Nasca was burning.
That was the thought running around within Michael's head as he watched the sheer destruction being caused to his capital.
The culprits were the woman they'd fought and the unknown true dragon in the sky. Both had taken their fights to the sky shortly after the dragon attacked first by firing off a spell similar to disintegration at the woman.
Common sense would say the dragon would be at a disadvantage, being much larger and therefore less agile than his opponent. Unfortunately, common sense started to fall apart when it came to true demon lords and anything stronger.
The dragon was equal - if not slightly greater - to the woman in terms of agility. Still, it had fought defensively, opting to keep the woman at a far enough distance while it dished out long range spells continuously.
The silver lining was that neither seemed interested in fighting Michael and Feldway.
The woman in particular underwent a drastic transformation. It was... difficult to put into words. An Armor? A shell of sorts? Michael found it difficult to form words to describe it. If he were to interpret it as a sort of Armor, it would be as if the woman was covered in a thick, opaque, abyssal black armor that exposed no inch of the body underneath.
It wasn't just a piece of equipment, however. The "armor" could flow like mist, even changing form and forming weapons or reinforcing certain areas when they were about to take a hit.
Could it be.... Solid null energy?
Michael watched as a chunk of the "armor" separated from the woman's back as she jerked in mid air - avoiding a lance of pure light her adversary had thrown - before it gathered in the middle of her hands. The woman applied pressure, condensing the mass of potentially semi solid null energy before throwing it at the dragon.
The ball of void travelled fast, but her enemy was simply too far for it to be that easy. The dragon easily avoided it. What shocked Michael was what came next.
The ball of void fell downwards and hit a relatively undamaged district of the capital before obliterating it all with the force of a 21st century tactical nuke. Not that Michael knew anything about nuclear bombs, of course.
Still, that didn't take away the pure destructive power of the ball. Michael pondered how much spare energy the woman had left as another ball hit a faraway forest and lit it all on fire.
Michael and Feldway were relatively unoccupied, given breathing room due to the ongoing clash. Michael spoke through [Thought Communication], "Could you make anything of the Voice of the World's announcement?"
"Thinking." Came the straightforward reply, and the conversation ended at that.
Michael was doing so as well and coming up blank. He could only make out that it had to be something similar to a Harvest Festival - a species exclusive version though - except with fine tuned conditions instead of a soul collection requirment. It felt ridiculous to even classify it as plausible - Michael had not known nor thought of such a thing to exist.
Then again, 24 hours ago he was not aware of the existence of two additional true dragons. Anything seemed to be probable, now.
Anything....
That's when he noticed something in the sky. The stars seemed to be moving...oddly.
What!?
His eyes widened in sudden realization. Oh no.
***
At a distance that was so far from the Cardinal World it could only be measured in light years, a star went slightly faster for no observable reason. Another star too, as if guided by an invisible thread joining it to the Cardinal World, underwent a sudden yet tiny shift in velocity. It was a minute change, and even if a powerful entity was waiting for such an event, it would still be very easy to miss it.
Such changes in velocity happened to a large number of stars of wildy different distances from the Cardinal World. A star twelve light years away, another thirty five or so light years and even one with a grand distance of one hundred seventeen light years from the Cardinal World.
What was the purpose of these almost unpredictable changes in speed? It's simple, really.
Looking at all the stars at their current positions would only sow confusion; there was no pattern to be observed. But, by calculating the trajectory of each star influenced, the intention would become obvious.
At multiple very, very narrow points in time the affected stars would form shapes vaguely resembling a magic circuit. In other words, the entire setup was to form one giant magic circle. But a magic circle wasn't usually just one large circuit, it was a complex combination of circuits. Similarly, the closest stars to the Cardinal World formed the core of the magic circle, while stars further out formed multiple other circuits to perform the desired effect.
What that desired effect was, it was impossible to predict for now. Stars as far as thousands of light years away were being included into the giant interstellar magic circle. As Michael put it best, "Oh no."
***
Hinata Sakaguchi was having a rather annoying time with a rather annoying...insect.
"That look on your face! I know you're looking down on me! Just hear me out once, damn it!" It spoke in a high pitched vaguely feminine voice.
Hinata however regarded it with cold, merciless eyes. "I gave you enough purpose to explain your reasons for being here, and you failed." With that she gripped the rapier tighter. Still, the fact that she hadn't went to blows yet meant she was still listening.
A fact the creature caught up on, as it spoke in an almost pleading voice, "You heard that announcement from the Voice of The World, right? It's the prelude to something really, really bad and your master Luminous Valentine will need all the help she can get!"
Hinata narrowed her eyes. Rather than the end of that plea, what caught her attention most was that the insect knew of her serving under Luminous. "How do you know of my relationship with Luminous-sama?"
The creature, hidden though it's face was beneath a stupid looking mask, still made a surprisingly human like action of shouting in frustration. "That's not what you should be focusing on...! Augh, I don't have enough time. Just take this, you'll need it!" So saying, it threw...something in the air. Hinata watched it fall to the ground without even trying to catch it.
"Damn you!" It yelled a final curse before disappearing with a teleportation spell. Only once she confirmed it to be gone did Hinata move to pick up the object it had thrown. "Hmm..." It was a ring, and a pretty one at that, made entirely of what seemed to be a golden colored metal with three gem at the top; a crimson gem in the middle, flanked by what appeared to be a sapphire and an emerald.
It didn't seem like something that might explode in her hands, but she still chose to be careful by tucking it into pocket space. Luminous-sama, she spoke through [Thought Communication].
"What is it?" Came the reply.
"Something came searching for you. It knew of my relationship with you. It also dropped a ring."
There was silence for a few seconds.
"Come to my residence."
"As you wish, Luminous-sama.
***
"It is time."
It stopped in it's tracks of creating another domain world to play with.
"It is time?" It repeated.
"Yes. The circuit shall be prepared in 2 days."
"In two days." It repeated. Another waste of time.
"Lord Asura needs your help."
That snapped it out of it's boredom. "Why?" It questioned.
"Our foe is strong. Lord Asura will allow you to materialize in the True World."
It idly considered its options before agreeing. "When?"
There was silence for a few seconds. Then-
"Now. The gate opened."
It twisted and turned but could spot no gate. "Where?"
"There." Came the reply. It looked, to see a tiny hole barely the size of it's fingertips.
"So small?" It said, disappointed. A snorting sound could be heard.
"Only a shard of you."
It was tempted to not go since it was only going to be a small fraction of it that would materialize, but then it got curious...
Why Asura need help?
It cloned itself, then cut it into a thousand pieces, and once again cut that into another thousand pieces, before randomly selecting one piece and throwing it into the portal.
"Hm." The voice snorted, being too prideful to say thanks yet still acknowledging the effort from it. It didn't care, of course. It went back to playing. Back to creating another domain world filled with wonderful creatures and places.
After all, creating was more fun than destroying.