The wasteland stretched endlessly before them but it wasn't empty.
Veneri and Ervadelle stepped into the remains of what used to be a thriving desert city. Buildings had collapsed into dust and broken stone. Entire structures were reduced to fragments that barely resembled what they once were. Corpses covered everything, stretching across the city and spilling outward into the wasteland beyond, hundreds of thousands of lifeless bodies lying where they had fallen.
Veneri stood at the edge of it. Ervadelle stood behind him as the reality of what she was seeing hit all at once.
"We are too late."
Ervadelle pressed a hand over her mouth as she fought back the urge to vomit. She had seen death before and even trained for it but the difference hit harder than anything else. Veneri didn't move to comfort her. Instead, he closed his eyes briefly before opening them again.
His Soul Vision spread across the area, searching not for survivors. Not a single living soul remained, not even a trace of something that could be saved or recovered. The Reniatsus had finished their people.
Veneri exhaled slowly as he processed what came next.
"Not even one left? This was done days ago. Crafty bastards. Guess genocide is an option now."
The words barely left his mouth before something shifted above them. Air displacement was felt as a massive structure descended into view. The Obsidian Runic Spire loomed overhead.
A Mystic Circle appeared next to them and in the next instant, Ferris stepped through. Her posture was steady despite the battle she had just come from.
"Master. The Overlord Krepsuna escaped."
Veneri didn't look surprised.
"Of course she did. We were too late here as well. The Reniatsus have already left. They wiped out every single inhabitant before moving on."
He paused for a fraction of a second before asking the question that actually mattered now.
"Is Realm Colonialism in effect?"
"Yes. The Reniatsus are no longer present within the realm. That condition has been met."
That was all he needed to hear.
"Good. It's time to begin the plan. I didn't expect it to happen so soon though."
Ferris didn't question it. She turned and faced Ervadelle.
"Come with me. It's not safe here."
Ervadelle didn't argue. She followed Ferris. The Teleportation Mystic Circle formed again beneath them and they vanished, leaving Veneri alone in the middle of a dead realm. The Spire began its descent fully now, crashing into the ground kilometers away with a force that sent a massive shockwave rippling across the wasteland,
Veneri raised his hand at the skies and spoke in Xinoraci.
"In the name of the Towermaster, I hereby announce the Graveyard of Bones as the Forty-Eighth Floor of the Obsidian Runic Spire."
The moment the words settled, the entire realm reacted. The ground trembled violently. Massive crimson holograms appeared around him. The sky darkened further before a massive pair of eyes glared directly onto Veneri.
"What do you think you are doing?"
Veneri didn't flinch or react to the overwhelming scale of it.
"I'm taking this realm. That's within your rules, isn't it?"
The eyes narrowed slightly.
"It is within parameters. But what do you hope to achieve with this?"
Veneri let out a short breath, something almost like a scoff escaping him as he answered.
"I'm going to do whatever the fuck I want. I already own the Graveyard of Bones and the Garden of Asphodelia."
The voice returned with a sharper edge this time.
"The Obsidian Runic Spire is a Primordial Rank Artifact. Using it in this manner is recklessly absurd."
Veneri smirked faintly at that.
"What, are you scared of what I'll become?"
There was no answer. Veneri held her gaze for a moment longer before exhaling slightly.
"If you're not going to stop me, then I'm taking it."
A brief pause followed before the voice returned, calm, measured, and final.
"Proceed. I will allow it in this cycle."
The eyes vanished.
Realm Colonization is an Enchantment of the spire that didn't just exist within realms but could take them, reshape them and make them part of itself without asking permission from anything except the rules that governed existence. It wasn't something that activated casually or even frequently because the requirements alone filtered out almost everyone who would ever come into contact with the Spire, and even among those who could meet them, very few would dare to actually use it.
The first condition was absolute and non-negotiable. The wielder had to possess a Primordial Divinity that could anchor the process without collapsing under its weight. The second condition was that the realm itself had to be ownerless in terms of authority. It had to have no lingering claim that could interfere with the Spire's integration process.
The moment the Reniatsus left the Graveyard of Bones, the realm entered that exact state of vulnerability that Realm Colonization required. The Krepsunas didn't factor into that equation at all because they weren't recognized as sovereign entities within the structure of realms. They were invaders and anomalies that spread through systems rather than governing them.
The Spire didn't treat them as anything worth acknowledging. Once a realm was integrated, anything like that inside it would be dealt with automatically, erased or suppressed by the internal systems of the Spire itself, which meant Veneri didn't need to waste time clearing them out manually. The moment he initiated the process, the outcome was already decided.
The entire Graveyard of Bones reacted the instant the command was accepted. Golden light spread from the Spire's location, flooding the barren wasteland and the ruined city alike. The corpses, the dust, the fractured terrain, all of it was illuminated under that glow. The sky above cracked next, shattering like glass as fractures spread across it. Pieces began breaking apart and falling into nothingness as the structure of the realm began to collapse.
The scale of the realm began to shrink. Entire stretches of land were vanishing. The golden light intensified as the process reached its peak. The Spire absorbed the entirety of the Graveyard of Bones into itself without resistance.
Where there had once been a realm, there was now nothing.
Veneri stood alone in empty space. The absence of the world around him was now replaced by a void that stretched endlessly in every direction, broken only by the presence of the Obsidian Runic Spire itself. The runes along it glowed. The darkness made the Spire stand out even more.
He raised his hand again, summoning a Teleportation Mystic Circle beneath him. He vanished from the void and appeared within the Spire itself. The integration was done. It was part of the Spire. That meant everything inside it would now operate under his rules moving forward.
"It's time. Spire, Commence Operation Chronology, Phase One, Realm Colonization. We are taking four realms before tomorrow."