I'll say this right now. If anyone else had found that half-dead First Phase Ascender, they would've dragged him in like a criminal.
Leones carried the unconscious mortal into her spaceship and piloted it toward the Levenees Section. Oh and by the way, Veneri didn't just become Dynasty Monarch and sit pretty.
Each of the four Houses had a Royal Aeterium at its core. And while Veneri remained the Monarch, he assigned each sibling absolute executive authority over one House.
Anamorsia, the Supreme Commander, oversaw Maximilian, the militarized backbone of Richinaria. Milliania managed Obligatio, the House responsible for money and finances. Leon governed Viaca and Leones controlled Levenees.
And when I say controlled, I mean they could rewrite its internal directives on a whim and no one would blink. Veneri arranged it that way deliberately. He ensured every sibling had dominion, purpose and leverage. They didn't rule the Dynasty but within their Houses, their word was final.
The ship descended and docked on top of a skyscraper. Levenees has landing platforms integrated into its skyline. When Leones stepped out with wind brushing against her coat, she paused. Below her stretched the Levenees Section.
If the Richinaria Palace were viewed from above, it would look less like a structure and more like a city. Five colossal sections, each distinct in architecture and atmosphere, were arranged around the Palace. Even though the five sections wee massive, it didn't even take half of Richinaria Palace's land area. Outside the five divisions is nothing but extensive flatlands and meadows.
Technically, Richinaria could construct another city there capable of housing over a million beings without strain but there was no reason to do so. Rise Borough already existed and it housed over two hundred million beings. Upgrading the outer lands would be redundant. So, they just kept it like that just in case other activities would require them to make something.
A few Levenees members approached her immediately. They bowed without hesitation.
"Esteemed Princess."
She gestured toward the vessel casually.
"There's an unconscious mortal inside. First Phase Ascender. Take him to the Sarphies. Extract any useful information he has about this realm."
They bowed again and moved swiftly to retrieve the man. Leones turned slightly as a holographic projection flickered to life beside her. My interface manifested in a split second. She didn't look at it directly.
"Phae, how's the situation outside Technographia?"
Straight to the point. I respect that.
"The other Dynasties are actively engaging threats across multiple reams. Several have sustained structural losses. Territorial skirmishes are ongoing."
She exhaled softly.
"And us?"
"Richinaria remains undetected of course."
The camouflage grid was functioning perfectly. From the perspective of the realm's native entities, Richinaria simply did not exist. For now.
"They're fighting and we're not."
"Good."
Because while others exhausted themselves in scattered combat, Richinaria was consolidating strength.
"For now, you should meet with Sylveira Levenees."
That caught her interest.
"It's time to see whether Project Nanorune is complete. Darling told me to check on her. By now, it should be done."
°°°°°°
Project Nanorune has been in development for over five years. Veneri started it and Sylveira perfected it.
Back then, it wasn't even about Mopheria. Veneri always assumed the pantheon would appear eventually. When that happened, raw strength wouldn't be enough. Reaction time and survivability would decide everything. So they built Nanorunes.
In case you forgot, Reader From Behind The Curtains, Nanorunes are tiny nanobot constructs engineered from Divine Metal and Demonic Metal, the strongest materials in Spheraphase. Divine Metal is sourced from Naranq. Demonic Metal is harvested from Wisterix.
The result is a self-sustaining adaptive armor system that didn't need charging, recalibration and didn't degrade under standard divine stress. It generated and regulated its own internal energy cycle permanently. Once bonded to a user, it responded to their specialty. Speed-type Divines received light, mobility-optimized armor. Defense-types got reinforced plating.
There are two finalized versions.
Version 1.0 is stable and universal. It manifested as pure defensive armor. That model could be used by anyone capable of handling divine rank impacts. This is the one that Darling uses.
Version 2.0 is different.
It required active energy input when using this function, but in exchange, it could materialize weapons directly from the nanostructure itself. Blades, spears, ranged constructs, whatever the user specialized in. The nanobots could expand, reshape, elongate and retract. Version 2.0 was built for weapon specialists.
And yes, they could shrink to nothing and expand instantly on command. Since Shimmer and Runner rely more on their weapons, this was designed for them. The problem was never creation. It was timing.
They had completed the Nanorunes long ago. Production scaling was already solved. Distribution protocols were drafted. Then Mopheria nearly attacked Spheraphase and the Dynasties started cooperating.
Then the political equilibrium shifted after Divinity fell.
Releasing something that destabilizing during that fragile period would trigger suspicion, escalation or worse, panic. So they postponed it. Now, we have enough Nanorunes to equip every Divine in Richinaria. And only Divines would receive them because only them could draw out their full capability.
Leones entered Sylveira's research chamber without ceremony.
The room was vast and humming faintly with layered containment arrays. And there, organized in precise stacks were thousands of small black boxes. Sylveira stood among them, adjusting them. Leones didn't waste time.
"Is it done?"
Sylveira glanced over her shoulder.
"Yes. I've delayed this long enough but it's finished. With these distributed, every Divine in Richinaria will gain approximately ninety-eight percent protection against lethal and surprise attacks."
"That effective?"
"If a First Enlightenment Divine wears this, they can withstand direct assault from a Second Enlightenment Divine."
That wasn't a small statement. The gap between Enlightenment phases is exponential. A Second Enlightenment Divine should overwhelm a First with ease.
"For now," Sylveira said, gesturing toward the endless rows of black cases, "we should call all Divines and begin distribution."
"Good idea."
And just like that, five years of preparation was about to shift the balance of an entire war.