At first, Joel wanted nothing to do with the operation. It sounded like one of those suicidal moves that only fanatics or the desperate would accept: a mission with a high probability of clashes against the Empire's elite forces, where every mistake meant death. After years of hiding from the enemy, dodging death around every corner, he was tired of running. The last thing he wanted was to put his head in the crosshairs again.

  But his stance began to waver when Simon invited him to participate in a private meeting, where they would discuss, among other things, the background of the operation. There, he met not only members of the Dusk Cult, but also representatives of two factions he had never seen in person: the Cult of Midnight and the Cult of Light.

  The room was silent with anticipation, filled with the highest-level mages who would participate in the operation. Not everyone present fully knew what the mission entailed; information had been kept fragmented to prevent leaks. Only the leaders possessed the complete picture. However, the proximity of the start forced them to reveal the truth to those, like Joel, who would be tasked with carrying it out.

  It was then that he heard something that unsettled him: the operation was related to one of the greatest enigmas the Blessed cults had tried to solve for centuries. A mystery that had given rise to many theories: why had hostilities between the Four Worlds diminished so drastically in recent generations?

  Apparently, the Cult of Midnight had managed, a couple of decades ago, to obtain reliable information through infiltration into the Imperial ranks. The answer, though incomplete, was alarming. The four Empires had found a common enemy. A truth linked to the reason why they were all now in Myrrial.

  For several hundred years now, wars and hostilities between the four empires have been reduced to historic lows, limited to simple skirmishes on defensive moons or pathetic invasion attempts against worthless regions or impossible-to-defeat fortifications.

  If that were all there was to it, there would never have been any alarm among the Blessed Cults. However, the real problem is that the forced recruitment of mages of civilian origin has steadily increased in recent decades, the vast majority of whom have died during training or in conflicts that, officially, only exist in written records.

  This immediately reminded Joel of his own military training before being rescued by the Cult of Dawn.

  The leader of the Midnight Cult himself, a man named Leo—a Level 7 Dimensional Walker and absolute authority on the operation—reported that one of his agents managed to infiltrate the officialdom of one of the empires. During that mission, he ended up being sent to a completely unknown world, where he witnessed a massive battle between vast human armies—composed of forces from the four empires—and powerful beasts of all kinds. A true nightmare that the agent, fortunately, managed to survive. He later managed to return to his home world, which allowed him to be rescued by the cult and relay his harrowing account.

  The information triggered great concern among the leaders of the blessed cults. They immediately began an exhaustive campaign to gather any information about the new world and corroborate the veracity of the news.

  At first, the results were meager, but the capture and interrogation of more officers led to more concrete information. According to reports, that world, nicknamed Gaea, had been discovered more than four centuries ago. A gigantic place filled with magical resources, it had since been a staging ground for empires, where every attempt at settlement had failed due to the fierce resistance of the local population, as numerous as they were capable, and with warriors as powerful as the magi.

  Tired of these failures and aware that the new world harbored a wealth of magical resources greater than that of the four worlds combined, the empires decided to put aside their rivalries. The leaders agreed to join forces to establish a stronghold in a wild region far removed from the local population: a territory plagued by dangerous beasts that, although abundant, lacked organization and intelligence.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Little by little, a more precise picture of what was happening in the New World began to emerge. However, it was only a year ago that another agent of the Cult of Midnight, infiltrating an influential magical family in the kingdom of Mitrohr, obtained a decisive lead: the location of an individual who, according to the report, possesses much more complete information about Gaea, including something crucial: the exact coordinates to access it.

  This individual is a direct descendant of a powerful magician—now deceased—who, in life, was in charge of supervising the portals to the New World. The agent was able to hear from the man himself that he still has his father's cartographic maps.

  The information, shared and verified by several of the blessed cults, corroborated the identity of the individual and the father, giving their claims a very likely veracity. Consequently, it was decided to launch a large-scale operation to capture the target and obtain the cartographic maps.

  The mission, considered a top priority for the blessed cults, would involve the participation of three of the aforementioned cults, who would be mobilizing all their resources to secure this information, at any cost.

  For Joel, every word was like a weight falling on his shoulders. It wasn't just information... it was an earthquake that shook the foundations of everything he thought he knew. In an instant, the dogmas learned in his childhood, the blind orders received during his brief stint in the army, everything shattered, revealing a horizon he had never imagined.

  He wasn't sure he wanted to risk his life for a map and coordinates. The idea of launching into the unknown, only to serve a goal he didn't even fully understand, seemed crazy. However, the way the blessed cult leaders described the ramifications of empires managing to take over a new world, full of resources... made it clear to him that this wasn't a whim.

  That knowledge was more than a prize: it was a key that could change everything. It meant being able to unmask the empires' actions with key evidence. Many kingdoms across the four worlds, dissatisfied with the current state of affairs, could end up joining or helping the blessed cults in their crusade to end the empires' power.

  With his pulse racing and his mind still trying to sort out the chaos, Joel made a decision. If this new world was real, he wasn't going to be left behind, and he would help gather the information to expose the war he was almost part of.

  As an additional reward, once he agreed to participate in the operation, he obtained a promise from the Cult of Dusk: when it was all over, they would help him return to Dawn Headquarters. Of course... as long as they made it out alive.

  In the second part of the meeting, Joel began to understand the magnitude of the plan. The bulk of the forces would be dispersed throughout the region with the mission of attracting the attention of the authorities, striking vital arteries of the kingdom, setting fire to warehouses, demolishing watchtowers, and attacking administrative centers. Thousands of mages acting in unison, like a single shadow stretching across the map. Dozens of them were Level 6, and even a few Level 7 monsters, commanding the offensives.

  This wouldn't be a simple skirmish. It would be the closest thing to a full-scale invasion... and, once executed, the cults involved risked being hunted relentlessly for years.

  Meanwhile, Joel would have his own role: leading a contingent of elite mages, all Level 4 or lower. They would pretend to be part of the imperial garrison, sent to deliver correspondence to a figure in the magical family. Their mission would be to infiltrate the castle, sabotage its magical defenses, and open the gates so the cult leaders—the true heart of the operation—could burst in with all their might.

  According to reports, the magical family possessed a worrying number of high-level mages. However, at the time of the attack, it was estimated that there were only four or five Level 6 mages, and a single Level 7—wounded and likely unable to fight. Initially, the cults' plan had been simple and brutal: a frontal assault led by their leaders, with the aim of breaching the defenses with a surprise attack. But Joel's arrival changed everything, as with him, infiltration became a viable strategy. Most of the Level 6s who would remain in the castle were scholars and alchemists, so he, utilizing the element of surprise, should be able to contain them, even momentarily.

  Joel's specific mission was clear: penetrate the castle's security perimeter through deception and protect a group of specialist mages while they installed a magical artifact capable of tearing through the defenses from within. If everything went according to plan, he would only have to face a single Level 5 guard, and in the worst case, keep one or two Level 6 individuals at bay. Something he considered possible within his abilities.

  Then Joel understood the logic behind the assault on the Imperial caravan on the Mitrohr route. It hadn't been a random attack: they were looking for official uniforms and credentials, so they could approach the castle with as little suspicion as possible. Now, those same badges would be his passport to enter the castle.

  In a couple of days, the operation would take place, and he did everything he could to prepare, even creating some extra grenades and ammunition. Meanwhile, everyone else moved to their objectives, and the dimension walkers prepared the portals for post-operation evacuation.