Soon, the whole Skjǫldrún Stronghold held a banquet, a celebration for the reinforcements and their new lease on life.
Venting the despair they accumulated, they began to indulge, looking forward to a bright future.
Meanwhile, in the Shadowcrest residence, all the Absolutes and Masters of the River and Ocean of Law were having a private party.
"Maximus~ Hahaha, there you are!" Malgron laughed, finally seeing Maximus.
Initially, he thought he would be left out of the fun.
Who knew they would be summoned here just over a hundred thousand years later?
"You're here to join the fun?" Maximus smiled, greeting his friend.
Looking around, he didn't see Iris.
"Only Absolute Powerhouses are mandatory to come here.
We, Masters of the River and Ocean of Law, can come as we wish," Malgron explained.
"I see. That's good…"
Iris was in the process of breaking through.
If she were disturbed because of the mandatory summon, Maximus would feel even more guilty.
As the private party continued, Maximus began meeting the high and mighty Absolutes one after another.
From Malgron's master, Marcus, to the Absolute of Time, Reed.
Maximus also met two enthusiastic Absolutes: the Absolute of Alchemy, Weis, and the Absolute of Mechanics, Atreus.
"Can you tell us about this rune?"
Feeling the endless potential of the Rune of Maxim, they couldn't help but ask in a hurry.
A rune inspired by a physique!
Even as Absolutes forging the paths of Alchemy and Mechanics, they had only ever heard about runes inspired by law.
If they could learn from the Rune of Maxim, the runic language of the Aeon Plane might experience a boom.
From the Rune of Authority, Rune of Virtuality, Rune of Time and Space, Rune of Alchemy, Rune of Mechanics, and so on—there were too many applications and inspirations.
If they could revolutionize the runic language technology, the Aeon Plane would undergo an evolution.
The others listening also became interested.
Although they weren't as proficient as Weis and Atreus in terms of runic knowledge, as Absolutes, they still had some vision.
Knowing the implications if they could learn the Rune of Maxim, they looked at Maximus with fiery eyes.
"Then I'll tell you about my ideas…" Maximus started.
He was not worried they would copy his path and create their runic language on the spot.
This was a delicate territory.
Unless they had done deep research into runic languages, it would take epochs to even create a readable runic language.
Meanwhile, in the corner of the room, Scarlet, the Crimson Empress, quietly looked at Maximus with stars sparkling in her eyes.
She didn't expect they would be summoned to the Dark Void Domain, giving her a chance to meet Maximus.
Looking at the man of her dreams, she felt a throbbing in her heart.
"No, Calm down, Scarlet; now is not the time." Scarlet hypnotized herself.
Soon, Maximus finished talking about the ideas behind the Rune of Maxim.
Falling into an enlightenment, various ideas began to flash into the minds of the Absolutes.
However, as they tried to deduce a runic language connected to their abilities, they were suddenly stuck.
Although the idea behind the Rune of Maxim was simple, when combined, it felt confusing.
"We'll think about this later. For now, we have more important things to do," Reed spoke through the silence.
The others quickly snapped out of it, remembering why they were here.
They weren't here to make friends with Maximus or study how to create a new runic language—they were here to clean up the Dark Beasts.
"What's your plan?" Maximus nodded in understanding, asking them what to do next.
"We plan to move the stronghold deeper into the Dark Void Domain."
Although they were confident in their strength, fighting bare deep in the Dark Void Domain was a death wish.
Without a safe haven to rest and recover, they would be drowned by Dark Beasts sooner or later.
"What about the outer area? Who would be left here?"
The Dark Void Domain is divided into three bubbles: the outer area, the middle area, and the edge.
Each bubble was a non-interfering, isolated area for each tier of Dark Beast.
Separated by a bubble, the Dark Beasts' ability to smell energy was greatly weakened.
The reason they could protect the whole outer area and prevent invasions into the Aeon Plane despite only having a single stronghold was because of this mechanism.
With the stronghold emitting intense energy frequencies, all the Dark Beasts in the outer bubble would be attracted to it, keeping the hidden entrance to the Aeon Plane safe.
However, once the stronghold left, without such a strong energy attractor, keeping the dark beasts at bay, the risk of invasion to the Aeon Plane would skyrocket.
"We will leave ten Absolutes and all the Masters of the River and Ocean of Law to defend the place."
"As for the bait, it's this…" Weis said, taking out a cube.
"Hmm? An energy reactor?"
Feeling the intense and massive energy the cube emitted, Maximus felt enlightened.
It should be the substitute for the stronghold that would attract the dark beasts.
"How is it made of? Can you tell me?" Maximus asked.
He felt the energy reactor was more advanced than the one he created for the Orbital Plane Blaster.
Being able to carry more energy despite the lack of a vast amount of ultimate materials, Maximus was eager to learn.
"Hahaha, I'll tell you…"
Meanwhile, after agreeing to move the stronghold deeper into the Dark Void Domain, Liam quickly announced the matter.
"What? We're leaving?"
"What about the competition? What about us?"
"You can stay in the stronghold and help us clear the Dark Beasts, or you can remain here and help defend the outer area," Liam explained.
Feeling conflicted, they couldn't decide for a while.
With their meager strength, staying in the stronghold and venturing deep into the Dark Void Domain would be fruitless.
With such a dense number of tier 11 Dark Beasts magnified and boosted by their numbers, their attacks would never deal any damage.
Staying to defend the outer area, on the other hand, although a bit dangerous without the protection of the stronghold, was a fruitful endeavor.
With the Absolutes clearing the way, they should be able to kill Dark Beasts as they wished and harvest a lot of materials and merits.
All in all, everything depended on how much strength they had.