By the time we returned to the palace, it was already late evening. The palace gates were wide open and the entire front courtyard beyond them was packed with twenty thousand Divines.
Darling stood at the front of the massive gathering just before the palace steps. To his right stood Leones and to his left Anamorsia, who looked more tired than usual. I stood slightly behind and to the side with Adela, watching the scene unfold.
And then there was Milliania.
She had just arrived—literally minutes before the assembly began—still covered with metallic residue from Technographia's junkyard. Her usually pristine attire had streaks of black and silver grime. She looked surprised when she saw Darling already standing there.
"I leave for a few hours," she muttered under her breath when she stepped up beside him, "and you summon the entire Divine population."
Darling didn't even glance at her.
"Your timing is not exactly pleasant, Millie. You'll benefit from witnessing this so don't leave."
Darling finally stepped forward. His voice was amplified by the Sound Enhancement Rune.
"Divines of Richinaria, you have all witnessed the recent assaults on our territory. You have fought, bled, and in many cases, lost more than your lives would have demanded. I am aware that a Divine stripped of their Divinity is often treated as incomplete. All of you stand here now with that weight on your shoulders, questioning your worth and your place among your own kind."
He lifted his hand slightly. A faint crimson shimmer flickered in the air above him. The Second Epoch Cycle system was already active in the background, waiting.
"I will not allow Richinaria's strength to erode because of circumstance. And I will not allow those who have served this Dynasty to be cast aside because fate chose them as its target. A few minutes from now, I am initiating the Unification."
That single sentence caused murmurs through the entire assembly. People exchanged glances. The term was known but no one had expected it to be invoked on this scale.
Darling raised his hand. The murmuring died instantly.
"The Unification will grant new Divinities to those who have lost theirs. However, the process is not without limitation. Only two Divinity archetypes can be safely distributed on this scale."
He gestured to the first set of glowing letters.
"The Energy Divinity allows its bearer to generate and sustain massive quantities of internalized energy output. Those who choose it will experience heightened energy production capacity, faster replenishment rates and expanded output. This is ideal for offensive specialists, long-range combatants and techniques that require high consumption."
A few Divines whose combat styles had always relied on raw power were interested.
"In simpler terms, if your fighting style burns through power rapidly, this is your answer."
A few chuckles could be heard through the crowd. He then pointed to the second column of text.
"The Barrier Divinity enables the manifestation of defensive constructs. You will be able to generate barriers on your body, on objects or even on other individuals. It's perfect for defensive specialists and tactical supports."
The projection shifted, showing visual simulations like energy constructs forming around figures, shields and barriers expanding to cover entire squads.
"You cannot choose both. Your compatibility and adaptability will determine which Divinity you can fully integrate. Since we gave you enough time to decide, you may step forward now. Form two groups. Energy Divinity should come to my right and Barrier Divinity to my left."
For a few seconds, no one moved. Then one Divine—an older warrior with a scar running across his jaw—stepped forward and moved to the right side. Another followed. Then three more. The hesitation broke and suddenly hundreds, then thousands, began moving, forming two massive, uneven groups across the plaza.
I watched the crowd reorganize itself. The right—Energy—was filled with aggressive stances, confident postures and warriors who had always been frontliners. The left—Barrier—had more composed figures, healers, tacticians and those who preferred protecting over destroying.
When everyone had settled, Veneri looked up slightly. The crimson hologram of the Second Epoch Cycle appeared in front of us. A line of text appeared in midair, hovering just above his head:
[Initiate Unification Protocol?]
It looked almost absurdly simple compared to the scale of what was about to happen. He didn't hesitate.
"Yes."
The moment the word left his lips, the entire holographic structure glitched. A deep shrill filled the air. Columns of light descended onto the two groups separately, bathing them in different shades of gold and sapphire. The Divines caught in the beams gasped. Some dropped to their knees as the energy began interacting with their existence directly.
The Unification was rewriting the empty spaces where their lost Divinities had once been.
For the Energy group, the light condensed into blazing cores at the center of their chests. Their breathing grew heavier at first, like their bodies were struggling to contain the sudden influx of power, but then they endured it.
For the Barrier group, the process looked different. Their bodies were surrounded by translucent shapes that formed and reformed around them. One by one, the shapes merged into their bodies and souls, leaving behind faintly visible barrier patterns that shimmered whenever they moved.
Some of them cried out in shock. Others just stood there as they felt something they thought they'd lost forever reattach to their very soul. The entire process lasted several minutes, though it felt longer because of how intense it was. When the last beams of crimson light faded and the holograms vanished, it was silent.
Twenty thousand Divines stood there with their new Divinities. Above them, the crimson text changed:
[Unification Complete.]
Darling lowered his hand. He looked out over the transformed assembly with satisfaction in his gaze.
"From this moment forward, you stand not as pillars of what Richinaria will become. Also, there's is another matter you must understand."
A few heads lifted immediately.
"With the restoration of new Divinities, your Pinnacle Tethers have also been reestablished."
A few even looked down at their hands instinctively, as if expecting to see them physically written on their skin. Because normally, when someone ascended from a Third Phase Ascender to Divine Rank, their Pinnacle Tether didn't stay as a separate concept. It fused and evolved into their Divinity itself. The only exception was when someone was a Split.
I felt his gaze turn toward me for a fraction of a second. I immediately understood what he wanted.
"Got it."
Since my system was used by the entire Dynasty, it wasn't hard for me to trigger a mass interface event. It just took a bit of careful filtering so I didn't accidentally overload their weaker minds.
"Everyone, don't panic. I'm about to show you something."
I pushed the command through my system. In an instant, the system windows materialized in front of every Divine present. Their full system profiles were displayed for them to see. Some of them reached out instinctively as they scanned their own stats that they thought were permanently gone.
"P-Pinnacle Tether… it's listed separately again…"
"I thought it was absorbed into my Divinity when I ascended…"
"How is this even possible?"
It wasn't every day you got to collectively shatter twenty thousand people's understanding of their own power systems. Darling used the moment to continue his explanation.
"Under normal circumstances, a Divine's Pinnacle Tether becomes indistinguishable from their Divinity upon ascension. However, the Unification process did not simply restore your Divinities. It reconstructed your Divine framework. As a result, your Pinnacle Tethers remain accessible as independent functional structures."
Which, in simpler terms, meant they now had both a Divinity and a Pinnacle Tether to work with.
"There is no time for complacency. Soon, an expedition will be launched to explore the realm from which our current adversaries originate. You will be required to deploy in unfamiliar environments against opponents who do not operate under the Law of Divinity."
That sobered them up quickly.
"You are to familiarize yourselves with your new Divinities and the restored functionality of your Pinnacle Tethers before that expedition begins. Training grounds will remain open at all hours. Resource allocation has already been adjusted to accommodate increased activity. You are all dismissed."
The palace entrance was filled with noise as Divines began dispersing in groups. I shut down the mass display with a flick of my fingers, Darling turned away from the crowd before it had even fully cleared and addressed his siblings.
"Leones. Anamorsia. Milliania. Follow me. There's something that needs immediate discussion."
Leones arched an eyebrow but nodded. Anamorsia gave a quiet "Of course," and Milliania just shrugged, still brushing metallic dust off her sleeve as she walked beside him. Then his gaze shifted to Adelasta.
"Adelasta, you will oversee the post-Unification stabilization of the Divines. Record all irregularities, fluctuations in Divinity output and any cases that might arise."
"You're… not coming with us to the training grounds?"
"No."
The single syllable landed heavier than it should have. He just continued issuing orders.
"Phaenora, you're coming with me. I need your help in explaining what I'm going to tell them."
"Yeah, sure."
We began walking away from the dispersing crowd with Leones, Anamorsia, and Milliania following just behind us. I didn't think much of it at first. I was used to being dragged into system explanations whenever things got technical. It wasn't until we'd already crossed the palace gates and started down one of the quieter corridors that the realization hit me.
I glanced over my shoulder.
Adelasta was still back at the plaza, already surrounded by clusters of Divines asking her questions as she started issuing instructions and organizing recording teams. And Darling… hadn't even looked back at her.
He'd done that on purpose. He intentionally separated her from us.