A deathly silence was all that remained around the city that had been the scene of a great battle. All the violence of the fight had been completely wiped out by those four figures, with impressive ease. This was a world where everyone used soul power; what could be more powerful than their divine souls?
Several minutes passed as Alm and Bruno watched the multicolored sphere high above the castle. At its center pulsed an amount of Origin Law equivalent to what they could manipulate from their allies. But...
"The amount has increased, no doubt about it."
Bruno concluded, and Alm nodded. After the two figures had wiped out the entire battlefield, along with thousands of soldiers, they gave orders to Kaiyka and focused on sensing that energy. What they felt when they first saw it, and what they felt now, was different; almost imperceptible, but it was larger.
They still didn’t know much and hadn’t tried to steal it yet. They waited next to Coltia while Kaiyka worked on sifting through the souls of those twenty. After nearly an hour, she stopped with a look of discouragement.
"Sir, they all have almost the same memories. They really died, and before that, they were Elders or High Elders of the ancestral nations. Their deaths were varied and nothing too unusual, but all of them, after dying, just woke up here."
Kaiyka explained slowly, there wasn’t much to discover, as their memories of this place were from a few months ago.
"The memories were erased, just like everyone brought to this place," Bruno murmured.
In the end, they didn’t get answers after all. They only knew the locations of other cities and that, in those cities, as soon as they and all the soldiers awoke, very clear orders appeared in their minds.
"Supreme Master chose you for the celestial war. The enemies plan to dominate the races and then move to the secular world. Follow the orders and fight for the lives of your families and race."
After hearing this, an immense will to fight seemed to well up in them, clearly some sort of control pushing them into conflict. Kaiyka compared it with the memories of that other one she read about when they first arrived; it was practically the same.
The difference with these twenty was that they received more messages afterward with coordinates, battle plans, objectives, and information about the enemy, which was obviously the beast race from another nation.
Alm snorted, saying, "Going to the other city seems like the most obvious path. But we need to check this array they use. Didn’t you find anything about it?"
Kaiyka shook her head; they were already inside this array when they awakened. Only basic information on how to use it appeared, and it wasn’t much different from the array they had.
Clearly, both sides had a leader, just as the whale was for their group. They then focused on the two leaders, each taking one, and invaded their souls, studying them thoroughly.
A few minutes later, they saw the surface of the same structure they knew from their array. But as they delved deeper into the details, they quickly noticed the differences. In theirs, they were the center and the king; the others were the subjects. But this one seemed to be woven into a much larger network, with longer paths.
"It’s not just a central king and soldiers like ours. There are three types of users of this array besides the King. These soldiers are the lowest level; these two... let’s call them squad leaders," Alm analyzed seriously.
After concluding, they focused on sensing the higher ranks; it was a network connected to a distant place. It didn’t take long to follow the trail.
"There are hundreds... let’s call them generals. They seem to receive additional benefits compared to those below," Bruno reflected, focused.
The squad leaders were found, then the generals. Now they just needed to identify the core of everything, the true Kings of these arrays.
Alm and Bruno grunted, now understanding the structure’s logic and the path to the core. They both focused, their divine souls burning as they sensed the presence of a distant place...
Until, simultaneously, they realized they had been noticed.
They both withdrew, cutting the connection immediately. It was expected, as the higher array had a much more intense connection among those involved. So, if the king detected any anomaly, with just a thought, he would discover everything.
Alm and Bruno pulled their consciousness out of the squad leaders. However, as they did so, they noticed the Celestial Jaguar and Zaori’s eyes widening.
"Hm?" Bruno noticed something. He nodded and slightly eased the seal on the souls of the two.
Immediately, the two leaders were able to speak. "The Supreme Master sent me a message," Zaori said, with the Celestial Jaguar confirming the same right after.
"He invites you to an audience. If you follow the same path through the array, he will allow you to cross over to his side," Zaori explained.
"His side?" Alm and Bruno were confused and turned to the Celestial Jaguar, who added:
"It’s said that all the Supreme Masters have been summoned, and they are waiting for you."
New novel 𝓬hapters are published on ƒreewebɳovel.com.
Alm and Bruno understood. The Four Ancestral Nations were involved, and it didn’t seem like there was really any conflict. They grunted, realizing they might finally get what they wanted: knowledge. However, they knew things were never simple.
Maybe it was a mistake to leave Ruri and the others alone in the Void Forest; they could be in danger. But now they could only trust them and do what they could from this side.
Without further delay, the two focused and, without hesitation, sacrificed another large part of their divine souls. They had already burned a third and now took out another. Losing all of it would make it difficult for them to fight later.
Alm and Bruno extended their hands and touched the foreheads of the squad leaders. Without delay, they invaded the array and felt the path to a distant place open. With a sigh, they crossed directly.
Less than ten seconds later, with just that large fragment of their souls, they found themselves in a large, dark, and poorly lit hall. Looking around, they felt four pairs of gigantic beastly eyes watching them.
"This is unbelievable, a real miracle. They are indeed two divine souls."
A soft, stunned voice spoke, drawing the attention of the two. Turning around, they saw a figure radiating a pure Yang aura. It was a glorious and beautiful Immortal Crane. The Four Nations were indeed involved in this.
"Who are you? Where are we?" Bruno asked with slight unease.
"How do you not know? The influence of this place should have conveyed your name. This is the Void Dream," replied a sharp, penetrating voice that seemed to come from a Kun Peng.
"Don’t waste my time, bastard. What the hell is this place and why are there four souls here that are already dead?!" Alm said impatiently.
They didn’t need Kaiyka to inform them; she had already explained the difference. Now they could tell that all the souls present had died; they were just ordinary souls, but hadn’t been sent to reincarnate.
A massive blue feline snorted. "Calm down, it’s a long story... well, we called you here for that."
A humanoid figure with indigo eyes spoke calmly. "First, about this place. You seem to be a foreigner. You know the Void Forest, right?" Alm and Bruno nodded.
"If you’ve visited other galaxies recently, you should be familiar with sealed worlds, right?" After receiving a confirmation, he continued. "The Void Forest is the primitive version of sealed worlds. The worlds that came later were shaped with the laws and powers of our four imperial races. The Void Forest was an initial test by the heroes. The results were positive, and they refined the method to create the sealed worlds."
"The twelve sacred mountains of the forest are immortal cultivators?" Alm asked dryly. Zaori’s look confirmed it. "What’s the purpose of this forest and the sealed worlds that came after?"
The Immortal Crane answered. "You must have encountered strange laws in the universe. In each galaxy, there are varied and peculiar laws. Have you ever wondered where they’re created?"
Alm and Bruno reflected. The most obvious answer they always imagined was that the queen simply stole from other universes. But could it be even worse?
"The laws are created at the core of galaxies. There, there’s a complex formation for this purpose. Imagine the core of a galaxy as a tree; the sealed worlds are like branches of that tree, with their leaves absorbing sunlight. The roots of the tree are the immortal cultivators," explained the Immortal Crane.
The Celestial Jaguar interrupted. "The Void Forest was the first test. They sealed twelve immortal cultivators to see if it worked."
"I see, but what’s the purpose of creating these laws?" Bruno asked quickly.
"The heroes direct the laws in each galaxy to achieve a specific goal. In fact, there are three known goals. They seek laws that allow them to approach a power far beyond what they currently possess. Something above the primordial beasts, the Sacred Goddess, and everything that emerged after the beginning of everything," Zaori explained. He noticed Alm and Bruno growing serious. "Do you know about the Calamities?"
The two nodded, and he continued. "Within this universe, there are three of them sealed. They are the ultimate goals. These calamities are called so because nothing can control or stop them, not even the heroes and the Sacred Goddess. Their true names are known as: Treasures of the Primordial Chaos."
Alm and Bruno took a deep breath; they had never heard of this before. Seeing the confusion on their faces, the Immortal Crane explained.
"You know about immortal items. There are Saint, Ancestral, and Emperor levels, which are known by almost everyone. Above them, there’s the Divine Legendary level, which seems more like a legend. Besides that, there’s something even rarer that emerged after the great immortal war: a power that achieved complete perfection, known as the Paragon level."
The two had also never heard about this higher level. But if not even the immortals they knew were aware of it, and it only emerged after their deaths, then everything must be in the hands of the heroes.
"The Treasures of the Primordial Chaos are above perfection and above the Paragon level. They are aligned with the genesis of everything, before universes and life forms existed. It’s a power impossible to comprehend, condensed in the world in the form of a calamity. This is the ultimate goal and the reason for the existence of the heroes: to capture all of them... Actually, there are nine. Only three have been captured in this universe, but none of the three have been mastered yet."
Alm and Bruno were speechless. A supreme power that even the queen couldn’t possess; now they understood that these were the plans that Heaven’s Will was directing them towards. The Law of Origin and the power that would allow them to fight; but the blade to defeat the queen could only be the power of the Primordial Chaos itself.