2201 - A Fish Out of Water
"Damn it!!!" Blokan took another blow from an adult space beast, sending him hurtling back like a projectile until he managed to disperse the force of the strike and regain his balance.
He began looking around fiercely, shouting, "You stupid giant flies, don't you have even a shred of intelligence in your heads?!"
Blokan could now sense the entire Nest, which meant they were within striking distance of reaching it.
Then he instinctively turned toward the distant glowing Gate…
Asr had entered it over half a minute ago, yet it hadn't started shrinking yet, which likely meant Asr was still trying to convince Lord Robin to close it, and he was refusing.
Blokan gritted his teeth hard… Perhaps that man's perception of danger wasn't much different from the adult space beasts surrounding him!
He undoubtedly wanted to escape, and he wanted help too, but he knew it wouldn't come.
His best bet was to wait until the Nest arrived and attacked the massive adult space beasts around him, then try to seize the opportunity to flee.
But the Gate…
He certainly cared about personal gain—there was no doubt about that—but he also wanted to protect the universe and secure victory for it, otherwise he wouldn't have chosen to follow the will of the Cosmic Elder.
And that worthless man outside will kill them all for a handful of mo—
"Hey, what's distracting you?"
"…..?!" Blokan jolted back several steps when he suddenly heard the voice, then spread his spiritual sense toward the Gate, but he sensed nothing…
"Lord Robin?" Blokan was extremely surprised; he hadn't detected anyone, yet that voice he heard was undoubtedly from Lord Robin before entering the Gate!
For a moment, his mind stopped working, trying to convince himself that he hadn't heard anything at all.
"Who else?" Robin chuckled from the depths of the pitch-black darkness. "Tell me, Blokan, what are you testing now?"
"What do you mean?" The blue-skinned man furrowed his brows tightly, then began spreading his spiritual sense in multiple directions to monitor the beasts around him and the Nest approaching quickly.
"Why are you still here?" Robin asked with clear curiosity. "You're a mid-level Monarch over a major core Law. True, you can't kill an adult space beast, but you can escape from them, even if there are three… even if there are ten."
"Is this the time for that?!" Blokan raised his voice, then moved quickly, dodging an attack from one of the three space beasts.
"What? Do you have somewhere else to go?" Robin laughed. "Come on, tell me. I'm here with you, don't worry."
“..?” Blokan was greatly astonished by the last sentence. He had known that person for a very short time, yet his arrogance had become unbearable.
But that arrogant thing was right about one thing…
He had nowhere to go.
“It’s the use of the Law.” Blokan sighed and spoke in a low voice as he moved, not caring whether Robin heard him or not. “What separates us Dominators from the Nexus States is that we have received the approval of a specific Heavenly Law. That Law grants us power, makes other Laws accept us, and eases everything for us. Even the Law of Energy favors us, making absorption and technique casting easier. There is no other difference. Without this advantage, we and the Nexus States are equal—we possess the same body and the same Energy Gathering Center.”
Then he continued with furrowed brows: “But here, there are no Laws to favor us, no energy to aid us. Even the Law that accepted me and amplifies my techniques is absent. It’s as if we’ve entered a completely distorted dimension.”
“Oh?” Robin raised an eyebrow from a distance. “Yet I see you and Althera using techniques from your Laws.”
“An illusion.” Blokan waved his hand. “Here, we don’t command the Law to use energy so it moves as we wish, because the Law doesn’t exist at all.” Then he gritted his teeth. “What happens is that we use our internal energy to produce engravings that simulate the Law we’re accustomed to, and thus these techniques take shape.”
“Oooh, my friend, that’s truly annoying. Have you been putting up with this for all these hours?” Robin shook his head. “Remind me to raise your point prices.”
Blokan’s words were vague, but Robin understood them clearly, because he had experienced something similar for a while in the past.
Their current situation could be compared to a user of the Water Path like Victoria.
If Victoria were fighting above a lake, she would use 1% of her energy to control the water beneath her.
If she were fighting on land, she would use 10% of her energy to search for groundwater and bring it to the surface.
If she were fighting in a desert, she would need 30% of her energy to gather water from the dry air.
But what if she were fighting in a place where there wasn’t a single drop of water?
Then she would need to use 90% of her energy reserve to produce a handful of water by simulating the water patterns themselves... and of course, this assumes she is experienced enough to understand those patterns and how to simulate them, and the current Victoria would not be capable of such a thing.
But those Law Dominators who have gained the approval of the Law...
They can.
They use most of their energy reserve to simulate Laws Patterns that do not exist around them, and with a very small amount compared to what they can do inside the Living Universe.
And the fact that they are still alive says a lot about their experience and resilience!
"...?!" Blokan felt that Robin's words were more sarcastic than encouraging. "What brought you here? Do you think you can study here at your leisure? Do you think we are capable of protecting you?! And why didn't you close The Gate?"
"You may not know, but I cannot do that..." Robin scratched his head. "When we first opened The Gate on the previous Nest, they almost destroyed it with their stupidity. They attacked, and the Adult Space Beasts began breathing fire on us through it. It was a regrettable matter that nearly made me close it... until the Cosmic Elder crossed over and taught them a lesson that was etched into their bones."
"...?" Blokan was puzzled by the lesson he suddenly began to hear.
"If I only shrink The Gate, the new Nest will attack me. If I close it completely, decades of my work will be wasted, and perhaps the next time I open it, it will appear before an ancestor... who knows? So..." Robin sighed, "I've decided to teach the new Nest a lesson so they learn manners like their predecessors."
"Are you insane?!" Blokan stopped fleeing. "Teach them a lesson?! You and with what army?!" Then he pointed toward The Gate, "Come on, leave and close it quickly before you destroy the universe!!"
"Hmm, I'm afraid that's no longer possible." Robin calmly turned toward a certain direction.
Blokan followed his gaze and began to sweat.
The Nest had arrived...
Millions of Space Beasts were staring at him at that moment.