immediately began connecting.

Why now? What had suddenly changed enough to cause twenty percent progress?

Michael's gaze lowered toward the final sentence.

[You have now revealed yourself to the world and have become a true heir waiting to turn sovereign.] "…"

Michael tilted his head in confusion.

Several seconds later, laughter escaped him.

"Hahaha!"

Michael covered his face with one hand. His laughter became louder.

"Seriously?"

For three months. Three entire months he had been thinking about this requirement. He had even wondered whether he needed to conquer multiple realms before the requirement would progress. Yet the answer had been sitting directly in the wording of his class from the beginning.

Death's Heir.

Michael slowly lowered his hand.

"What exactly is an heir?"

The answer was obvious.

An heir wasn't simply someone possessing potential. An heir was someone recognized as inheriting something. Someone with a position. A foundation. A name that carried weight. Something they could eventually inherit and transform into their own authority.

Michael's smile widened.

He had been so focused on becoming stronger that he had overlooked the most basic meaning of his own class. If he was truly an heir, then there needed to be something behind that title. Something that could represent him beyond his personal existence.

Michael's previous actions hadn't been wrong. Those were all necessary. He had simply skipped the true beginning.

Recognition of a force. But why had it just been recognized, and what exactly had been recognized?

Soon Michael knew the answer when he turned to look at the Origin Battlefield panel and discovered a new section outside the Origin Rankings.

[Origin Battlefield Territory Ranking]

The Eternal Crown (Michael Norman)