Then Rurak drove his fist into the stranger’s stomach with all the strength remaining in his body. The man doubled over. Rurak seized his arm, but his fingers began slipping against the wet skin. He knew he couldn’t hold on for long, so he didn’t try.
Instead, he pulled the arm toward himself, stepped across the man’s body, and used his own forward momentum to throw him off balance. Aqualen crashed onto his back.
Before he could rise, Rurak planted a knee against his chest and struck him across the jaw. The man’s head snapped sideways. Rurak raised his fist again and, this time, used all his strength to hit Aqualen’s head. Blood spattered everywhere.
Rurak rested beside Aqualen’s dead body. He looked toward Hazel, who was fighting an Adaptris. That’s what the people called them. Hazel was losing the battle brutally. Rurak wanted to help, but he had spent all his energy. He needed time to recover, but Hazel didn’t have much time left.
Rurak heard footsteps beside him. He quickly turned to see who had approached him. Rurak’s expression was one of horror. He would die if this person was an enemy. But relief appeared on his face when he saw his father walking toward him.
"Father, help Hazel first!" Rurak shouted to make himself heard over the noise of the battlefield.
Cassian looked at his bloodied son. Anger rose inside him, but he did not say anything. He had seen how his Emperor had not helped his own mother and sister, and this would likely help his family in the upcoming struggle. His son had been stubborn about not choosing a Life Weapon, which had now worked against him in battle. The same was true for Hazel, but she was fighting an Adaptris.
Cassian had seen these warriors throughout the battlefield, and they were dominating the battle everywhere. The only relief was that Earth had more fighters than the enemy. Otherwise, this battle would have been over by now. Even so, the Awakened with Life Weapons were shining more than the others. It was clear that those who had Life Weapons had a greater advantage and more strength than those without them.
Cassian took one step and appeared near Hazel’s opponent. His speed was too fast. Before the Adaptris could even see his new opponent, his head burst like a watermelon. Hazel looked at Cassian.
"Thanks, Uncle Cassian."
Cassian smiled at Hazel and helped her move near his son, Rurak. He picked up the ring belonging to Aqualen, whom his son had killed, and marked it with his Will. Cassian looked inside the ring. It had a space of five cubic meters inside it. It was filled with clothes and many other things. In one corner sat the Spirit Stones. Cassian thought of taking out those stones, and they appeared outside the ring. As soon as they appeared, they were swallowed by the ground.
Cassian looked at the confused expressions of his son and Hazel.
"Wait a second. You will understand it when I announce it on the battlefield."
Cassian rose into the air with his son and Hazel on either side of him. He looked down at the battlefield and took a deep breath.
"Everyone, listen carefully!" Cassian’s voice spread across the battlefield, reaching every soldier who could hear him. "The rings worn by the enemy are storage artifacts. Once you defeat an enemy and obtain their ring, mark it with your Will. After that, you can use it to store your belongings and take out anything you need. You can keep weapons, clothes, resources, and other items inside these rings. You can also store your weapons and things inside it. Now you don’t need to carry everything on your body anymore!"
Cassian paused for a moment to ensure everyone was listening.
"However, there is one exception. Do not keep Spirit Stones inside your rings! Take them out and let them come into contact with the ground. Earth will absorb them, allowing our planet to obtain their energy. If you leave them inside your rings, Earth will not be able to absorb them!"
His voice grew stronger.
"Collect every ring you can find, but remember this: Spirit Stones belong to Earth. Everything else can remain inside your rings. Do not waste time carrying your spoils around when you can store them safely!"
After making the announcement, Cassian looked down at the battlefield again. The battle was far from over, and there were still many enemies to defeat. But now, every soldier on Earth knew what to do with the spoils of war.
Every soldier on the battlefield who had killed an opponent quickly searched for the rings. They found the rings on the fingers of the dead enemies. They quickly took out the Spirit Stones as they had been ordered. They didn’t want to become the reason for a loss. They knew that Earth’s Spiritual Energy was very low, as they had already started to feel the speed of their progress slow down considerably.
Silas and Era had preserved a lot of energy, but due to Zerak’s unexpected attack, they were completely spent. Although these Spirit Stones didn’t help much, they were enough for now. At least Silas could use his power on Earth again.
Victor appeared in the hall of the main palace. Silas was watching the battle from his throne. Hearing the door open, he looked at the visitor.
"Greetings, Your Majesty."
Silas waved his hand.
"Leave the formalities aside for now. Did you collect all the information?"
"Yes, my lord. I used hypnosis on many soldiers who entered the planet. They are from seven empires."
Although Silas had seen them fighting, he was still surprised by the information.
"Why would seven empires be present on one battlefield?"
"From what I found, the six empires were attacking a single empire, and they had already plundered nine hundred of its planets. However, the Path Ancestor of that empire did not appear."
Silas nodded in understanding.
"So, this was a battle to lure that Path Ancestor out."