CHAPTER 475

TO DEFEND THE HOME

Lino appeared absent-minded for a moment, staring beyond the fading ashes of his foe, into the distant infinity of the void. His gaze seemed dulled, as though asking a thousand answerless questions at that moment, his body relaxing at last. Every single muscle, every single bone, every inch of his body ached, yet he hardly paid attention to it. A faint sense of emptiness permeated his heart at that moment, as though he'd lost someone rather important. He knew it to be a lie, however; Ashtar was no one important. Just another wall he had to fell if he were to move onward.

Yet, the cracks remained nonetheless. He quickly attributed it to the fact that, in a way, they were indeed kin – bound through the Chaos itself, two ends of the extreme line of the Empyreans. It hardly appeased that nagging feeling in his chest, but it was enough for the time being.

The void was rather cold, he realized; if he were to stop protecting his body by Qi, he guessed he'd die within seconds. It was also… massive. Truly massive – massive beyond any scope of understanding. All around all he saw was darkness and more darkness. In the far-off distance, on occasion, a flash of light would glimmer for a second and vanish. Maps that he had seen of the cosmos were at best futile attempts to capture something that cannot be captured. Even at his maximum speed, boring through spacetime repeatedly, Lino immediately realized he wouldn't get anywhere within the respective amount of time.

His attention was stolen away, however, from the void toward his front at that moment as a faint, silver shimmer caught his attention. It remained suspended within the spacetime in front of him, a gleamingly round, spherical object, smoothed till the point it was reflecting everything around it. It was no larger than Lino’s palm, and he reached out and grabbed it gently, inspecting it right after.

[Ashtar’s Will – Genesis Unique]

Choose: --

[1] – absorb the Singularity to increase ALL stats permanently by 400%, increase Damage by 2,000%, Chaos Affinity by 40%, and immediately gain an ABSOLUTE mastery of Laws of Death, Fire, Emotion, and Soul. The Singularity will be destroyed upon consumption.

[2] – channel Qi into the Singularity to gain privileged access to the Archaic Record – [The Becoming of the First Empyrean]; upon viewing the Archaic Record, the Singularity will be destroyed.

Note: For tomorrow, or days henceforth; choose, the Last One.

Lino remained floating in space, eyes focused on the small, spherical object, deep in thought. There were plenty reasons as to why he would choose both; on one hand, massive increases in stats, Chaos Affinity, and mastery of Laws was beyond lucrative, especially to someone of his Level – by killing Ashtar, he’d finally surpassed six digits in Levels, and triggered the first necessary step to becoming a Universal Titular. One of the further requirements were exactly the Laws and the affinity to the Primary Element – in his case, Chaos.

However, the other option was just as, if not even more, inviting; after all, he would be the only Empyrean – nay, the only person since the dawn of time – to have the ability to witness the birth of the Empyrean Lineage. How, where and why it all began. The first days, the beginning of it all. The deeper look into it might provide him far more benefits in the long run, though it could also provide him nothing if he was being honest with himself. It was a gamble, but at least the likes which offered no losing side.

**

Two stared at the massive chunks of burning rocks and debris flying through the void of spacetime toward Noterra, a deep frown etched on her face. Glancing around, it seemed as though her expression was reflected in each eye equally – they all seemed to have understood the underlying implications – catastrophe was inevitable. It was only a matter of scale.

“—Empyrean dogs,” she turned left, her eyes growing frigid, where she spotted a group of roughly a hundred people similarly staring into space. “Since that infidel caused this, it is only proper you deal with it, no?”

“Oh, suck my tits you ungrateful fucking cunt,” Lucky immediately fired back, pissed off, growling. “If I hear one more fuckin’ word out of your shit-stained mouth, I’ll shove a goddamn sword so far down your throat you’ll be shitting steel till the day your old-fuckin’-ass croaks at last.”

“—” as most people present tried to slowly process what Lucky said, Alison smiled bitterly and patted the former’s shoulder. Ella glanced at Lucky, barely holding back a chuckle, before turning toward Two. “We don’t mind letting the sky rain burning hail,” she added, her lips curling up into a smile. “Perhaps, rather than throwing our lives away in a pointless war begun out of insecurities and vanity, we may as well let nature dictate who lives and dies. After all, it’s just a few burning rocks, no? I’m sure someone as grand as yourself can handle that.”

“—we’ll work on it together,” a voice suddenly cut in as everyone’s eyes shifted sideways; there, in the midst of nowhere, doused in silver-cast mist, an ordinary-looking man smiled at everyone. ‘1’ stood carved on his forehead, which caused many to immediately frown and turn alert, though the man didn’t seem to mind it. “The debris is charged with something far more powerful than mere flames,” he added, glancing up. “I’m afraid selfishness will truly cost a world this time.”

“… you finally chose to show up.” Two said, her voice cold. “Where have you been?”

“Out and about.” One replied simply, smiling still.

“… out and about, huh?” Two sneered. “You really have given up on us, huh?”

“I’ve given up on no one. You’ve given up on yourselves. The debris is charged with remnant, fused Chaos of two very prominent figures. Stopping the rocks may be easy, but stopping the Chaos will not be.”

“Just ask the Empyrean to do it,” Two shrugged, seemingly ready to leave. “What’s that got to do with us?”

“You think he’ll do it?” One said, his smile turning cold. “Because of your stupidity, he’d condemn the rest of the world to death just to watch you burn while protecting his own home. The debris will reach Noterra in fifteen days; I want everyone in the outer orbit on that day, carrying all the treasures you can find and use. Working together.”

“…” heavy atmosphere descended on the crowd rapidly. Two remained silent, the look in her eyes growing emotionless as she stared at One. There was a sense of apathy in them, the sort of distancing one does when watching their greatest enemy.

“We’ll be here,” Ella said, smiling faintly as she waved her left arm, ripping open a tunnel in spacetime as others began walking in one by one. “Until then.”

“Hm.” One nodded, glancing at Ella, barely managing to catch a brief shadow as she vanished into the tunnel. His brows contorted immediately, memory flashing back to the day Biyung asked him about the blue-eyed woman – he was certain she was the one. His heart, which had remained as still as a river for countless eons now, stirred for a moment; after all, to him who knew all there is to know on Noterra… an enigmatic existence was more than just a mystery. It was an impossibility.

**

Hannah stared at the distant sky from the top of the fortress, the look in her eyes calm and tranquil. She held Aaria’s hand, with the little girl focused on the far sky as well, her expression one of wonder.

“—dad… did that?” Aaria mumbled lowly, glancing at Hannah.

“Ha ha, yup,” Hannah nodded, chuckling. “Ah, the bastard. He never lets you rest, lest he shoots past you into the infinity. I’ll have to show him up one of these days.”

“… mom? You… you can do it too?!” Aaria asked with an incredulous expression.

“Hmm… not exactly that, I suppose,” Hannah said. “But if all coins fall proper, close to it.”

“… wow…” Aaria’s lips parted into the expression of shock; though she always knew both her parents were rather important and strong figures, she never quite imagined the sheer scale of it until she witnessed it today. Unlike most, Hannah let her watch the battle through a screen – she was practically seeing it from Lino’s perspective. “When will he come back?” she asked after a short silence.

“… in a few days, I imagine,” Hannah chuckled, thinking back to the small, spherical object Lino held before the connection between the two cut off. “We’ll have to prepare a feast for him. What do you want to do? Bake a cake, or something else?”

“—cake! I want to make him a cake!!” Aaria exclaimed immediately. “He he, I’ve learned a new one from Gran-gran that is sure to blow him away! Humph, we’ll see if he dares tell me my cake sucks ever again!”

“…” Hannah smiled silently, glancing at the little, pouting girl before shaking her head, looking back toward the sky, her expression mellowing out.

“… I was wrong,” a voice that had remained silent for many years now suddenly echoed inside Hannah’s mind, startling her. “I really was wrong…”

“… about what?” Hannah asked, recovering, confused as to why Astrum suddenly decided to leave her slumber.

“About that boytoy of yours,” Astrum replied. “He’d managed to fool even me with his clownery, the bastard. He’ll need us soon, Hannah,” she added, her robotic voice turning ever-so-faintly human for a brief moment. “More than you might even realize. You need to get stronger. When they finish defending Noterra from the debris, the battle will break out – the likes of which the planet’s surface had never seen. You need to be at its heart, command it, and win it.”

“—what do you mean?” Hannah asked, frowning.

“… he’ll explain when he returns,” Astrum replied, turning to slumber once more. “Hear what he means; don’t listen to what he says.”

“Eh?! What the hell do you mean? Astrum? Oi, Astrum? Astrum?! Fuck,” Hannah growled, her expression turning terrible. “The little bitch… I’ll strangle your ass, I swear.”

“What’s wrong, mom?” Aaria asked concerningly, noticing Hannah’s shift in expressions.

“Nothing, nothing,” Hannah quickly shook it off, pulling the smile back on, rubbing Aaria’s head. “Come on, let’s go back inside. Lucky and the rest should be coming back right about now. While mommy talks with them, why don’t you go and hang out with Cae and grandpa Eggor, huh?”

“Can I?!” Aaria beamed at once, her eyes shining like stars.

“… sure.” Tsk. Why does she seem to like spending time more with those two than with me?! Wait—don’t tell me she’s at that age already?! No, no, no. Lino, get your ass back here! Your daughter needs some lecturing!!

END OF VOLUME XIX