As expected, the conquest of the Illyrian Union was barely even worth mentioning. Being practically on the same level of power as the Sybillans, although they ruled over more worlds than just one, they could basically be disregarded.

  With Cheong Suhyeon's continuous support, guidance and counsel, Cristyn led the operation, already having some first-hand expertise under her belt when it came to weeding out all of the malevolent entities exploiting a civilization for their own gain and sick pleasures.

  Having noticed her usefulness and capability previously, Cheong Suhyeon had long since intended to train Cristyn into an especially competent assistant during the second round. That aside, educating her would also serve the purpose of accumulating points, therefore it was anything but a waste of time.

  Having an inkling of what kind of opportunity lay before her, naturally, Cristyn didn't dare to slack off, instead doing her utmost to prove herself. Of course, she also genuinely despised the kinds of 'monsters' that she was helping to eradicate, so in a way, not only was she looking out for herself and others, but she was also doing a job that she was passionate about. It was a win-win situation for everyone involved!

  If there was anything that was at least somewhat surprising regarding the Illyrian Union's circumstances, then it was that compared to the Sybillans, the total percentage of the population that would have to be cleansed was significantly lower.

  The Illyrians had a lot of irredeemable criminals and influential figures–far more than the Sybillans had been forced to endure. However, their overall populace was also many times greater than that of their neighbours, who had almost entirely resided within but a singular world, Pytho.

  Most likely, the reason behind this wasn't that the Illyrians were inherently less prone to producing outright 'evil' individuals. Instead, the Sybillans' Prognostication Talent was to be blamed. Malignant people would have the capability to either somewhat predict minute parts of the future, or even to directly spy it in its entirety–depending on the grade of their Talent, as well as the effort and time invested into raising it. This would enable them to prosper far easier, and for far longer.

  In a way, the Illyrians' comparative ordinariness could be seen as a blessing in disguise. Or perchance, massive advantages would generally be accompanied by hidden dangers and downsides.

  -----

  Situated right outside of the Pontifical State of Tzyion's capital world aboard a Naxsir Voidfaring Vessel, Kjartan silently sifted through the incoming intelligence. He had always been someone who preferred steady, safe development and did his work conscientiously, without a flaw. He would not rush to earn 'brownie points', and would instead ensure that his mission would be a success, or that his own goal was achieved.

  Had he not been set against Theodore immediately upon his arrival, then he wouldn't have had to act as desperately to carve out a chance for his own survival, and would have proceeded much like right at this moment. Gathering intel on his opponents, judging the situation appropriately, and forming an effectively flawless plan, even when in an absolutely superior, unassailable position–that was his modus operandi.

  'If I recall correctly, then the missionaries that were sent our way not long ago had a handful of bad eggs amongst them. Considering most religion-ruled civilizations' circumstances, that is both unsurprising and expected, yet also incredible. Even more so than typical politicians, leaders exploiting their people's faith on average are a bit more debauched. Therefore, it would stand to reason that envoys sent by them would be birds of a feather. However, when trying to deceive new people into joining their faith, it is ideal to send their best and brightest to make a good first impression. That way, the flock-to-be wouldn't realize that what they're walking into is not the paradise which they were promised, but rather a hell that they will forever be unable to escape.'

  Analysing his side's earlier encounter with Tzyion's people, Kjartan didn't show much of a change in expression. Such unfortunate circumstances were a dime a dozen and being confronted with countless numbers of them had naturally been a part of his early education. That aside, he was anything but a saint himself. His Talent could only begin to shine if he walked over entire worlds worth of corpses, so he definitely didn't have a moral high ground to stand on.

  'It's not like that matters, though.'

  Disregarding the distracting thought that had just come to mind, his eyes darted across the numerous screens in front of him, as well as the many different chat groups on Kiran's network that he had to keep track of. One of them had been opened by him and Corinna especially for this operation, and he would get frequent updates from the accompanying guards and maids via this channel.

  It had already been a day since they had arrived, and during this entire period, they had been solely focused on learning more about their target civilization. They had not even begun to set up Compound Array Disks in the surroundings, in the off chance that doing so would lead to undesirable consequences.

  Fortunately, it was soon proven beyond any reasonable doubt that the Pontifical State of Tzyion was indeed merely a run-of-the-mill faith-based civilization. If they hadn't been this close to their starting point during the second round, then they would have turned into nothing but a footnote in their journey to supremacy.

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  'There's only a dozen Gate Traversal Stage experts, in all of these worlds combined! Seriously, what a disappointment. The upper limit of how many they could feasible sustain is in the four digits, and yet after all this time, barely anyone has put in the work to actually make it there. Alas, with a powerful tool like faith at their disposal, the rulers don't truly need to be too strong. Indoctrination from birth and some Miracles from time to time are sufficient to suppress any potential uprising. Most other civilizations also don't want to deal with fanatics like these, so they're relatively unlikely to be conquered by those just slightly above their own level.'

  Feeling both displeased at the fact that he wouldn't have to overcome anything of note, yet also relieved at not having to hold back any further, Kjartan contacted everyone and told them to begin constructing the Lesser Void Guarding Array.

  Tzyion's fate was sealed, and after a generation or two, their populace would find itself freed from the chokehold of a false faith. They would be repurposed into useful, point-producing Students, and be much better off than before.

  -----

  For every one or two nondescript civilizations, there was another one that stood out significantly from the rest. In the immediate area around Pytho, the ones who were anything but ordinary were Krysmidonia, the Sarasvain Federation, as well as the Tetrachroma Palace.

  Having long since either had an inkling that this was the case or outright discovered this, Theodore had sent a significant portion of his fighting strength to each of these three. In the last one's case, he had even chosen to venture there himself.

  Just like each one of the other teams, the one with Navya, Xie Mei and Han Junqiao had also been outfitted with enough Compound Array Disks to set up a Krysmidonia-spanning Lesser Void Guarding Array. However, due to the nature of their mission, there was no guarantee that they would get the chance to make use of it.

  In the records of the Sybillans, very little could be found about the Krysmidonites. Other than the fact that their borders were impenetrable and that there had been no recorded instance of any of their people journeying outside, there was only one more detail that was known.

  Contrary to many other civilizations all around, Krysmidonia didn't have cultivators–or at least, they didn't refer to them as such, or with any similar, commonly-used title. They called themselves 'mystics', and were documented to possess both impressive combat power plus... well, 'mystical' abilities.

  Frustratingly enough, it appeared that those who had transmitted this knowledge to their descendants had either failed to disclose anything more descriptive than that, or had simply been ill-informed themselves. As a result, Navya and the others didn't exactly know what to expect.

  They had long since figured out that the greatest possible heights of effective power that these people could have achieved could only be approximately equivalent to the very peak of the Gate Traversal Stage–which was not a big deal for them by now. Still, they needed to worry about the unknown.

  Were these strange abilities possibly a form of Talent that appeared extremely commonly in this society, just like the Prognostication Talent of the Sybillans? And could they actually be threatened by them? Until they were certain, they had to tread extremely carefully.

  "It didn't go well, did it?"

  Welcoming Navya back inside their Voidfaring Vessel, Xie Mei shot her a concerned glance. From her friend's expression, it was already obvious that she wasn't all too pleased with the circumstances that they had found themselves in.

  "... yeah. But it's not all bad news. Only once I began channelling Energy into the Compound Array Disk did I begin to feel alarmed. It should be fine for us to investigate these worlds personally, if we keep our Energy fluctuations to a minimum, and hide very well."

  Despite her furrowed brows, the corners of Navya's mouth rose a little. They had not yet encountered the worst case scenario–but they would definitely be stuck here for a considerable while. When comparing this state of affairs to that of her companions, who had mostly experienced an extremely simple and straightforward campaign, she couldn't help but feel a bit envious.

  Ever since they had arrived at Krysmidonia's borders, they had sensed that their Voidfaring Vessel would be discovered if they tried to trespass. This was despite the fact that they could utilize extremely advanced cloaking technology! Even considering to make use of any of the other means aboard to figure out the situation in their target civilization had filled them all with a sense of apprehension.

  It wasn't exactly danger that they had felt–at least not a fatal one. Still, they had been able to tell that they would inevitably be discovered if they chose to proceed, and that they would much rather avoid such an outcome.

  This was why Navya, who had a couple of inherent benefits when it came to stealth due to her being from the Spirit race, decided to take a short trip into the nearby Lesser True Void to run some more tests.

  At this point, all of Theodore's Subordinates could survive in such an environment for a while, as they could use their Energy to temporarily construct an ever-dissipating shelter for themselves. If one was sufficiently proficient when it came to manipulating one's own Energy, then hiding the resulting fluctuations from the Krysmidonites shouldn't pose an issue.

  Unfortunately, setting up a Lesser Void Guarding Array too closely to their territory would be very hard to achieve without being discovered, therefore they would have to shelve that part of their plan for now. With even this path of investigation cut off, all that was left was for everyone to go out there personally.

  "Then what are we waiting for? Come on, you all, let's go!"

  In contrast to most of the others, Xie Mei perked up at this news. Wouldn't it be exciting to take a stroll through unknown lands? Where was the fun in overcoming these people without breaking a sweat, or even admiring the scenery? Eager to disembark, she had just begun moving when Han Junqiao gently held her back.

  "Mei'er, wait a moment! We should first discuss which areas we'll all be responsible for, establish functional lines of communication, agree upon how frequent our regular reports should be, and double-check to see if we haven't forgotten anything."

  Seeing her sister roll her eyes in mock-annoyance at her reminder, yet still obediently stay behind, Han Junqiao smirked to herself. Nodding at Navya, who had been appointed as the leader of their group, she received a grateful gaze in return. Other than Theodore, Han Junqiao was probably the best at handling Xie Mei's usually harmless little whims, even more so than Cheong Suhyeon and Vigdis.

  After a short few moments of conversation and some necessary groundwork, Navya and her team of twelve shot off in different directions, intent on peeling back the veil of mystery that had been shrouding Krysmidonia all along.

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