CHAPTER 443: READY TO INVADE

When we landed inside the asteroid, the massive ship slowly powered down until only a faint hum remained.

The ramp hissed open, and I followed Dante down onto the rough stone surface. The interior of the cave wasn’t impressive, no metal walls or lights like I half expected, just rock smoothed unnaturally, almost like claws had carved it hollow.

There was nothing inside except for two things: a wide runed circle drawn into the stone floor and a simple chair positioned beside it, as if whoever designed this place intended to spend a long time waiting here.

The air was cool, dry, and silent, broken only by the distant groan of the asteroid shifting around us.

"This is it," Dante said.

He gestured toward the runed circle. "This is the channel. It connects directly to the world of Peanu, just beyond this belt. It was made with the help of our spies already inside, and my intervention."

I studied the glowing inscriptions. They weren’t like ordinary teleportation runes, each line shimmered faintly with spatial essence, and I could feel their instability. "So this circle is like... a doorway?"

"Exactly. But you need to understand something first."

Dante sat down in the chair, his eyes half closing. "Any time space inside a world is forcibly torn from the outside, the ruling authority of that world is alerted immediately. Just like our emperor knows when you open a portal to your pocket realm, the same applies everywhere."

I frowned. "How do they know?"

He tilted his head, as though deciding how much to explain.

"Because of the world core. Think of it as the heart of the world. When space is torn, the core feels it. Instantly. And to preserve stability, it sends out spatial fluctuations, repairing the tear as quickly as possible."

I folded my arms, staring at the circle. The word "world core" struck harder than I let on.

"Every world has a core," Dante continued. "Its strength depends on the world’s own depth and might. A weak world will have a fragile core, easily shaken. A strong world has a core that even I wouldn’t dare confront directly."

I fell silent, my thoughts returning to my quest. Feed a world core to the Dawn Core.

"Where is a world core located?" I asked quietly.

Dante blinked, surprised by the question, then shrugged.

"That’s something very few know. In our world, only the emperor knows its true location. Normally, a core doesn’t just sit somewhere you can walk to, it hides inside a pocket dimension of its own. And it has enough will to defend itself. If you were to go looking, it would be the one hunting you instead."

So even Dante didn’t know. That was both relieving and frustrating.

I gestured at the circle again. "Then if I use this portal, won’t the emperor of Peanu know instantly that someone’s broken in?"

He gave a slow nod.

"Yes. If you used the natural way. But what I’ve done here..." He leaned forward slightly. "I’ve created a channel anchored inside an abomination zone on Peanu. There, a grandmaster abomination with mastery of space rules. By building the exit inside its domain, the signal becomes... muddled."

"Muddled?"

"Instead of a clean tear in space, this channel creates fissures. The emperor of Peanu will sense them, yes, but he’ll believe the fissures are forming from inside his world.

Like another anomaly, the kind abominations leave behind. He won’t suspect an outside intrusion, at least not immediately."

I stepped closer, running my hand over the faintly glowing runes. They buzzed against my palm, unstable yet precise. "That’s clever. But what’s the catch?"

Dante’s mouth curled into a thin line.

"The downside is pain. Traveling this way means the channel itself is jagged, incomplete. You’ll feel the fissures tear against your body. I can cross safely because of my own protections, but since you’re going alone..." He paused. "You’ll be on your own to endure it."

I exhaled slowly. "So, pain in exchange for stealth."

"Precisely."

He didn’t embellish it, but I could tell from his tone that "pain" wasn’t just discomfort. The risk was real.

Still, I found myself nodding. "That’s fine. If it means I can move without immediately alerting an entire empire, I’ll manage."

He leaned back in the chair and sighed. "Then it’s settled. I’ll hear about whatever you’re cooking up there from our spies. Do you want me to have them meet you and give updates directly?"

I shook my head.

"No need. That would take the fun out of it."

Dante gave a small nod.

"Alright, if you say so. But you’ll only get a day or two before you’ll have to let us in as well."

"I understand." I returned his nod. "So you’ll all be coming through the same channel?"

"Yes."

"Then I’ll make sure the place is ready for your arrival."

I stared at the circle one last time. The runes shimmered faintly, cold, humming with suppressed power as if waiting for my step to complete them.

Dante sat a few steps away, his false old man guise looking especially worn. His shoulders sagged under the pale light of the runes, and I realized how much he’d burned away in forcing that spatial channel into being.

"You’re sure about this?" he asked softly.

"Yes." I straightened, even though my heart raced with excitement. "This is something I need to do on my own. The Emperor already knows my answer. And you’ve done more than enough to bring me this far."

He exhaled through his nose, then chuckled faintly. "Stubbornness looks like courage from the right angle."

I shrugged.

"Listen, Billion. The channel isn’t stable. You’ll feel torn apart, stretched, pulled in directions no body was meant to endure. If you don’t resist, you’ll end up as nothing more than a smear across dimensions. And once you land, don’t linger, leave immediately. The fluctuations might draw someone to investigate."

I gave him a firm nod. "Noted."

"Goodbye then. If you live, I’ll see you again in Peanu. If you don’t..." He let the words trail off, but his gaze said the rest.

I gave a small smile. "You know it will be the first option. Don’t try to act like an emotional old man."

Without another word, I stepped onto the circle. The runes lit up under my boots, violet and silver lightning crawling outward, twisting into the air. The cavern rumbled. My stomach lurched as the space beneath me thinned, cracked, and folded inward.

The world snapped.