"To conquer a realm is to master its rules. To conquer layered realms is to rewrite them."
---
Across the Void Mantle—beyond the reach of System-encoded space-time—an ancient cluster of sigils began to burn.
The Proxy Codex, sealed since the first Sovereign War, activated.
> "Judgment achieved. Construct conflict resolved. Initiate retaliation cycle." "Deploy Layered Proxies to Conquest Frontline: Subject—Leonis."
Seven streams of anti-light pierced the dimensional crust, each bound in a cloak of origin-folded matter. These were the Layered Proxies—concept-assassins pulled from the deepest strata of alternate histories.
They didn't exist in this timeline until now.
They did now.
---
[System Warning: Dimensional Incursion Detected]
[Type: Layered Conquest Assault]
[Target: Sovereign Dominion – Leonis]
Inside his floating war-capital Sanctum Arx, Leonis opened his eyes as the warning bloomed across the Sovereign UI.
> "Layered attack? They're not just testing me. They're testing the entire framework."
He didn't hesitate.
> [Sovereign Protocol: Strategic Self-Split – Activated]
The Pantheon Engine pulsed once, and Leonis fractured—not in soul, but in strategic presence.
Seven projections of himself were forged, each tuned to a different Layer of Conquest:
1. Time-Lag Layer – Where all events occur 12 seconds after intent.
2. Gravity Spiral Layer – Where motion costs resource fuel.
3. Void Inversion Layer – Belief feeds the enemy.
4. Chrono-Frozen Layer – Events cannot change without outside cause.
5. Resource-Swap Layer – Each troop summoned costs mana from another battlefront.
6. Emotion-Locked Layer – Only calm minds can strategize.
7. Truth-Resistant Layer – Reality reverts if logic is applied.
> "One mistake in any of them... and they collapse my dominion."
---
The Proxies Descend
Each Proxy wore a different Reality Mantle:
Proxy Azhen-0: Assassin of Inevitability (Time-Lag Layer)
Proxy Keirûn: Knight of Reverse Gravity (Gravity Spiral Layer)
Proxy Nythisa: Belief Wraith (Void Inversion Layer)
Proxy Carth V: Cold General (Chrono-Frozen Layer)
Proxy Mimiclan: Echoer of Resources (Resource-Swap Layer)
Proxy Veil Ethalyn: Mirror Saint (Emotion-Locked Layer)
Proxy Valed KZ: Logician's Curse (Truth-Resistant Layer)
Each one began rewriting their assigned layer's sub-laws. Their goal: tear down the Dominion System's structural roots.
---
Leonis' Layered Command
He did not face them with brute force. He adapted.
In the Time-Lag Layer, he pre-scripted counter-movements 12 seconds ahead. In the Void Inversion Layer, he fed false beliefs, tricking Proxy Nythisa into empowering his own shadow clones. In the Chrono-Frozen Layer, he dropped a System-Certified External Event Beacon, catalyzing movement.
His commands came like an orchestra—fingers typing across twelve holo-terminals, each connected to Simultaneous Consciousness Subroutines.
And yet...
The Truth-Resistant Layer twisted. Proxy Valed KZ smiled.
> "You cannot win here. Victory is a concept, and we deny it."
Leonis faltered. Reality stuttered.
The Pantheon Engine began spinning backward.
> "This is a trap layer."
---
Summoning Emergency: Hero Required
> [System Option: Emergency Hero Summon – Available] [Sovereign Tier Cost: 30 Billion Merit] [Summon: Aetherius Warden Kairo – Dimensional Blade-Mancer]
Leonis didn't hesitate. He poured all saved Merit from 8 realms into the cast.
A portal broke through the fractured truth.
From it walked a man clad in rotating steel-mass robes, his blade a fractal of unsheathed realities.
> "Kairo, Warden of the Dimensional Edge." "You called me into a paradox?"
Leonis smirked.
> "We don't need logic. Just cut it."
Kairo struck once. His sword unraveled belief-resistant truth layers, rewriting them as conquerable illusions.
The System roared.
> [Error Repaired: Logic Reasserted]
---
The Dominion Ring Core Awakens
With all layers stabilized, Leonis returned to his unified self. He touched the Pantheon Engine.
> "They're rewriting conquest. I'll do the same."
He activated the Dominion Ring Core, a subsystem of conquest usually locked behind Tier 8 Sovereign Trials.
> [Override Granted: Ascension By Necessity]
The core spun and injected Layer Control Matrices into every frontline. From now on, Leonis could rewrite:
Terrain Laws
Summoning Conditions
Belief Anchors
Victory Definitions
The Layered War was no longer reactive. He now dictated the terms of war.
---
Cliffhanger: Codex Mutation Detected
In the Proxy Codex's inner halls, a strange error bloomed.
A 13th Proxy... was born. But not from logic.
From Leonis' own belief.
> "What is... Proxy Zero?"