Operation Chronology wasn't some rushed idea born out of desperation. Veneri constructed it with precision the moment he chose to fracture himself into the five Pentarchs. The two that mattered most to this operation were the Water Pentarch and the Time Pentarch.
The Time Pentarch gathered knowledge with Qalis about the Overlord Ravagers, their structure, their intent and their methods. At the same time, the Water Pentarch was moving across Spheraphase with a completely different objective. He was tracking the Obsidian Runic Spire, sending Insignia out to follow traces that didn't even make sense to most people, because that level of artifact didn't leave obvious footprints.
And how did the ORS end up in the Hidden Citadel?
The entire situation began after Erna Moon was destroyed by his mother. The Obsidian Runic Spire fell into Spheraphase together with the moon fragments. When the Second Epoch Cycle began, Insignia was pulled along with it, bringing the Spire into the Graveyard of Bones. The Overlord Ravagers were the real variable in all of this.
They were an active destabilizing force targeting the Reniatsus first and Veneri understood that better than anyone else because of what his Time Pentarch had already learned. That's why the original plan was different because before all of this accelerated. Phase One was supposed to be Evacuation, pulling civilians and securing the teleported population before anything escalated into chaos.
That plan died the moment the Ravagers attacked the realms.
The Reniatsus abandoning realms wasn't supposed to happen this early or at all, but once it did, the conditions for Realm Colonization opened up immediately. Veneri didn't waste time pretending he could stick to the original structure. Plans that don't adapt fail so he adjusted Phase One on the spot, shifting from Evacuation to immediate acquisition.
Sirithiele's sacrifice gave him ownership of the Gardens of Asphodelia. He would still choose a ruler but the realm was targeted by the Overlord Ravagers so he decided to take it too.
Operation Chronology itself wasn't a single action. It was a sequence. The later phases weren't things he casually explain to allies, because they weren't designed with consensus in mind. Veneri already knew that if the others heard the full extent of it, they would try to stop him, and he wasn't interested in that conversation. So he didn't say it. He carried the plan alone, executed what needed to be executed and left the rest for when it actually mattered.
The Obsidian Runic Spire itself was the backbone of everything and treating it like just a structure was the fastest way to misunderstand what it actually was because in function, it was closer to a vessel than a building,.
When Veneri became a Divine, the restrictions on it were almost done for him to start using it actively rather than just accessing it and even then, he hadn't explored everything it could do yet, which meant Operation Chronology was being executed with a tool that still had unknown potential. That alone made the entire plan more volatile than it already was, but again, volatility didn't bother him if the outcome was controlled.
The transition to the next step happened instantly.
The Spire vanished from its previous position and reappeared in the Gardens of Asphodelia without any visible traversal. Its massive form materializing above Asphodelia City. The inhabitants looked up almost immediately. Below, Eldrigan, Peroncerea, Qalis and Phaenora stood together. Standing among them was the Time Pentarch.
He didn't look different at a glance but his presence was heavier and refined. The reason behind it wasn't simple growth. Destiny and Time Primordial Sunshine and Thyrexxa forced the Time Pentarch into a two-hundred-year temporal isolation, forcing him to comprehend Time Divinity at a depth that would allow him to reach something beyond standard limits.
The result was clear. He was a Seventh Enlightenment Divine standing there, complete. He was still unreachable in terms of integration because Veneri himself hadn't reached that threshold yet. He couldn't merge with it, couldn't access its memories or even fully reclaim what that version of himself had become until he caught up.
Veneri stepped forward as the Spire initiated Realm Colonization initiated once more, this time directed at the Gardens of Asphodelia itself. The process was faster now. Golden light spread across the realm and beyond before anyone could fully understand what was happening. The inhabitants didn't even have time to panic properly. The shift happened too quickly.
The golden fracture of the sky sealed behind him as the Spire completed its integration. Before the inhabitants of Asphodelia City could even begin to process what had just happened, a Teleportation Mystic Circle appeared at the center of the plaza where the others stood waiting. Veneri stepped out of it like he had just arrived casually instead of absorbing an entire realm seconds ago.
The shadow of the Spire still loomed overhead yet he didn't even glance up at it. His attention already on the group in front of him. Eldrigan, Peroncerea, Qalis and Phaenora stood there alongside the Time Pentarch. Veneri lifted his hand in a small, almost dismissive greeting.
"Hey."
Eldrigan didn't return the casual tone.
"Did you really have to absorb the entire realm like that?"
"I didn't want panic."
Panic would have caused more damage than the transition itself, and controlling the environment meant controlling the reaction, even if that meant skipping the part where people got to understand what was happening before it was already done. He didn't linger on that conversation either because there were more immediate priorities to handle.
"Chrysanthemum."
A second Mystic Circle formed beside them and Chrysanthemum stepped out with a composed expression despite the exhaustion still lingering faintly in her posture from earlier. She didn't ask why she was called because Veneri didn't waste time explaining anything unnecessary.
"Go speak with the royal family. Explain the situation and have them address the public. There are over two hundred thousand people here so it's better if the royal family handles it directly."
Chrysanthemum nodded once.
"Understood."
She walked towards the city without hesitation with her staff resting lightly at her side. With that handled, Veneri activated another teleportation circle without warning, pulling the group with him. The city vanished and was replaced by the structured interior of the Spire. When the light settled, they stood on the Thirty-Eighth Floor, The War Room.
The space was the same as always. It had the starry constellation design with a roundtable and classy chairs, but the first thing that stood out wasn't the room itself. Xander and Farrynelle sat casually in one of the seating areas, already making out. The moment stayed for a second longer than it needed to before Peroncerea stepped forward slightly, clearing her throat with deliberate emphasis.
"You can do that later."
Both of them turned at the group but Farrynelle's expression didn't hide her irritation at all.
"Really?"
She leaned back slightly, clearly unimpressed with the timing, while Xander just exhaled quietly, already knowing there wasn't a way around this. Phaenora, on the other hand, didn't even look at them for long. She faced Veneri immediately.
"Veneri, you're rushing this."
"I'm not. If anything, I'm too slow. For now, the priority is evacuation. We move everyone to Cassandra and once that's done, we proceed to Phase Two. We take down the Overlord Ravagers. Their leader is Virathus and we cannot underestimate him."
There was no elaboration beyond that because none was needed.
"Next stop is Frostdeath. Narisva is there. I'm only taking the Xypelians and Dynasty Starisnova."