The Supreme Judge started with the basics. Stuff Darian had already read a bit about before, but it was all new for the twins.
In the universe they lived in, called the Universe of Heaven’s Will, there were tons of galaxies and planets, obviously, but pretty much 99,99% of everything was dead and lifeless. Among the few places with life, the overwhelming majority was made up of small and simple forms.
As for the handful of planets with capable races, they were blessed by Heaven’s Will and produced Spiritual Guardians. In total, there were only 321 such planets in the entire universe.
Among them, humans were the most common race, existing either alone or alongside other races on 110 planets.
All the planets had a numeric power ranking. Earth was number 151, literally right in the middle. Among human planets though, it was the third strongest.
The biggest human planet was called Planet Aethel. A pretty unique place, where humans had mutated and turned out... weird. They proudly held the number 22 spot in the ranking.
Their own galaxy, the Milky Way, was pretty unusual too. It had three planets with Spiritual Guardians. Only one other galaxy had three as well; most had just one, rarely two.
The other two ranked 152 and 153. At least Earth was above them... but honestly, that was only thanks to two simple reasons: humans reproduced crazy fast, and Earth had tons of natural resources.
The other two planets were home to Elves and Beasts.
The Beasts lived on a planet where 95% of the surface was covered in water. The planet was called Zroot, same as the name of their race. They lived both in the water and on land, being kind of like a mix between amphibious reptiles and humanoids.
The other planet was called Arjun, the total opposite: a place with barely any water, lots of forests, and insane volcanic activity.
Both races had natural limiters on their planets. Plus, their reproduction was super slow and difficult. That gave Earth some pretty unfair advantages... which could’ve easily turned into the classic "planet war" cliché. But, actually, those two planets were allies, not enemies.
The Elves were proud, but they had a strong survival instinct as a group. They saw the High Humans as neighbors and always pushed for unity and mutual protection.
The Zroot, on the other hand, respected power. Since Earth had tons of humans and like ten times more Spiritual Guardians, they naturally had way more powerhouses too. As long as the High Humans from Earth didn’t mess with them, the Zroot considered them neutral or even potential allies.
"Because of how special this mission is, this time our whole galaxy will team up and form an alliance," the Supreme Judge said seriously.
"When the test begins, the Yin and Yang essence will be up for grabs by everyone. Anyone who manages to get even one will automatically become a candidate for a primordial seed at the end. But you’ll get to keep the essence too, and that stuff is an extreme nutrient for the body."
"This alliance exists so everyone can protect each other and get as many resources as possible. The first and second stages of this trial can already give you guys some insane rewards. But fighting for the seeds... yeah, that’s way above our level. Your focus should be on surviving and grabbing as much as you can. This is a golden opportunity that could change your future. But for that... you need to survive."
He spoke seriously, looking at Darian, who stayed indifferent. The twins, though, had slightly twisted expressions. Was the Empire seriously telling them to chicken out and not even try for a seed?
Lucy and Niara both scoffed in sync. ’Idiots. Like we’re not gonna go for a seed. We’ll just grab both!’ Niara said excitedly in his mind, but Darian ignored her.
"One more thing. The High Humans from Planet Aethel sent us an encouraging message. They plan to help others from their race. If you get in serious trouble, call them and they’ll try to help."
The Supreme Judge said that in a positive tone. The number 22 planet would be their backup. Their chances of survival were looking good.
"Finally... not everything’s great news. As you know, the other five Empires will also send their groups. Those two allied planets count as a single unit, but we’ll have six groups with six leaders."
He sighed, looking at Darian with a grave face: "We had meetings with the other Empires. No one agreed to name a single leader for Earth, so it was decided that everyone will fight for themselves. But you’re all expected to help each other and never kill each other... meaning... besides the dangerous mission, they’re also a potential headache for you. Stay sharp."
Darian sighed. Humans... always a problem. Even in a situation , they couldn’t stick together, and if they got the chance to screw over the other Empires, they definitely would.
The Judge nodded, then an emblem floated to each of the five. Darian’s was a bit bigger and covered in runes. That marked him as the leader of the New Arcadia Empire’s group, and the allied planets would recognize that too.
"In this special mission, group crystals can’t be used. Everyone’s only allowed to bring either very simple and irrelevant artifacts... or... supreme artifacts. This is a rule that has always existed for some reason, and yeah... it’s something that unfortunately screws over all mid-tier planets. As you probably know, supreme artifacts are so rare on Earth that the risk of losing them isn’t even worth handing them over. The bigger planets, though... they’ll definitely bring a few. So I’ll say it again — going after the seeds is not something you should even try. Focus on surviving first. Stay as far away from the center as possible."
He finished speaking, then nodded and activated an artifact.
The altar behind them lit up softly.
"Go. This special mission has no fixed reward. What you get depends on your own survival skills. You’ll only take what you manage to grab."
’Yeah yeah, we’ll be quiet, careful, and stay outta trouble. Totally... not!’ Niara hummed excitedly in his mind.
Darian stepped forward. The others followed close behind, with Leander the only one staying behind, just watching.
They stepped onto the altar... and the five of them vanished.
When Darian opened his eyes...
He found himself in the middle of a city that looked straight out of medieval times, like something from centuries ago on Earth. It really looked like it... or maybe it was just similar to the medieval fantasy stories, not the real history of Earth. But the place around him was exactly like those fantasy descriptions.
The sun was shining bright in the sky.
At the same time, Darian’s senses went crazy sharp.
His group was right by his side, and the twins had cold looks in their eyes.
There were thousands of people surrounding them. They all seemed to be Spiritual Guardians who had just arrived. But...
The overwhelming majority... their karma was so thick and black it rivaled the Risen Chiefs from the other universe.
And judging by the excited looks on a lot of their faces...
’Looks like things are gonna get real lively,’ Darian sighed, thoughtful. Where this many people like that gathered, something bad was definitely coming.
’Hell yeah! Let’s wreck all of them!’ Niara, of course, was the complete opposite, super hyped with everything she was experiencing and discovering day by day. For her, everything was new and exciting.