CHAPTER 830: FREE TIME

The fate of the Blizzard Continent soon became the fate of the Yeti and Grizzly Continents as well.

In the skies above Yeti, a dragon of fire and light soared majestically through the clouds. His wings left streaks of flame across the heavens, and his golden eyes, though calm, burned with cold dominance as they surveyed the ruined land below. Every soldier had been eliminated. Every defensive outpost was reduced to rubble. The civilians, too, had been neutralized—none killed, but all incapacitated. The continent lay completely under the control of the Xaos Kingdom, with not a single voice left to defy their might.

Meanwhile, slithering across the lands of the Grizzly Continent was a serpent of unimaginable size, formed entirely of lightning and raw life force. The snake’s glowing body stretched across valleys and forests, his shadow alone vast enough to snuff out the daylight below. He slithered with casual confidence, eyes gleaming with satisfaction as he transformed into a small yellow cat. The conquest here had been swift, strategic, and thorough. It was, without exaggeration, an utter success.

Far away, in the heart of the Xaos Kingdom, deep within its main command center, Vlad stood with arms folded, eyes fixed on the multi-dimensional holographic display that revealed every detail of the three battlefronts. He had been prepared to personally intervene, push the Law of Space to its very limit if any of the offensives required support. Fortunately, such assistance was never needed.

The Xaos Forces had executed a near-flawless tri-continental campaign.

They had taken the enemy by complete surprise—first neutralizing the magic-based defensive formations, then unleashing a coordinated barrage of biological weapons, advanced technology, powerful Sages, and disciplined soldiers. Not a single misstep. The result: a decisive victory across all three continents.

Of course, victory in battle was just the beginning.

Though the Zanis Family’s presence in these regions had been dismantled and their control mechanisms destroyed, there was still much to be done. The Xaos Kingdom now had to establish its own defensive strongholds, take control over the civilian populations, and deploy an early-warning system across the borders to prevent counterattacks.

"Overlord, when will we mobilize again?" Vlad asked.

A second later, the voice of the A.I. Chip Clone echoed clearly in his mind.

"In approximately thirty-one to thirty-three days, full control will be established over the Blizzard, Yeti, and Grizzly Continents. This will allow a new campaign to be launched without risking the integrity of our newly acquired territories."

Overlord hadn’t merely observed the campaign—he had controlled it. Over sixty thousand Reapers, terrifying bio-engineered weapons of war, had been synchronized through his neural network. Their terrifying efficiency, their refusal to harm civilians, even when under attack, was not just instinct—it was programming. It was strategy.

A faint smile tugged at Vlad’s lips. With their forces now entrenched in the newly conquered lands, there was no longer any need for him to risk storming enemy strongholds to create distractions.

"I guess that means I have some free time now," he murmured.

Without further delay, Vlad teleported across several spatial layers, arriving at a silent, isolated laboratory deep within Xaos territory. It was a place of solitude and focus—perfect for what he had in mind.

Shelves filled with shimmering rune-crafting materials lined the walls. He selected hundreds of components with practiced hands, spreading them across an arcane workbench. He inhaled deeply, his expression solemn and focused.

It was time to forge something new.

The Mark of Cian, his current rune, had served him well. It had empowered him significantly during the Doomsday World campaign. But now he was confronting Superior Legends and enemies at the Half-Lord Tier. Against such foes, the Mark’s effectiveness had begun to wane.

He needed something greater.

A new rune.

And that wasn’t all. The Demon Cage, the powerful sealing formation embedded in his soul, also needed upgrading. His current demon soul—a legendary entity—was no longer sufficient. If he wished to imprison and utilize stronger demons, ones that could truly tip the balance in the wars to come, he required a vastly superior formation.

There was much work to do.

And yet, even as he labored in silence, Vlad did not shut himself off from the world. He remained linked to every system of the Xaos Kingdom, ready to re-enter battle at a moment’s notice.

...

While the mood in Xaos headquarters was one of exhilaration and triumph, the atmosphere inside the command center of the Zanis Family was the exact opposite.

"WHY!? WHY!? WHY!?"

Augustus roared in primal fury, slamming his fist down hard enough to crack the obsidian command console. His bloodshot eyes were locked on the screens in front of him, displaying live feeds—if they could even be called that anymore—of the now-lost continents.

Each screen now showed silence. Empty command posts. Toppled banners. Drones feeding back static. His once-mighty military presence had been snuffed out.

Worse, the Xaos forces hadn’t just conquered—they had done so with surgical precision. They had known exactly when to strike, where the weak points were, how to bypass the defensive layers without being detected, and had then deployed jamming devices that neutralized all surveillance equipment, rendering the Zanis Family effectively blind across all three continents.

He had no idea what was happening now in any of those regions.

A counterattack? Impossible.

Augustus had always known the enemy was powerful—but he believed sheer scale would win the war. The world was his. Every man, woman, and child could be used as a weapon if needed.

But again and again, he had faced defeat.

And now, for the first time, he realized: the world was slipping through his fingers.

Worst of all—he had no idea how to stop it.

There was no clear solution. No fallback plan. No clever tactic to reverse the tide.

The weight of failure crushed his chest like stone. His composure was crumbling. Rage boiled inside him, desperate for release. His generals stood frozen in fear, not daring to meet his gaze.

Even so, Augustus was not completely lost to madness.

Not yet.

"Leave. Now."