Earth's Greatest Magus

Emery had barely stepped out of the training chamber when he saw Klea waiting for him.

Her expression alone was enough to tell him something was wrong.

“What happened?” “There’s an urgent message from the Cosmic Palace,” Klea replied.

Emery did not waste a second. He raised his hand and activated the hidden runes etched along his wrist, and the message unfolded before his eyes in a cascade of light.

[Emergency Sector Protocol – Sector 13]

The words alone were enough to make his gaze sharpen.

This was not an ordinary alert.

Such a protocol was only issued when an entire sector was under threat—situations involving large-scale war, catastrophic disasters, or existential dangers that could spiral out of control. The last time Emery had seen such a declaration was during the Academy Bloody Incursion, when the sudden elven assault had plunged an entire region into chaos, fifty years ago.

This meant one thing.

Something massive was unfolding.

“It’s serious,” Emery muttered.

Klea nodded. “They’ve called for an emergency gathering.”

Neither of them hesitated further. With synchronized intent, they accessed the Cosmic Palace.

The surroundings shifted instantly.

They appeared within a vast half-circular hall, its structure resembling a grand amphitheater with multiple tiers of seating rising toward the back, all facing a central podium. The lighting was dim, but the atmosphere was heavy, saturated with powerful presences. Emery did not need to look closely to know what kind of gathering this was—his divine sense alone told him everything.

Grand Magus.

Dozens of them.

More than fifty had already gathered, most standing in small groups, speaking in low, restrained tones. Each carried a presence that marked them as leaders within their respective domains.

Emery’s gaze swept across the hall, quickly identifying several familiar figures.

The Proxima faction, the ruling power of Sector 13, stood near the front. Nearby were representatives from the Alabaster faction and officials from Utopia City. Not far from them, he spotted Gerardy Dawn, the ruler of Dawnstar, standing with a composed but alert expression.

Klea, being much more active in faction politics, recognized many more figures; among them were a few from the Lower Realm Alliance they had helped form. Then another figure entered, drawing immediate attention.

A man dressed in gold and red, his presence confident and charismatic.

He noticed Emery and Klea almost instantly and made his way toward them.

“Seeing so many gathered here… the situation seems more intense than expected.”

Emery gave a slight nod in agreement.

The man was none other than Julian, representing the New Roma faction.

They were about to continue their discussion when the atmosphere shifted, signaling the beginning of the assembly.

Several figures stepped onto the stage, and almost immediately, the attention of the entire hall was drawn toward them. At the center stood the Lord of Centauri, Supreme King Dunadan, his presence alone enough to command silence. Beside him were several high-ranking officials of the Magus Alliance, among whom Emery quickly recognized Emissary Duncan.

By this time, the hall had filled even further, with nearly a hundred Grand Magus gathered within the chamber. Each one was a prominent figure within Sector 13 of the Alpha Quadrant.

Supreme King Dunadan stepped forward, his presence alone enough to quiet the chamber without effort. He offered only a brief acknowledgment of the rapid response, his words concise and controlled, before stepping aside to allow one of the Alliance ministers to address the assembly. There was no need for lengthy introductions—most of those present already knew who would speak next.

A middle-aged man stepped onto the podium.

High Minister Azier.

As one of the leading officials based in Centauri City, he was directly responsible for overseeing the affairs of Sector 13, and his authority carried weight among every faction present.

He began by acknowledging the invitees, explaining that those summoned were not chosen at random. Each individual in the hall represented either the lord of a planet, the leader of a major sect, or a key figure within a dominant faction operating in Sector 13. At that, Klea leaned slightly toward Emery and quietly pointed out the implication—no other Dawnstar faction had been invited. Their presence here was solely due to their status as the ruling authority of Earth.

Emery understood immediately.

They were not here as participants in local politics.

They were here as stakeholders in the survival of the sector.

Azier did not waste time.

He moved directly to the situation.

As Emery had expected, the threat did not originate from the elven domains.

It was the scourge.

A sudden outbreak had occurred on Baeldum, one of the major populated planets within the sector, two weeks prior. Since then, the situation had escalated rapidly. Millions of residents had already fled the planet, and projections showed that tens of millions more would soon follow. However, the true danger did not lie in the evacuation itself—it lay in what came with it.

The infected.

As Azier began presenting the data, streams of figures and projections appeared before the assembly, detailing infection rates, migration patterns, and estimated spread.

Emery had encountered the scourge before, and that experience alone was enough for him to see beyond the surface of the report. The numbers being presented were alarming, but they were not the true danger. What mattered was what those numbers meant.

The scourge was never simply an infection.

It was a process.

A transformation.

In its earliest stage, the host often remained unaware, showing little to no outward signs. But within days, the parasites would begin to take hold, slowly eroding control, weakening resistance, and embedding themselves deeper into the body and mind. And then came the next phase.

Spread.

With an outbreak of this scale and that much time already passed, it was no longer a localized incident. Which meant they were not just refugees.They were carriers. The scourge was spreading itself.

Through them.

Emery did not need to voice his thoughts. He could feel the shift around him.

Anxiety.

Fear.

By now, the nature of the scourge was well known. For two decades, the Magus Alliance had fought it relentlessly at the frontlines, containing its spread and studying its behavior. Everyone in the hall understood the danger.

What they had not expected—

Was for it to reach this close.