Dimensional Descent

"What?"

Rychard frowned for the first time in as long as he could remember. He couldn't remember having ever had a fluctuation in his emotions in recent years, at least not one that was large enough to show so prominently. He had gone through too much in the last several years. The destruction of his family, countless humiliations in the Void Palace, being swallowed up by that zone, the death of his last remaining family member and brother…

There wasn't enough to make him frown these days. But this was a bit much.

The news seemed to come one after another, but the most frustrating part was that it wasn't coming through the channels it should have. Rather than their own people reporting back saying that they had been attacked, they had been wiped out so fast that they couldn't even do that. Instead, Rychard was reaching reports from miscellaneous businesses of his and the Viola family that had been in the general area who were only contacting him to let him know that business would likely be slow for the next coming weeks due to the commotion. After all, tourists wouldn't be in a happy, buying mood if their tourist destination had suddenly become a warzone.

And yet, even after several such businesses contacted Rychard and the Viola family about this matter, likely all afraid that they would be accused of embezzling funds if they didn't do so, there was still not a word from the actual alliances of this coming war.

And then it came.

The first to contact him was Aleck Skies. The Patriarch of the Thrusting Skies Sector was absolutely furious, Rychard could hear the thunder booming in the background and the strikes of lightning spilling about. He had immediately accused one of them of setting him up, Rychard could hardly get a word in, not because Aleck was so overwhelming to him, but because he was absolutely shocked to find out that half of Aleck's fleet had been wiped out.

After Rychard regained his bearings, smoothed out his frown and took a breath, his aura changed.

"That's enough."

ice cold of his voice cut the Skies family Patriarch off completely, stifling all of his momentum. Even the

you

location was in the most covert region there was, but it was also in the region most susceptible to an ambush. How could we even maneuver in

obviously you weren't attacked. Am I

seriously at all. Instead, he flipped over a

you and you alone. By all rights, the one with the most odd actions was yourself. This was supposed to be an all out assault, did you expect to deal Earth a blow with nothing but a hoard of Sixth Dimensional existences?

Rychard expected something very different from the other side than what he actually expected. He wanted to hear a flustered response,

my full team, wouldn't I be finished? You mighty Viola and warriors of the Chaotic Water Sector might be able to afford the

justify myself to a person who didn't suffer even

fell into silence,

much I loathe the Ascension Empire? What they've done to me? If you want to

only continued to