Alistair leaned back while reading the provided dossier, glancing at the projections displaying their banner alongside those of the Ethos Crusaders and the Beshin Clan. His gaze lingered on the banner of the Crusaders.

  Their banner, featuring a golden cross surrounded by intricate gothic symbols, reflected the Ethos Crusaders’ deeply religious and unified society, which included humans and multiple other species. They had fully embraced the identity of crusaders—not just as a symbol but out of necessity—having been forced to heavily militarize against neighboring factions long before Initiation. Their declared mission was to spread their light to the wider universe, waging war against those who rejected their beliefs.

  While this stance might normally have raised concerns, their targets were anything but reasonable: the Orc Tide and the hivemind Devourers posed constant, existential threats. These enemies continued to clash with the Crusaders, often with the Coalition’s support. Both the Orc Tide and Devourers had rejected every attempt at diplomacy, threatening the security of nearby galaxies and the Coalition’s bridge network. Their actions had earned them an Extermination Mandate from the Aegis Coalition—a rare designation that marked them for eradication on sight, with generous bounties posted by both the Coalition and affected factions.

  Thankfully, the Ethos Crusaders’ beliefs were far from offensive, making the Coalition’s decision to back them relatively straightforward. Before Initiation, this brutal three-way conflict between the Crusaders, the Orc Tide, and the Hivemind Devourers had left the Crusaders battered and, on the back foot, reduced to just a handful of worlds. Their survival had only been possible because the Orc Tide shifted its focus to the Devourers, giving the Crusaders a much-needed reprieve during what they had come to see as the end times.

  The Ethos Crusade resided in one of the larger galaxies not too far from the Milky Way. An interesting side note was that Sol and Ethos maintained a close relationship and even cooperated with each other during the Trial.

  As he continued reading her analysis, Alistair noted a key difference between Sol and Ethos: Ethos’s willingness to abandon his worlds and domain if necessary since he identified with the Crusade itself, not just the world he came from, and in turn being a much less fragmented and diverse natural god when compared to Sol. While their home was still important to the Crusade, they had already begun establishing colonies far from the frontline, places where they could send their civilians and build an infrastructure to fall back on.

  The Ethos Crusade was also the origin and heart of the New Light Alliance. As the strongest faction within the Alliance, it held control over multiple planets and boasted billions of followers, many of whom had been war veterans even before Initiation. This foundation gave them a significant number of powerful individuals, most of whom were further strengthened by their bond with a natural god, wielding faith magic to its fullest potential alongside their core concepts.

  They only accepted factions with similar outlooks that aligned with their own beliefs. While they didn’t impose their religion on members of the Alliance, they expected everyone to uphold the tenets of Loyalty, Order, Justice, Compassion, and Integrity. Nessyra had initially been met with skepticism—humans and demons weren’t the most likely allies. However, with humans as one of their founding races, the Ethos Crusade had been willing to give them a chance and had done their research on them. Ethos’s positive connections to Sol, along with his acceptance of Zaltom, had greatly helped and opened the doors to discussions. This led to the Ryser Clan joining the newly forming New Light Alliance, soon followed by the Beshin Clan upon the Ryser Clan’s recommendation.

  “From the New Light Alliance, only the Ethos Crusaders and the Beshin Clan will be joining us. The Zondu and Noross have their own targets, but we should be able to manage between our three factions. I had hoped to secure the Shadow Elves from the Rymtia Enclave as well, but they’re tied up with their own mission.”

  “How much support can we expect from the Crusaders?” Riseth asked.

  “They promised us the Norgard Order, led by High Inquisitor Elenora Seitz,” Nessyra replied.

  Alistair looked up from his report. “That almost sounds like a human name. And why are they sending one of their inquisitions?”

  “You’re half right; she’s a half-elf,” Nessyra answered. “As for why they’re sending an inquisition, it’s because of a few more elusive targets within the compound.”

  An image appeared of a striking, dark-skinned, elven woman with long, wavy black hair and bright green eyes.

  “This is Syca Vilvic, or at least that’s the name we have for the spy infiltrating the compound,” Nessyra continued. “She’s a former wood elf, now evolved to a windleaf elf, and she’s been posing as a sex slave for one of the Syndicate’s rising stars—Gerian Gral. He’s a former human who has evolved into a Rakshasa, which makes him an especially devious and elusive target, hence the inquisition’s interest.”

  An image of Gerian Gral followed. He had a muscular, humanoid form with features resembling a powerful Sphynx cat—mostly hairless, with a bearded face, tusks, and large curled horns that gave him a distinctly demonic and unsettling appearance.

  Alistair frowned as he studied the image. “I presume killing him to void the slave contract and rescuing the spy is a high priority?”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  "Saving her was one of the Coalition’s strongly worded demands for this target,” Nessyra explained. “I’d also like the chance to speak with her myself, to understand how she managed to sidestep some very pointed questions and pass along information while bound by a slave contract.”

  “Perhaps the contract is incomplete—or doesn’t even exist—and Gerian never realized?” Riseth suggested, a thoughtful look crossing her face.

  Nessyra tilted her head, considering. “Either way, it would take extraordinary skill with mind magic or a deep understanding of contract magic to manage something like that.”

  “I’m not too comfortable with you coming into the conflict zone if it’s not necessary,” Riseth remarked, concern evident in her tone.

  Nessyra offered a reassuring smile. “No need to worry. I finally managed to develop cloning skills. It turns out that while my affinity for the cloning concept is middling, I have a strong affinity for the avatar concept—which is almost as good. It’s useless in combat so far as a single punch would make it disappear... but it’s been incredibly useful for administrative work. I can only keep one avatar active over long distances with the help of the universal network. Still, it’s extremely focus-intensive, and I can't sleep yet without the avatar dispersing.”

  To demonstrate, two identical copies of Nessyra appeared at her sides. At a quick glance, they looked exactly like her, but to anyone with sharp magical senses, their fragile forms would be quite obvious. They seemed barely held together, as if a light breeze could scatter them. One of the copies picked up a tablet from a nearby table and gave them a small wave.

  Alistair and Riseth gawked at the copies, impressed with Nessyra's progress. If she managed to improve the combat capabilities of the Avatars and lose the dependency on the Coalition network, it would be an absurdly useful skill, as she could participate in combat while doing her admin work in complete safety.

  “The main issue with our administration,” Nessyra continued, “was simply that there weren’t enough of me. So, I took a page from Mitania’s book and made more copies of myself. They’re not as solid as I’d like, even with illusions to mask the fragility, but they do the job.”

  “You do realize you’re just downright ridiculous, don’t you?” Alistair remarked, grinning. “If you keep refining these avatars to the point they can actually fight, you’ll be a one-woman army.”

  “I already am!” she protested with a scoff, winking at them before picking up where she’d left off. “Right now, we’re waiting for enough of the Syndicate leaders to reveal themselves. The plan is to either kill them or keep them occupied while factions like ours seize critical locations and destroy their infrastructure. The Coalition’s main target is Xariarch, the Dragon of Pestilence. He hasn’t been seen in a while—probably holed up in a realm, dungeon, or training with an outsider. They want to avoid us or other factions accidentally running into him while we’re trying to secure a realm or other site of importance. He and a handful of others would be more than even we and our allies could handle.”

  Alistair nodded with a grimace. Having now faced a dragon, he knew just how tough a feral one could be. A true elite like Xariarch, with good connections, access to treasures, and a concept like Pestilence, would be impossible for him and Riseth to handle without serious backup. And he’d much rather avoid fighting anything tied to Pestilence; some magical afflictions were far harder to heal than others. King’s curse concept was one of the worst, if not the most infamous of them all, and Alistair was seriously considering asking him to stay with Rovari for this mission. Revealing the existence of a new lineage of cursed dragons would almost certainly cause an uproar, painting an even larger target on their backs. Other factions would likely strike first to eliminate the threat before it could grow. He wasn’t even sure how Sotarr would react to such a revelation.

  He clicked his tongue, drawing the attention of the two sisters.

  “Speaking of dragons, we should keep King hidden for now. Under no circumstances can we reveal that he’s creating a lineage of cursed dragons within our clan. The stigma around that concept is too strong, and it would turn many against us. The threat he poses if left unchecked is too great for most to ignore—they’ll want to nip it in the bud.”

  Nessyra nodded approvingly. “I’ve already instructed Zarrias to inform King of this once they’re alone, and I agree. Part of me wishes you could just store him in his plane and only take him out in emergencies or when it’s absolutely certain no one will see him. But that would be cruel—and maybe a bit too extreme. Besides, identifying a new species and knowing their related concept isn’t something just anyone can do, especially if King masks his core concept like he’s been instructed. The only individual or creature I know of with that ability—and my network is vast—is Dexter, who’s happily sleeping in my office right now.”

  “How do you know he’s sleeping in your office?” Riseth questioned.

  “Because one of my avatars is with him,” Nessyra replied smoothly.

  Alistair gave her a mock-challenging look. “Do you often give my summons instructions when they’re out of my sight?”

  “Only if it threatens the safety of our faction and its members,” she shot back with a grin. “So yes, every now and then.”

  “Having him spend time with Rovari is probably a good thing,” Riseth added thoughtfully. “It’s a perfect excuse for him to lay low for a while, and he might even be less resistant to the idea—though I doubt he’s willing to sit still for long.”

  Nessyra’s smile turned mischievous. “Oh, don’t worry. I may have nudged that dragoness just enough to keep King occupied for a while.”

  Alistair’s eyes widened as realization dawned on him. “So that was your angle earlier! I was wondering why you were quite literally poking the dragon.”

  Nessyra let out an evil little laugh. “Dragons are naturally possessive. Making her think I might be interested in him now that he’s a progenitor took barely any effort at all.”

  Alistair shook his head in disbelief, chuckling. “Alright, so what else do we need to know about the raid?”

  “Most of the intel on both the enemy and our allies is in the reports, and we’ve covered the key points—except for the potential of a hidden fleet guarding the compound,” Nessyra replied.

  “There’s a fleet?” Riseth asked, frowning. “Wouldn’t that give away its position?”

  “It isn’t confirmed, but it’s a strong possibility,” Nessyra continued. “While in stealth or otherwise disguised, even a scout would likely miss their presence unless they investigated thoroughly—which the Coalition didn’t want to risk, preferring to maintain the element of surprise for our impending attack.”

  Alistair snorted. “Well, space ambushes are technically our specialty. Let’s hope we jump them, and not the other way around.”