CHAPTER 266: THE THREEFOLD GATE

Caius stood at the apex of the golden-and-obsidian pyramid, his dark cloak snapping against the dry, iron-scented winds of Æthrynn. Beside him stood Old Bones, his sovereign steward and shadow administrator. Though six centuries of blood, political maneuvering, and lethal precision sat behind the dark elf’s sleek, middle-aged visage, his obsidian skin remained taut over sharp cheekbones. His dark eyes constantly scanned the terraced plazas below, his fingers resting casually near the concealed daggers within his robes.

Below them, the stone ziggurats of the Red Realm bled into the crimson dusk. The darksteel phalanx legionnaires were already methodically fortifying the lower tiers under Old Bones's logistical directives, their heavy shields forming an unbroken iron wall against the horizon.

Raising his hand, Caius summoned his star map from his Dimension Bead. Celestial threads flared to life above the pyramid, mapping the blood-stained path behind them: the Realm of False Deities, the scaled wastes of the Croc Realm, the brutal pastures of the Bull Realm, the arena cities of the Slave Realm, the soaring sky-citadels of the Bird-Head Realm, and finally this sixth world, Æthrynn, the Red Realm.

The celestial map shifted, glowing brightly as it highlighted three distinct spatial conduits branching directly out from Æthrynn.

"This world is a spatial crossroads," Caius murmured, eyeing the three distinct gateways anchored across the realm.

His golden-and-obsidian gaze moved to the Third Gate, the glowing spatial line extending backward toward Commander Altan’s Gale Realm. Then he looked toward the Second Gate, situated deep within Æthrynn's volcanic ridge, sealed behind massive, ancient runic locks that hummed with cold, unknown energy.

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Finally, his eyes settled on the First Gate, the primary war path leading toward the Nerathil vanguard and the Mordrakh beyond.

Fueling the projection with Fate Sight, Caius activated the Eye of the Loom. Golden and obsidian threads surged from his core, weaving along the First Gate's path into the deep void. Three distinct realm nodes materialized along the thread, and then the vision frayed and vanished into absolute darkness.

Caius gritted his teeth as a sharp pulse of strain throbbed behind his temples. His current power had reached its limit; the spatial distance was too vast, the cosmic fog too dense to pierce any further.

"Three realms visible past the first gate," Caius spat, closing his eyes as the thread snapped. "And beyond those three? Could be two more. Could be five. I can't see the Mordrakh's home world yet." He slammed his fist against the stone balustrade, his voice laced with bitter frustration. "Argh, too many gates! Do I really have to conquer every single realm in this sector just to find my mother?"

Old Bones let out a low, calm sigh, stepping beside his young sovereign. "If you march blindly forward without securing this crossroads, you will overextend, my Sovereign. A single break in our supply lines, or a surprise breach from that locked second gate, and our army will be isolated in the deep void. We cannot sustain a war across six worlds on empty air."

Caius forced his breathing to slow, the golden-and-obsidian light in his eyes settling into a dangerous, icy calm. "You're right, Steward. Overextending is suicide."

"Which makes Æthrynn our most vital anchor," Old Bones said smoothly, pulling a ledger of spatial coordinates and resource allocations from his sleeve. "Sitting at the junction between the Gale Realm, the locked gate, and the forward path, this world must become our Forward Sovereign Fortress, our staging realm away from home."

"Then we make it unassailable," Caius declared.

His gaze drifted from the floating map down toward the sprawling native city surrounding the base of the pyramid, where the rhythmic chanting of thousands of local worshippers echoed continuously up the stone terraces.

Caius rubbed his temples, a wry smile touching his lips as he looked down at the sea of fanatics.

"Starting with where we set down our roots, Steward, because we aren't staying in this city."