The night sky over the mountains bordering the Jura domain was an absolute pitch black, but to the sharpened senses of Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, the air was saturated with the metallic scent of technology and the annoying hum of hidden engines. The Eastern Empire's invisible fleet—the pride of Yuuki Kagurazaka's military engineering—floated in silence, protected by optical distortion fields and magicule inhibitors.
They believed themselves to be ghosts. But to a predator who now wielded the Ultimate Skill [Pantera, King of Devastation], invisibility was merely a paper curtain.
On the deck of the flagship, Grimmjow did not arrive with a ship; he arrived like a blue meteor. He materialized in the midst of the fleet, treading the air as if it were solid ground. With a smile that promised nothing less than the apocalypse, he released his spiritual pressure. The impact was so violent that the cloaking systems of twelve aerial cruisers collapsed simultaneously, revealing their silver silhouettes against the moon.
— So this is where the rats hide? — Grimmjow cracked his fists, and the space around him began to vibrate violently. — Sirzechs told me to be quick, but I intend to savor every second of this scrap metal falling!
The massacre began without a single shot being fired by the Empire. Grimmjow moved at a speed that defied sensory perception. He didn't just cut through metal; he used [Devastation] to collapse the space inside the ships. With a clawing motion, an entire cruiser was compressed into a sphere of twisted metal and exploded in a rain of crimson fire. When the Imperial combat mages tried to react, Grimmjow opened his jaw and fired a Cero Metralhadora infused with Shiva's annihilation. The sky was streaked by hundreds of blue beams that pierced the runic plating as if it were silk.
Meanwhile, in a remote monitoring room, Yuuki Kagurazaka watched the magicule screens go dark one after another. Beside him, Kagali wore an expression of pure horror. The Eastern Empire had invested decades into that infiltration fleet, designed to be undetectable even by the Demon Lords of the Octagram.
— This isn't possible... — Kagali whispered, her voice trembling. — That fleet had maximum-level analysis protection. How were they found? And what kind of monster is doing that? The energy readings... they don't even make sense!
Yuuki, usually sporting a confident and manipulative smile, looked somber. He clenched his fist so hard his knuckles turned white. Through the last active camera, he saw the image of a blue-haired man standing over the flaming wreckage of his best ship, looking directly into the lens before obliterating it with a simple snap of his fingers.
— Rimuru was a variable I thought I could control — Yuuki said, his voice low and heavy with contained fury. — But this Sirzechs Gremory... he's not just playing the game. He swapped the board for one of marble and is crushing the pieces with his bare hands. Avalon isn't a city-state, Kagali. It's an anomaly devouring the order I took years to build.
Yuuki stood and walked to the map of the Central Continent. Avalon now glowed like a crimson point of light that outshone everything around it.
— Forget the infiltration plan in Tempest for now. We need real information on the "Soul Energy" they are emitting. If Sirzechs can create whatever he wants, our technological advantage just became obsolete. Warn the "Seven Angels": we have a God of Destruction playing king in the forest, and he has just declared war on our secrecy.
Back at the battlefield, Grimmjow floated amidst the smoking debris plummeting toward the earth. Not a single survivor remained, nor a single whole bolt. He wiped a drop of blood from the corner of his mouth and looked toward the horizon where the light of Avalon shone majestically.
— Job's done, Sirzechs — he muttered into the communicator. — I hope Grayfia saved some of that wine, because opening Imperial tin cans gives you a hell of a thirst.
The morning following the massacre in the clouds brought a strange peace, yet one charged with purpose. The wreckage of the Eastern Empire's fleet still smoked in the distant valleys, scarring the ground like marks of metal and fire. In the marble office in Avalon, Sirzechs observed the tactical map projected in the air, while Grayfia Lucifuge, impeccable as always, slid a parchment for territorial officialization across the desk.
— The fleet fell exactly in a neutral zone, technically outside the Jura Forest jurisdiction but within Alabaster's natural expansion route — Grayfia explained, pointing to the smoke-covered region. — Leaving this wreckage and the terrain at the mercy of scavengers or an Empire recovery mission would be a logistical error. My recommendation is immediate annexation by right of conquest and border defense.
Sirzechs smiled, recognizing his housekeeper's political cunning.
— You don't just want the terrain, Grayfia. You want the legal precedent.
— Precisely, my Lord — she replied, adjusting the collar of her silver uniform. — If the Western Nations or the Council see that Avalon protects the lands the Empire uses for espionage, they will have no choice but to recognize our sovereignty over the entire southwest sector.
With a fluid hand movement, Sirzechs activated the authority of [Shiva]. He did not sign the paper with ink; he infused his soul's will into the decree. Instantly, orders were sent through the Soul Corridor.
Harribel and her elite squads were the first to move. They did not march like an invading army, but as a force of divine order. Where Harribel's water touched the soil contaminated by oil and unstable magic from the fallen ships, the land was purified. In a matter of hours, white marble outposts—constructed instantly by Sirzechs' remote matter manipulation—rose upon the mountain peaks.
These outposts were not simple guardrooms. They were runic watchtowers linked directly to Ulquiorra's surveillance system. Avalon now had "eyes" reaching the edges of the Eastern Empire. The Alabaster territory doubled in size in a single day, and the border was consolidated not with barbed wire, but with the physical presence of outposts emanating Sirzechs' spiritual pressure.
While the expansion took place, Sirzechs and Grayfia walked to the palace balcony. Below, the population of Avalon watched the new Gremory banners being hoisted on the distant hills. There was a feeling of pride and security that transcended fear.
— The world now knows that Avalon's soil does not end where the forest stops — Sirzechs said, looking at the horizon. — It ends wherever my will decides.
Grayfia closed her folder of documents, a rare glint of satisfaction in her eyes.
— The annexation paperwork is complete, Lord Sirzechs. And I have already sent copies to Rimuru and the Council of Nations. They will be informed of our "humanitarian aid" in clearing the Imperial debris.
The consolidation was done. Avalon was now an empire on the march, and the next step would not just be geographical, but political. Yuuki and the Empire's silence after the massacre was a sign they were recalculating, but Sirzechs knew that with the new frontier established, the board now favored the King of Crimson.