"... Eat slowly Little Tolly, slowly now..."

Leonel wiped off sweat that threatened to sting his eyes once more.

He never forgot that one of the hazards he learned about Metal Spirits was their propensity to overeat. If he let it happen, Tolliver could go mad and harm him.

This was the main reason Tolliver had yet to evolve into the Fourth Dimension along with Blackstar. Leonel was very careful about how much he fed him and what he fed him.

Leonel preferred to give the little fella high quality Ores that would fill him very quickly. This was much better than feeding Tolliver a lot of low-quality Ores.

The more high-quality Ores Tolliver ate, the more powerful the little guy would become in relation to its evolution stage. So, Leonel took this very seriously.

"Oh..."

Tolliver suddenly shot out of Leonel's gloved hands. The little guy's body concentrated into a single point before explosively growing.

Leonel realized that this was a sign that Little Tolly was finally crossing into the Fourth Dimensional realms.

Leonel's mind had already entered such a realm, so he was very confident that he would still be able to control and command Tolliver appropriately.

Tolliver came back to Leonel looking just that much more lustrous.

"Ready to work little guy?"

"Bloop, bloop."

Leonel smiled lightly before his expression suddenly changed.

He quickly commanded Little Tolliver to float in the air as he scanned his black gloves. After just a moment, he smiled bitterly, watching it corrode as though having been dipped in strong acid.

Leonel sighed, peeling the gloves off of his hands before it got worse.

He didn't have replacement gloves. And, though he felt he might be able to make them, how would he? He needed gloves to Craft with Little Tolliver but couldn't make the gloves he needed to Craft with Tolliver... without Little Tolliver.

Leonel grit his teeth.

'I have been avoiding this training for a long time... No time better than the present.'

He outstretched a hand and allowed Little Tolly to land in his bare palm.

**

Leonel hadn't been wrong. Earth was in shambles, facing battles on all fronts. All eight Forts and even the Capital was under siege. The only difference was that the Capital was under siege by two cities with the Moon, Camelot, and the eight Forts only being under siege by one each.

However, surprisingly, at this moment, the Emperor of Earth sat in his garden, the delicate chirping of birds around him. He continued to meditate, raising a cup of tea to his mouth without opening his eyes.

He listened intently to a report, not showing any particular reaction.

"... That's should be all, Imperial Grandfather. This is the current situation of the Camelot satellite."

"Mm." Emperor Fawkes nodded his head. "You may go."

Noah hesitated. Was that all his grandfather wanted to tell him? Where were the orders? Should he continue to try and assimilate Camelot and the Demon Empire? Or should he focus on wiping out White City?

"... Grandfather..."

"Hm? Is there something else?"

"I..."

Emperor Fawkes let out a deep sigh, his eyes opening to reveal two piercing emerald gems. It felt as though he had the whole world within his purview.

"Noah, you've grown too reliant on me."

"..."

Noah didn't know what to say. He stared at the talisman in his hand at a complete loss.

"Did you know that your cousin is on that satellite right now?"

Noah's expression changed.

"The very same White Knights you came to report to me about, he's already killed one. He didn't have an army, he didn't have support, he only had himself."

Noah's heart seized. How was that possible? That...

"Do not contact me again until White City is nothing but flat earth."