Ascenders Rift

Chapter 98: The World Briefing, The Looming Danger

The scene within the conference room was a solemn one indeed, as every individual of the major powers looked at Elumar in silence with various thoughts in their heads. Elumar knew that quite a few of them must have suspected him as the culprit for his father's untimely end, but he didn't care, he merely smiled and spoke to get the meeting in order, "Shall we proceed?"

The beauty from the Cold Moon Empire gave Elumar a deep look when one of her attendants whispered in her ears, "Since Prince Elumar has spoken, then I believe the meeting is in order. Does anyone have any objections?"

The leaders of the other powers looked around silently before they nodded their heads and spoke, "No, let us commence."

Following their words, a section on their parts of tables lit up as a holographic projection appeared before them, it was a view of the observable universe, showing objects and planets from many light-years in their surrounding galaxies.

The projection then zoomed into the many different galaxies finally zoning onto the Andromeda galaxy, Milky Way Galaxy, moving towards the extremely distant cracked cluster of even more stars that formed separate star systems.

This sector was defined as the Nilihoid Space, a dead galaxy which was too far to tell anything too clearly, the nearest galaxy to the zone termed as the Alpine Star System; a sector comprised mostly of dead planets and stars.

As everyone looked at the information shown, a woman dressed in formal wear stood up and began to speak, "Greetings, my name is Professor Jeans and I am the head researcher for the Crisis Project. Now then, before you are the core regions that we've noticed were affected by what we've now termed as the Planet Devouring Star. After using the best of our technological satellites and scopes, we have managed to calculate that this strange object had originated from beyond the Nilihoid Space. It then entered the domain of the Alpine Star System, where we have received confirmation footages of its devouring planets much like that of the previous Mavious 0B1. This star had then traversed an irregular path through space entering into even Andromeda where it removed ten different stars before it headed towards our Milky Way Galaxy."

As Professor Jeans spoke, the projection continued to show footage of the strange white light moving about; it even showed the planets that were devoured one by one. Now, the projection had zoomed in on the Milky Way Galaxy, showing the light was now passing by the most popular red planet at alarming speeds.

Professor Jeans seeing this didn't stop but continue to speak, "We had thought it to be acting at random, but slowly we began to notice a strange property of this star. We found that after it entered our galaxy none of the planets be it, Saturn or Jupiter was devoured by it., as you can see right now, even as it is making it's way nearby Mars there isn't even a sign of it trying to consume the world. Tallying this all together, we've finally concluded that this strange star is consciously choosing what to consume."

After hearing the woman's words, one individual slammed the table and spoke out, "This is nonsense! Are you trying to imply at a mere cosmic object that has sentience?"

The person who spoke was the royal man from the Russian Empire, his face livid as if he heard the most outrageous thing.

"Sir Alexandrov, I would like to assure you that the things we are showing and have concluded were done by the very best in the field. We are highly certain of our claims and have more than enough data to prove this fact," Professor Jeans replied calmly.

"Hmph! Alexandrov, you've got to learn to calm yourself, if you can't keep a certain level of baring, then how can you be fit to reign as a royal in that empire of yours?" The callous-looking woman said from the Asian Empire.

"As if I need for a hag to tell me of the ways of rulership, Chi Lei, you'd go back to your domain and leave matters of state to the hands of men," Alexandrov said as he stared at her.

Chi Lei's eyes grew cold, the martial artist, ninja, and man with the samurai blade also stared at Alexandrov with dark looks in their eyes. However, those around Alexandrov himself also showed dangerous intent.

The scene seemed as if it would turn into a war anytime soon, but suddenly, Elumar's voice sounded from the other side of the table, "People, we are on live, and in the face of the public, please do best to keep your interpersonal conflicts away from the table. Empress Chi, Sir Alexandrov, I ask you both to please control your men."

The two hearing this snorted as their company calmed down, causing the atmosphere of the room to return to normal. Behind Elumar, the red-haired man looked at this scene in silence, as one of the cloaked individuals by his side chuckled softly.

Elumar then looked at Empress Chi and Alexandrov before shaking his head and speaking, "That's better, you guys could do a bit better to learn from Sir Oji and Sir Barakat. Always calm and conscious of his surroundings and circumstances..."

When Elumar said this, his eyes shifted to the black man dressed in royal wears, who looked at him in silence before speaking in an accent, "I tank di prince elumaaa for di praise, yur baring is no infiryaaa to yur late king."

"...." Barakat only looked at him in silence by giving a slight nod.

The beauty from the Cold Moon Empire and the icy woman from the Southern Arctic Society remained silent as they watched the scene.

Professor Jeans seeing that order was restored continued to speak, "Now back to my statement, based on further analysis, we've concluded why this strange star will more than likely be a threat to our kind. From cross-checking all the data on the planets consumed, we've found that each were planets capable of sustaining life. In other words, this star isn't simply going around devouring random planets but worlds that are implied actually to hold life."

This time, not just Empress Chi and Alexandrov, but Sir Oji and many other leaders of their powers, exclaimed in surprise, "What?"

Even those who represented some private armies, including the MSS, such as Hank, Thomas, and the Sector Chief Sigor looked at this in surprise, Sigor muttered to himself, 'This is far more serious than I'd thought'

The only person who seemed calm and indifferent was Elumar who made a strange smile, and the young beauty from the Cold Moon Empire that eyed him in silence. Barakat had also remained calm, along with the icy woman from the Southern Arctic Society.

"How could this be? Are you certain about this?" Alexandrov asked with a look of worry in his eyes, while Empress Chi and the others from various associations looked on with anxious expressions.

Professor Jeans sighed as she replied, "I'm afraid it's so, it's highly likely that once this star arrives, we will suffer from the same fate."

The meeting grounds became silent for a while, as everyone became flustered. Even those who watched the broadcast were beginning to feel a tinge of fear in their hearts and were only one step away from losing their minds.

Evan and the others watched on in silence, though Layla and the others were already warned by Evan of the true unfolding they still couldn't help but feel a sense of unease.

At this time, Empress Chi gripped her fists tightly before she spoke, "Then isn't this much like the foolish nonsense said by those outsiders... how do we get out of this, what do we do to solve this issue?"

As Empress Chi said this, everyone became quiet; they all know what she was referring to as each of their nations had received similar visits from strange people a few months back.

At this moment of silence, Elumar, who had been observing them quietly, finally spoke with a smile, "The answer is simple..."

When everyone heard this, they turned their eyes towards him, awaiting him to continue his statement. Elumar didn't waste time, he merely raised his hand and spoke after snapping his finger, "We ask those who know more of this than ourselves."

A few of the leaders knitted their brows, but not long after, the group of people that sat by the side of the red-haired man had stepped forward, lowering the hood on their robes. They then began to walk towards Elumar, the icy woman from the Southern Arctic Society, the lady from the Cold Moon Empire, and the man from the Arabian Empire.

Upon seeing the new party, their faces sunk as they looked at Elumar and the others with cold gazes, before they spoke separately.

"Are you all out of your mind? You would dare to side with outsiders, how you can be so sure that they can help us?" Alexandrov said with a solemn look on his face.

"Although I'm not one to support this fool, his words are correct, what benefits could you have possibly received to make such a foolish choice?" Empress Chi added.

"Tsk-tsk! It realy is disappointing, I'd have taught yuu were all betta than dat... yuu have truly brought us all to shame," Oji said with a look of regret as he stared at Elumar.

Elumar, hearing their words smirked and replied, "You're all wrong, these people came to us solely to help us survive this hurdle. They are what you might call protectors or, rather, administrators. Please, allow me to introduce them to you all properly. They are known as the Rift Administration Department Agency, though the one's before you are all humans, their core members aren't as they all hail from another world and have come with the sole intention of aiding our race to survival. Please do warmly welcome their representatives..."

As Elumar said this, he turned to the side, the leaders who were complaining before did the same, and upon doing this, they saw a few individuals walking towards them. The mood in the room taking on a new turn, far beyond what could be predicted.