2209 - Silence
Swish
Swish
Swish
Blokan, Althera, and Asr surged through the wooden passage with all the strength they had left, quickly reaching the other side.
Blokan was in the lead, while Asr helped Althera directly behind him. They did not look back at the great inferno that had engulfed over a million space beasts, turning that void into daylight… They still had to worry about themselves.
A combat emperor within the bounds of the universe could easily surpass their current speed, but the law conditions here, and their physical states, made them move like children learning to walk.
Yet… moving was all that mattered!
The eyes of the three were now fixed on Morgana and her great shadow, which she used to push back thousands of nascent space beasts. They wondered what they would do when they reached that point… Would they be able to fight alongside Morgana, or would she protect them? Or perhaps Lord Robin would think of another solution for them?
As soon as they arrived, they had to—
Whoosh
The light that had been illuminating this strange dimension suddenly went out.
Blokan and the others gradually slowed down until they came to a complete stop, a sense of danger ringing in their minds like an alarm bell.
The place returned to absolute darkness, but that wasn't what stopped them—it was the fact that the flame, which had been tormenting millions of beasts, had been extinguished so easily, so quickly.
And there was a power in the background...
At the moment of extinguishment, a violent disturbance occurred for an instant—a disturbance they felt... an immense, immeasurable power.
Then something happened that froze the blood in their veins.
*Clang*
The Nascent Space Beasts that had been fighting Morgana all panicked and began fleeing in every direction.
The Space Beasts that had been ignoring the twenty adult beasts behind them and trying to reach the passage suddenly concluded that it was no longer worth the effort?!
In that state of latent panic, the three saw something else... Morgana, upon whom a faint light reflected from her terrifying shadow above her, was staring in a specific direction behind them... with expressions filled with horror and trembling lips.
In that state of hers, if the Nascent Space Beasts had tried to bypass her, they could have—and she wouldn't have stopped them; she wouldn't have even sensed them.
Feeling that all doors of mercy had closed, Blokan swallowed his saliva and turned around.
If he was going to be killed, at least he should see the reason.
Asr and Althera also turned, expecting to see a million beasts staring at them—a million angry beasts tortured by fire, charging toward them.
But apparently, the space beasts were in a similar state to them.
All of them were silent and still—the one in pain swallowed his scream, and the one who had been scorched by the furnace and was dying, died in silence.
They all turned their faces toward one direction in silence, in
discipline
… Yes, that was what Lord Robin had been trying to teach them.
Lord Robin, who was looking in the same direction.
“…?” Blokan followed Robin’s gaze and found the eyes.
Two small eyes, like a human’s, blazing red, staring silently at Robin.
His spiritual sense refused to approach them, and his sight refused to go any further… just eyes, nothing more.
“…!!” Blokan’s body jolted, his eyes filling with veins and tears.
These characteristics pointed to one thing and one thing only.
An Ancestor!
An Ancestor space beast!!
Blokan shot a quick glance at the Passage Gate, standing wide open… Had they brought death upon the entire universe with their own hands?!
With suppressed rage and a sense of injustice, Blokan turned back to look at Robin, wanting to scream at him, wanting to move toward him, wanting to do anything!!
But his body refused, and his mind told him not to try.
His entire being screamed at him to keep pretending he didn’t exist, that he and nothingness were one and the same.
Coincidentally… Asr, Althera, and Morgana all did the same without thinking, without coordination.
As for Robin himself, he kept staring at those two red eyes for a full five seconds that felt like five years.
Then, finally, he opened his mouth, infusing his voice with spiritual techniques, “…Can you speak?”
“……”
There was no verbal response, only a visual one.
The two red eyes lifted slightly upward, as if trying to comprehend what Robin was saying, or perhaps puzzled that he was even attempting to communicate with it in the first place.
“…..” Robin convinced himself that it was trying to understand his words. “This Nest… it seems to have been drawn toward the Gate, intentionally or not, that’s irrelevant…” He then continued after swallowing hard, “…I wouldn’t have allowed them to cross into the universe, not now. You understand that the time hasn’t come yet, right?”
“……!!!” Blokan clenched his fangs tightly.
Robin was trying to speak with the Ancestor as if it understood everything, pretending that his random deductions were absolute truth, and that the Space Beast Ancestor would comprehend and appreciate them!
Again, there was no sound, but the two eyes shifted slightly to the left, toward the floating corpses of the beasts.
Robin noticed this and opened his mouth again. "I was exploring what lies beyond the wall, and I believe you want to explore too, right? The thirst for knowledge is an urgent need in the hearts of all creatures." Then, with a forced smile, he continued, "How about we exchange our experiences, hmm? You tell me things about your world, and I'll tell you things about mine—everyone wins!"
"..."
"Are you determined to enter through the passage?" Robin pressed on impatiently after the lack of response. "That will be difficult. You are undoubtedly strong, but there are those stronger than you on the other side. Someone entered before you millions of years ago and was killed, as you know... The Cosmic Elder does not joke about these matters."
"...?" The small red eyes twitched.
"How about we stop here for today?" Robin rejoiced at the reaction. "We can discuss more about any means of cooperation and rapprochement later in a civilized manner, alright?" Then he turned slowly and began to move.
Turmoil
A suppressing wave of energy erupted from the direction of the Ancestor. Robin felt as if his bones were about to be crushed.
"Damn it, don't blame me then!" Robin resisted with difficulty and let out a shout, then struck the fragment of the Cosmic Elder within his domain to summon it.
On the day the passage was opened, he had told him to activate the shard if an Ancestor appeared, and he would handle it. Now is the time for that!
But—
Thud
As if striking dead soil, the purple sphere within Robin's soul domain refused to respond in any way.