Void Evolution System

Apparently, not in Iridia's eyes.

"What? You're moving like you know where we need to go. On top of that, did you think you could say something that bold and not gain my interest? I want to see what you're capable of, August Void."

"Didn't you see enough during the heir wars?" August responded in exasperation.

"I clearly did not. In fact, the only thing I saw was the performance of your subordinates. You never actually fought in front of me, did you?" Iridia responded with a sound reasoning that he couldn't argue with.

August sighed as he said, "I didn't know you were a person like this."

And, as if it had been preloaded, Iridia clapped back in an instant.

"I'm a Holy Clan genius, not a homunculus. Even I have a personality."

"And you're showing it to me because…" August said, raising a brow.

"...I want to. Simple as that."

Iridia's eyes carried a certain kind of determination that August couldn't guess the origin of. For some reason, she was resolved to follow him and see how he took on this challenge.

August sighed.

"Is there any way to drive you away without fighting?"

"No."

"Not even if I act horrendously?"

"Have you met my clanmates?"

"Touche."

It really was a point that he couldn't argue against. Someone who grew up around a clan full of Raphaels wouldn't fold under any pressure that he could dish out.

"Haa…"

It seemed like he couldn't get rid of her after all.

'Well, it's not totally a bad thing.'

Iridia was one of the good ones. She and the Ether Clan geniuses were the only Holy Clan geniuses that August actually got a chance to form a connection with, so if it had to be someone, then at least it was her.

August made sure to notify his teammates that he was bringing a guest back, and to his surprise, they returned the exact same to him.

While Valerie and Melania were moving towards the rendezvous point, they happened to run into two more familiar geniuses.

It was rare to actually catch them in the wild, since they often moved within the folds of space. Seryius and Cera Ether just happened to exit the spatial layers in front of the two girls, leading to their meeting.

Was it coincidence or was it something the two geniuses planned? Though Melania and Valerie had no way of knowing, they showed the two geniuses courtesy.

They were comrades, after all. They were divided by many external factors, but that didn't change the fact that they were people who liked working together.

August's teammates had decided among themselves that it was better to add more people to their group for now to expand the range of their search. They would definitely turn against each other at some point, but that would only happen once the crown had been found.

Glancing at Iridia as he received this information, August conceded to it as well.

It was indeed better to have more eyes for now. With the three people who they'd met being the three people he would feel least perturbed with including on this expedition, he lost a reason to disagree.

Still, precautions had to be taken.

August didn't say anything over communications, but that changed when the two groups met up.

After greeting Seryius and Cera and introducing Iridia back into their group, August made a statement.

"I know we all have at least some trust between us, but it isn't enough at a time like this. For the sake of safety, let's sign a pact. Nobody here will be able to hurt another person from the group, and everyone will have to cooperate and help each other until we've reached the crown. Once it's in sight, may the best man win."

Those were the two things he wanted to secure through a pact with the heavens. First, the safety of his people, and second, the distribution of information.

If he was going to share the existence of the underwater cavern, then he couldn't let anyone find something and refuse to tell the rest about it.

It was a bit hard on trust to suggest something like this. Wasn't it the exact same as saying that he didn't trust them at all?

Obviously, the people in his group knew that the pact wasn't meant for them. They were being included for their own protection.

The ones targeted by this suggestion were none other than the three geniuses who wanted to join them.

Knowing August's status and relationship with their clans, the three of them understood why he felt the need to propose it. They didn't feel good about it, but they begrudgingly made their pacts.

In the end, this would benefit all of them.

There wasn't much conversation within the group. Once the information about the cavern was spread, the geniuses split up again. They were on the cliffs bordering the ocean now. Though these cliffs were dense and without openings, the mountains nearby were different.

There were now twelve of them in the open and another helping them search from the shadows.

For August personally, searching an entire mountain took roughly an hour. He could scan entire mountains with his awareness to locate any caves in their structure, but he had to investigate each cave individually to see if it led to a system and if that system was expansive enough to continue deep into the ocean.

At that point, he could only mark each possible cave system to return to later for a more intensive search. There was too much land to be covered to do otherwise.

Luckily, the mountain range was quite isolated. Most of its cave systems connected to each other and led away from the ocean. After six hours of surveying, he came back with only two good choices.

The rest were the same. Most of them found nothing, while only a few found one or two like August had.

In total, they had thirteen possible choices.

With twelve people, it lined up relatively perfectly.

Time flowed by as they entrenched themselves in the search. The twelve of them contacted each other on occasion only to say that they hadn't made progress. August's caves led close to the ocean, but connected and eventually returned to the mountain range's main cave system.

It was a tiring process, but this systematic approach guaranteed them success.

The main problem was whether it would come soon enough.

The competition had already started, hadn't it? If Seryius, Cera, and Iridia were already here, the rest were definitely in the mountain range as well.

For now, their group had an advantage presented by August's ability to search underwater, but it wouldn't last long.

Only after an entire day passed did they see results.

In a cave system found by Lucas, there was a small, tight area that none of them could fit through. It was no more than a crack just three or four feet wide, but when one sent one's awareness through it, one would be revealed to a gargantuan ravine submerged entirely in water. It had a roof where the sea was separated from what lay below, but there was a hidden connection point somewhere that kept the place filled with water.

August went there as soon as he heard the news to confirm if it was related to what he sensed from the ocean.

Since it was their only lead, it was highly likely to be the right location, but he had to be certain.

All it took was a single look to gain that assurance.

The second their group gathered again in the tight tunnel, they started their maneuvers to open a path to that hidden place.

They were indeed the first to reach it, but others weren't as far behind as they thought.

After all, though the ocean was not his domain, Wilhelm Noct was still descended from Azure Dragons.

Those under his control, and those watching from the sidelines to follow him when he found the right path, would all move into that same underwater ravine soon.

That was when the heir wars would truly continue from where they left off.

And, more importantly…

…it was about time for August to confront the Liqua Clan for the first time.