2200 - The Thing
*Whoosh*
Asr pierced through The Gate with immense force.
Returning once again to the realm of life made him momentarily forget his speed and take a breath that his body had been craving.
*Bam* *Bam* *Bam*
That moment was all his body needed to pierce through several newborn space beasts, one after another, until his speed subsided and he came to a stop.
"Huh?" Holak furrowed his brows intensely as he watched Asr, who had landed far away beside the royal spirit masters.
He was covered in blood and flesh, with wild, chaotic energy, but with a single glance, Holak recognized him as Asr, whom he had seen and spoken with many times before. "Hey, thanks for the help, but go back to your people now."
"..!!" Asr completely ignored Holak's foolishness and turned toward the peak of the mountain where Robin resided, then raised his voice, shaking the very place, "Close The Gate, close it immediately!"
"…." Robin turned toward Asr calmly and raised an eyebrow.
—
On the other side—
"You're not going anywhere!!" Morgana raised her voice in a tone filled with panic and confusion.
She had already brought out all her powerful spirit creatures, more than thirty of them, each with immense strength, and every single one could kill a Nexus State without any problem.
When it comes to spirit creatures in particular, there are not many in the universe who can stand before Morgana and claim to have better quality or greater numbers.
This is because Morgana, the former Specters Shepherd, always gathered the strongest specter or two from every realm she liberated and absorbed them into her spirit creatures. In this way, she essentially managed to build a powerful Soul Domain and compress her first star despite the crisis she was undergoing.
Not only that, but each of those creatures, every beast and every being, had a Blazing Ember inside them, akin to a unique crystal. That was Morgana's specialty, which she invented and developed herself—a method to strengthen specters and spirit creatures, making them more ferocious and unleashing far greater power than usual.
If one of those spirit creatures could normally kill a low-level Nexus State, with the help of the ember, it could kill a mid-level Nexus State or even higher.
It is well known that Nascent Space Beasts generally range in power from Peak World Calamity to mid-level Nexus State depending on their age, rarely being stronger or weaker than that.
So, by all measures...
Morgana carried out a massacre.
The blood and dark viscera around her filled the space, and the number of dead rose with every passing second, while her stock of spirit units dwindled at a terrifying speed.
Her eyes were filled with resolve as she watched the nascent space beasts being torn apart before her, but her heart raced because she was fully aware that her spiritual reserves could no longer keep up.
*Bang*
“..!!” Morgana turned toward a specific direction.
There, one of her spirit creatures had exploded… and was not reborn.
That spot faced a tremendous pressure from the space beasts, and a handful of them managed to slip through and advance toward the passage, but the spirit creatures to the left and right of the fallen one moved closer and closed the breach to buy some time.
But—
*Bang*
*Bang*
Morgana’s face began to pale rapidly.
Her stock of units had run out before she even realized it.
*Bang*
Morgana quietly drew a sword and closed her eyes, then began deliberately slowing her heartbeat, for in a few seconds she would no longer have enough strength to force her body to move anyway.
Yet…
She could not allow those creatures to pass no matter what, even if it meant fighting them with the sword she had received as a gift from her friend Emily.
And thinking about it…
The past few years haven't been too bad.
Even now, as she reviews the timeline of her life, she can't recall anything beyond the recent years.
New friends.
Status.
A goal…
And a person.
A kind, handsome, and considerate person.
A person with authority, whose word carried weight.
A true man.
A man who changed her life…
*Boom*
Ignoring the sounds of her spirit creatures exploding, Morgana revealed a small, dreamy smile.
<Let me fight.>
"Hmm?" Morgana's brows furrowed tightly. "You've ruined my beautiful dream."
<Maybe you are dreaming of that yellow monkey, who else could it be? Let me fight, otherwise, you will never see him again.>
"Don't speak of the Lord that way!" Morgana seemed completely detached from reality as she addressed the voice ringing inside her mind. "Besides… I don't want anyone to see you, especially him… and think I'm crazy or strange."
<And how will he see me? Maybe that wretched scoundrel is buried in his books like a good worm, what would he even do here? I do not know why he took your permission in the first place, you no longer have the power to restrain me, all your other stars have withered, and you can no longer stop me!>
"I warned you!!" Morgana shouted. "You can't escape me. If we survive this, I'll punish you severely, and you know I can!"
*Boom*
Morgana's last and most powerful spirit creature exploded.
<Hmph, let us survive first, then I will accept the punishment.>
The moment those words were spoken, something astonishing occurred.
Morgana's mouth and eyes began to glow with an intense white light, a radiance composed of different spiritual units.
That light started to intensify, as if becoming tangible...
Then solid.
Then it began to change shape until it took the form of a giant female figure.
That luminous form continued to expand until it reached the size of a Nascent Space Beast, then swelled further until it nearly matched the size of a Young Space Beast.
Then the light settled and began to grow clearer...
It was the very image of Morgana herself.
Slightly different, with expressions entirely unlike the original Morgana, who looked like an ant below... yet it was undoubtedly her shape.
Then that spiritual light construct began to gaze arrogantly at the thousands of Nascent Space Beasts.
<Hmph, I cannot believe my first true appearance will be in front of a handful of filthy locusts like you.>
Then it waved its hand.
*BAM*
The wave turned into a resounding slap that instantly obliterated the front row of Nascent Space Beasts.
Then *WHOOSH* the colossal construct extended its hand, grabbed a serpent-like Nascent Space Beast, and used it as a whip to lash three other beasts beside it.
"...." Below, Morgana was fully aware of what was happening. Light was still streaming from her mouth and eyes, but she remained conscious and in control, and she could stop what was happening... yet she hesitated.
This was the only remaining way she had to protect the passage.
But if the Lord saw her in this disgraceful state...
Heh~
Morgana sighed inwardly.
He was most likely busy atop the mountain peak and wouldn't see her. Asr had entered just a moment ago, and he was probably explaining the situation up there now, trying to seal the passage.
There was no way he would see her!
"Oh, interesting. Isn't that the thing that was trying to kill you, the one I purified earlier?"
From beside her came a calm, very familiar voice.
"Remind me to discuss this phenomenon more after this long day is over, alright?"
"........................."