Chapter 554: Summit Party Phase
The days following that pivotal conversation among the three singularity protagonists—where Evan’s true origins and the identity of his future enemy were revealed—passed with surprising normalcy.
Evan refrained from acting on any drastic impulses to eliminate future threats and the revelations from that fateful conversation didn’t appear to weigh heavily on him as he showed no signs of deviating from his usual demeanour.
He didn’t act any different and went on exploring the Imperium Astra with Arthur, making it his goal to play every single type of game he encountered.
It was as if the weight of the knowledge he now carried had been shelved for the time being, allowing him to focus on the here and now.
The Annual Gozonian Interstellar Summit continued as planned, so Jamie, along with the other Demon Rulers were very busy. The demands of the summit left little time for idle conversations, and the Demon Rulers who wanted to talk with Arthur were too held up to do so.
But this didn’t bother Arthur—his interest lay only with a select few: Malorum, the Demon King of Destruction; McEnda II, the Demon King of Corrosion; and the Demon King and Queen of Time and Gravitas.
The summit took another 7 days before the Battlefront worlds were finally done with their reports to the Demon Rulers.
On the final day, the Star Map of Gozon’s Interstellar Empire was officially updated, marking the addition of over a dozen new High-Level Worlds.
A three-day intermission followed, giving everyone a brief respite before the Second Phase of the Summit began.
During this intermission, preparations were made for a series of grand celebrations—sixteen parties scheduled to honour those who had earned new merits and distinctions, as well as the official conferment ceremonies of these honours.
Two parties were scheduled each day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, for a full seven days. The eighth day would see a grand, all-day celebration to mark the end of the Summit.
The Rulers of other Races were invited to these parties and Arthur put his exploration on hold in favour of acquainting himself with them.
As the intermission began, Arthur decided to pause his exploration of the Imperium Astra to focus on the upcoming festivities.
The celebrations would draw not only the Demon Kings but also many Rulers of other races—Dark Elf, Dwarf, Dragon, Human, Beastkin, Devil, Giant—all of whom had Rulers who were major allies of Gozon and its 72 Demon Kings.
Invitations were extended to the Kings and Queens of these races who were on good terms with Gozon and while he was going through the guest list, Arthur discovered that Gozon wasn’t the only realm with a ’Supreme’ Ruler system.
Across the vast Universe, it was a widely accepted tradition that the undisputed ’Strongest’ Race Rulers of each race identified with the title of ’Supreme’.
Since Jamie and McEnda II held that distinction for the Demons, they were addressed as the ’Supreme Demon Kings’.
Some Supreme Rulers attended the Summit’s parties, while some others sent subordinate High-Tier Deities as representatives.
Though Arthur expected the presences of the Emperors as well, on the 26th of June when the parties began, there was no sight of Demon Emperor McEnda I or his wife, Empress Nephinae.
As the party phase of the Summit began, Arthur wasted no time making his presence felt.
Introduced by the Demon Rulers as not only Lucifer’s great-grandchild but also the grandson of the famed ’Titan King’ Kronos, Arthur commanded immediate attention, and he took advantage of this to present himself before this Universe’s powerhouses.
He mingled with the various Rulers and dignitaries from the myriad races and worlds present, effortlessly integrating himself into the complex web of Interstellar politics.
Being the ’Progenitor godslayer’ added another layer of mystery to him and this drew both curious and respectful glances from the assembled elite.
He doubted that the god Kings of the Aramis faction would still be clueless about his identity after this.
As he already had a ton of experience back in Hell’s Devildom, Arthur was able to navigate the social currents of the parties he attended with practised ease.
He was only present for evening parties since attending each one all sixteen was going to leave him drained—mentally. It was also these evening parties that Rulers he was familiar with like Jamie and McEnda II attended so he preferred them over the morning ones.
From the third day, Arthur began subtly hinting at his planned appearances on some of Gozon’s Battlefront worlds, speaking with a quiet confidence that left many curious to witness him in action, to see if he truly lived up to the formidable legacy he inherited.
He did this since there were no small number of Race Kings who believed he was merely riding on the coattails of his ancestors’ glory.
Arthur used every card at his disposal to make them know he wasn’t just anybody, from openly displaying his three Pseudo-Authorities to using his Faux True Voice in conversations with Race Kings and perpetually radiating an invisible destructive aura using the cosmic energy which only Jamie could perceive.
This made some of the powerhouses who didn’t initially bother with him to now take an interest.
As the days passed, the Summit parties unfolded in grand style.
The Interstellar Empire of Gozon flaunted its prestige, showcasing the new High-Level Worlds added to its domain and granting honours to those who had achieved great feats.
The grand events served as both a celebration and a subtle reminder to the Universe: Gozon was still standing strong, its power unshaken, its influence far-reaching.
As Arthur’s ’Official Aide’, Evan was present at some of the parties, and his title of ’Masked Rogue Hero’ quickly began spreading. Many theorized he was a Hero from a world Gozon conquered, while some said his home planet had been destroyed by them.
Unsurprisingly, Jamie who showed himself to be familiar with Evan was made out to be the culprit for destroying Evan’s ’Home World’.
In one of these gatherings, Evan nearly crossed paths with someone from his future—Vincent Bourne, the Supreme Human King.
The sight of Vincent sent a jolt of recognition through Evan, and he quickly tried to slip into the background to avoid an encounter.
Vincent Bourne just so happened to be a Deity proficient in Time and Gravity manipulation, though not to the level of the Demon Rulers with those titles.
Still, the man was very capable of discerning the distorted time around Evan, and with a single glance, he figured that Evan must be someone from a different time period.
As if that wasn’t enough, on that same day, members of Aidos’ Council of Kings showed up, and amongst them was ’Spirit King’ Sinclair—another figure Evan wished to avoid.
But fate, it seemed, had other plans.
Despite slipping in through the crowds of people, Vincent still had his gaze trained on Evan’s position as the boy simply couldn’t conceal his distorted time. What’s more, his powerful concealment which he used on the day he arrived on Aramis was useless against a Race King.
He started searching for Jamie in a bid to have the man take him away from the venue and the planet as a whole, but that was just when Jamie decided it was best he went to one of the moons to meet with some Dwarf Race Kings to discuss the mining of resources on some new worlds.
Just when it seemed Vincent would finally catch him, he ran into Arthur who quickly understood Evan’s plight and helped out.
With a quick movement, he shifted the attention onto himself, intercepting Vincent with a confident stride. Arthur greeted him with the poise of someone used to dealing with such figures, before quickly engaging him in a conversation, picking the ’Nexus Event’ he had foreseen as the topic.
Vincent would have quickly ended the talk with Arthur, but the topic of a ’Nexus Event’ caught the man’s attention, and though Evan was also intrigued, he didn’t stay around too long and slipped out of the Interstellar Citadel before Vincent could turn his attention back to him.
As the final days of the party phase progressed, the energy of the Summit grew even more vibrant.
The Interstellar Empire created new alliances and showcased its newly acquired worlds, each event carefully crafted to reinforce Gozon’s position in the universe.
On the final day of the Summit, something astonishing happened—a figure everyone had low expectations of seeing made an unexpected appearance.
The Demon Empress, Nephinae; one of the Five Race Emperors of the Universe, arrived in person.
Her presence sent a ripple of shock and awe through the crowd. All eyes turned toward her, and then, almost instinctively, toward her son, McEnda II.
But all she did was acknowledge McEnda II with a nod before heading straight for her grandchild, McEnda III, and his fiancée, Sigesi, with smiles all over her face.
As the Empress approached, the atmosphere shifted, centring on the young couple who now held the spotlight on this final day.
Her affection for her grandson was evident in the way she greeted them, engaging in a warm conversation that had the crowd watching with rapt attention.
Nephinae’s presence was overwhelming, but upon seeing her, Arthur had a thought he didn’t dare vocalize.
’Why do I feel like Grandpa is stronger?’
He didn’t want to cause any problems so he kept that to himself. Besides, he wasn’t the best one to judge the strengths of Monarch Realm existences due to the massive power gap between him and them.
He was just going off instinct.
After inviting McEnda III and Sigesi to visit her later, Nephinae turned her attention to a few of the Race Rulers she knew, exchanging brief but meaningful words before moving on.
Eventually, her gaze fell upon Arthur, and a flicker of curiosity crossed her expression.
