Chapter 637: 5 Down, 1 Left
As soon as Arthur emerged from the ravine he had carved through the forest, he spotted a familiar trio sitting casually by the edge. Evan was lounging in a chair, his elbow on his knee, chin resting on his palm, looking utterly unbothered.
"Told ya."
Evan’s voice rang out as Arthur approached and Beatrix, sitting beside him, raised her brows in surprise.
"Oh wow, it was actually Arthur."
"Indeed, it is I, my fair lady."
Arthur dropped Hibiki, who stumbled slightly, still disoriented from the rapid flight. He then slipped seamlessly into his usual theatrics, bowing dramatically to Beatrix.
"I have missed you so much."
Beatrix quickly caught on, putting on an exaggerated expression of longing.
"I feel the same, my dearest.
Every moment without you has felt like an eternity, and I’ve longed for your presence for seven endless days and nights."
Watching their playful exchange, Artemisia deadpanned, shaking her head in exasperation.
"We just got here yesterday."
She pointed out the reality, bursting their bubble of pretend sorrow and earning a pouting glare from Beatrix.
"I know. Come on, Arty, why are you being a buzzkill?"
Artemisia just shook her head again in silence as Arthur made his way over to Evan while laughing.
"So, how’s the past 24 hours been?"
Arthur asked, curious as he extended his fist and Evan let out a deep sigh, leaning back in his chair as he threw his own fist forward and responded.
"A fucking whirlwind. One moment I was on a ship, and the next thing I knew, it was blowing up for reasons I still don’t get. Then I wake up on what I thought was an island—but is way too big to be one."
"Well, technically, it could be a continent by your standards, but this might actually be an island. I mean, we’re in an Apex world, and Apex worlds are ridiculously large."
When Arthur said this, Evan raised a brow.
"So we’re really in an apex world, huh?"
"Yep. How’s the gravity holding up for you?"
Arthur affirmed Evan’s question, then crossed his arms as he asked. In response, Evan scoffed, shaking his head.
"Not gonna lie, it was a hassle at first. I spent the first 30 minutes trying to figure out how to walk properly."
Evan was from a Prime World so he wasn’t used to this level of gravity, so it was understandable he had issues.
"Looks like you’re managing fine now."
When Arthur pointed this out, Evan nodded and gestured towards Artemisia.
"Don’t forget, Artemisia gave me a handy ability that helps me adapt faster so that definitely sped things up."
Arthur nodded, his gaze shifting to Artemisia and Beatrix. He didn’t even need to voice his question aloud before Artemisia, ever perceptive, responded.
"It’s not our first time in an Apex world, so adapting was easier for us."
Arthur nodded once more, his attention returning to Evan.
"Your level seems to have spiked a bit."
"Yeah, man. Considering I’ve only been here less than two days, my level’s jumped a fair bit. The amount of EXP the monsters here give is insane."
Beatrix and Artemisia nodded in agreement, having already reaped the benefits of this world’s increased EXP. They had both wiped out any hordes of monsters they came across to push their levels up as much as possible.
"When Artemisia and I met up with Beatrix earlier, she said she tested those cultivation techniques we got from the guys on Denerth. The results were... well, crazy."
Right after Evan spoke, Beatrix, the subject of his statement, cut in with her eyes shining as she spoke.
"Crazy crazy! That’s how I managed to gather enough energy to teleport toward Arty and Evan."
Arthur listened without much surprise. Cultivators thrived in environments with richer ambient energy, and this Apex world undoubtedly fit that bill.
"I tried out the technique, and I nearly overloaded myself with energy. The repeated teleportations? Those were to burn off the excess so I didn’t explode or something."
As Beatrix revealed this, Hibiki—who had been quiet until now—finally got to her feet, still a bit breathless. She managed to speak up, though her voice was softer.
"That’s because you didn’t circulate it properly. You must’ve missed some key paths in your energy circulation."
"I missed something?"
Beatrix blinked, taken aback and Hibiki nodded.
"You didn’t circulate the energy well enough. That’s why your body absorbed more than it could handle."
Artemisia, having already drawn the same conclusion earlier, chimed in.
"That’s exactly what I told her."
Arthur and Evan stood by, watching the conversation unfold. The girls seemed absorbed in their discussion about energy control, so Arthur turned to Evan, who finally asked the question that had been gnawing at him since they ended up in this Dimension.
"So, Arthur... what do you think really happened?"
Evan had vivid memories of the ridiculous concentration of law energies in front of the spaceship before the white light consumed everything, and then—nothing.
Now, he sought clarity on what had truly transpired.
After some moments, Arthur finally spoke, his tone matter-of-fact.
"That thing blew our ship to smithereens."
"Yeah, I figured that much."
Evan nodded, having reached the same conclusion himself and Arthur continued.
"But here’s the thing: before the explosion could kill us all, I think we were sucked through the destroyed space."
Evan’s gaze turned sharp, silent for a moment as he pondered Arthur’s theory. Sensing Evan’s deep contemplation, Arthur asked.
"What do you think?"
The Rogue Hero exhaled slowly, leaning forward as he responded.
"I agree with you, Arthur. Right before it all went black, I felt two distinct forces pulling at me.
The first one was you dragging me toward you, but the second... something else pulled me through space."
Arthur watched him closely as Evan’s voice grew more serious.
"It was the same kind of force as Eon Sunder Regressio."
At the mention of that name, Arthur’s eyes narrowed sharply, while confusion rippled across Beatrix, Artemisia, and Hibiki’s faces.
None of them knew what ’Eon Sunder Regressio’ was, but the way Evan’s and Arthur’s expressions changed made it clear this was no trivial matter.
Evan had the surreal experience of having been violently flung back in time by 10,000 years. The sensation of that force, one that tore at the fabric of space itself, was eerily similar to what he had felt during the explosion.
"How many survivors have you seen?"
Arthur finally asked, his voice low and Evan responded almost immediately.
"We’ve encountered a fair number of survivors. Considering the size of that explosion, it feels like too many made it out alive."
Hearing Evan’s reply, Arthur’s mind formed a theory, piecing together the strange occurrences.
Something about the sheer number of survivors, the nature of the explosion and the dimension they were now in, it all felt... off.
Evan, noticing Arthur’s pensive expression, continued.
"Have you guys figured out where we are exactly? All we’ve been able to determine is that the negative energies in the air here are way off the charts.
Artemisia and Beatrix can barely use their full power."
Arthur turned his gaze to the others, already having expected to hear the difficulty they’d been facing.
Beatrix was even groaning, her frustration clear.
"Yeah, it’s been such a hassle. Earlier, when I tried using that cultivation technique, I had to filter out all the negativity in the energy before I could even use it.
I think that’s why my body couldn’t absorb it properly—there was too much negative energy mixed in, and, well, I’m on the positive side of the polarity spectrum."
Being a goddess, Beatrix was inherently on the positive side since divinity, the innate energy of the god race, leaned toward the positive side.
It wasn’t impossible for gods to be attuned to negative energy—some were—but most were aligned positively by default, and the dense negative energy here was clearly interfering with her abilities.
Hibiki, who had been quietly listening, spoke up, answering Evan’s earlier question.
"This place... we’re in the Infernal Dimension. I was here years ago, and it’s not something I could ever forget."
The statement drew curious glances from both Beatrix and Artemisia, but neither pressed her for details as her voice made it clear this wasn’t a part of her past she wanted to discuss.
Noticing this reaction of theirs, Hibiki put on a wry smile before turning toward Evan, raising an eyebrow as she studied him, though her intent wasn’t obvious.
Confused, Evan shifted in his seat, unsure why she was looking at him so intently. Then Hibiki laughed, breaking the tension, and turned back to Arthur.
"You two are weird."
She said with a smirk and Arthur blinked, caught off guard but her sudden declaration.
"Huh? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Hibiki pointed at Evan and spoke.
"He’s grey too, but it’s much lighter than yours. He’s not as disinterested as you are given there’s a smidgen of green there as well."
Realising what she was talking about, Arthur burst out laughing, before tapping Evan on the back.
"Come on, this guy’s already got a fiancée. Other women don’t even enter his line of sight."
