Chapter 2198

2198 - Danger

Profound darkness…

What is the darkest place? Most people who live day-to-day would say the deepest parts of the ocean, where light never reaches, or perhaps the Earth's core, where the definition of light is absent.

But in truth… in either of those, there is a faint light.

Deep in the oceans, there are a few creatures that emit light to lure prey, and in the Earth's core, there is lava with its own glow.

The correct answer… is here.

*Crackle*

"…" Blokan began to look around in his usual manner, even though he couldn't see the tip of his own nose.

He might not be able to see anything, but he could feel it…

Something massive moving around him, a beast.

And "around him" here didn't refer to an area of meters or tens of meters… Blokan had been tracking that beast with his spiritual sense until he had crossed a distance as vast as that between the sun and the planets, yet he was not at all at ease.

Because that thing was the size of a planet.

No… it could even swallow one.

"Althera…" Blokan raised his voice, infusing it with his spiritual power, "this Adult Space Beast is no simple matter."

*Bang* *Bam*

Not far from him, at a short distance estimated to be about one light-hour, the sounds of battle never ceased.

“Do you want me to break the ring? You need to stall him longer!” Althera waved her short sword, her voice barely escaping her mouth, like someone trying to speak underwater. “Trust me, you wouldn’t want to face what I have here either!”

Then she thrust in a certain direction.

She was surrounded by fourteen young beasts, moving swiftly, alternating between attack and defense, leaving her no chance to rest for even a moment.

But… even if they gave her a chance, what could she do?

Catch her breath? There was no air here. Even the faintest air drifting through the cosmic void, the air escaping planetary atmospheres that Nexus States and Dominators could utilize, was absent.

What else could she do? Eat? Restore her blood flow to normal? Perhaps absorb energy from the pearls, since there was no energy around her?

That wouldn’t be easy.

In truth, every single one of these actions required Heavenly Law to regulate it… and that, too, was absent here.

The fact that they were moving, fighting, and speaking was all forced by the energy they had brought through The Gate eighteen hours ago—energy that was already nearing depletion.

The moment it approaches depletion—yes, only upon nearing depletion, not actual exhaustion—their hearts and blood will stop in their veins, for the laws governing those processes do not exist to function automatically.

Currently... they are forcing their hearts to beat.

"Oh no," Althera sensed something and then pointed in a specific direction. "Someone has escaped the Repetition Loop!"

"Understood!!" Asr forgot he needed to conserve energy and shouted when a young space beast tried to flee from him toward Blokan. "Get back here!!"

*Swoosh*

Asr drew a cosmic bow, pulled it back, enveloped it with Blazing Power, and released the arrow.

"...Raaaaa!!"

A pained cry came from that direction, then nothing.

No disturbance occurred, no blood scattered—it seemed as if Asr had struck the darkness itself.

But that didn't last long.

*Whoosh*

Asr advanced in that direction, placing the bow into his Ring, then took out the Serrated Ring and deployed it beneath him.

After sensing the thick blood covering his body, Asr finally began to see something.

It was a crystal...

"Ahh!" Asr had to shield his eyes from the intensity of the light.

At that moment, Asr was like an ant standing before the moon itself...

The size of the crystal was enormous, befitting the size of a young space beast, and the energy that could be sensed within it was staggering, even after it had been exhausted in the Repetition Loop.

…These were the tasks that the four had agreed upon after the first massive battle near The Gate, dragging the major beasts here.

Blokan attacks the three adult space beasts and leads them away, or at least distances them from the rest, using the Fundamental Reflection Law.

Althera gathers all the young space beasts within her own domain, the Repetition Loop.

As for Asr, he is free to collect crystals from the dead beasts and samples of their flesh and blood, and to attack any young space beast that escapes the Repetition Loop, and if a new young beast appears, to guide it toward the loop.

There, they will be placed in a recurring spiral of events that weakens their defenses and exhausts their energy and bodies, after which killing them becomes easier.

As for the hottest spot, it was undoubtedly Morgana's area.

Because she was the weakest among them, being merely a Seven-Star Spirit Lady, and because she possessed dozens of Spirit Creatures that allowed her to fight on all fronts, and because she had the largest Spiritual Sense range, which extended much farther here due to Pure Space… Morgana was assigned to the passage's defense line.

Morgana pushed back most of the Nascent Space Beasts to prevent them from cramming themselves inside The Gate and devouring Holak in a single bite, allowing only a small number to approach.

If a Young Space Beast drew near her, she would alert Asr to come and escort it toward Althera.

This was the four-part formation…

Thanks to these specific tasks, they managed to hold out for a full eighteen hours. Asr was able to fill thousands of Space Rings with flesh and blood, and he also managed to fill massive Space-Sealing Boxes with crystals.

Thanks to this ideal formation, they could stay here for an entire day. Now they were able to—

"Hmm?"

Morgana, who had been watching her Spirit Creatures push dozens of cowardly Nascent Space Beasts backward, noticed something in a certain direction.

Something was approaching.

Then she focused her Spiritual Sense there, her brows furrowed…

And instantly, her already pale face grew even paler.

"Ten…" she murmured in a low voice.

Then she used her powerful spirit to shout:

“Huge Nest! There are millions of Space Beasts approaching, and there are at least twenty adult Space Beasts among them!!”