The Five Elders did not linger.
They left the Flower Room and followed a long corridor deeper into Mary Geoise.
Heavy metal doors opened one after another. Everyone guarding them bowed their heads. Not one dared look up.
At last, the final door slowly rose.
Rumble—
A muffled mechanical roar came from below.
Beyond the door lay no corridor, but a vast underground space whose end was nowhere in sight.
Thick energy conduits ran along the walls. Some hung from the ceiling; others disappeared straight into the ground.
Farther away, layer upon layer of enormous rings hung in midair.
The largest was over a hundred meters across. Smaller rings nested inside one another, every structure arranged around the very center.
A ball of light hung there, no bigger than a fist, yet so bright no one could look directly at it.
[Mother Flame]
Inside the control area.
Dozens of researchers were already at their stations.
When the Five Elders entered, everyone stood at attention.
Someone else sat nearby.
York.
She had a lollipop in her mouth and leaned back in her chair, her legs swinging gently.
When she saw Saint Saturn, she merely raised a hand.
"Finally ready to use it for real?"
Saint Saturn ignored her and walked straight to the main console.
"Enter the coordinates."
A researcher sat down at once.
"The target?"
"The Kingdom of Lulusia."
The researcher's fingers paused for an instant, then resumed typing.
The display changed. A sea chart zoomed in and stopped.
[Target: Kingdom of Lulusia]
York stopped chewing her candy when she saw the name, then leaned back again.
"Going this big on the first real activation, huh?"
No one answered her.
Saint Saturn raised his hand.
"Activate it."
Hummm—
The entire underground chamber lit up as the outermost ring began to