Chapter 749: Interlude 8 – 1: A Year Apart
Empty Spatial Vacuum
Varona Realm
Hell Universe
April 5th
Year 718 of the 50th General Calendar.
"Damn...I guess Hell’s a pretty high-level universe."
Those words escaped Arthur’s lips as he floated in the empty vacuum of space, gazing at several moons orbiting a massive planet in the distance.
He had just exited the Cosmic Gate that brought him back from Valmone, and the first thing he noticed was the stark difference in the concentration of ambient energies.
To be precise, while he could sense these things before, thanks to his ability to control laws even prior to reaching the Legendary Realm, his perception had been very limited.
Now, as a Deity, he could ’see’ over 500% more than he used to.
The ambient universal law and cosmic energies, as well as how they intertwined to form the structure of the Varona Realm.
’Hmm...I guess my Aspects play a part in this too.’
Casting a glance at the silver on his wristwatch, he caught the faint reflection of his eyes glowing.
’Definitely my Aspects,’ he concluded, continuing to float through the vacuum, silently waiting for the space-time continuum of the Hell Universe to finish logging his ’spatiotemporal data’ back into the system.
’Traversing universes is a lot harder than it looks. The Cosmic Teleporter made it seem easy, but I can’t even imagine the level of law comprehension or Authorities I need to do this manually.’
Every universe was unique, each with its own distinct space-time continuum. Every existence bound by the Concept of Time had ’Time’ recorded within the Concept, and when entering a different universe, one had to ’log’ themselves into its space-time continuum, or face rejection from the fabric of space-time around them.
Constantly, at that.
Returning to his original observation about Hell’s level, it stemmed from the noticeable difference in ambient energy concentration between Hell’s Varona Realm and Valmone’s Infernal Dimension.
Unlike the vast and vital Infernal Dimension, Varona was merely one of many above-average Realms within Hell—yet their energy concentrations were nearly identical.
This reminded Arthur of an event that occurred before his departure to Valmone: when he witnessed his mother punching Lucifer’s Vestige through a wall.
When he questioned the reason behind her violence, he discovered that Lucifer’s usage of The First Magic: Universal Displacement had resulted in a gradual decrease in the universe’s overall energy and power levels.
Removing the Hell Universe from its original position in the fabric of reality had not been without consequence, and the effects were evident in the steadily declining base Existence Realms of its inhabitants.
Take, for instance, Cattleya and himself.
Cattleya had been born at the Grandmaster Realm—an impressive but standard occurrence ten thousand years ago.
In Arthur’s era, however, simply being born in the Master Realm was already considered extraordinary.
’Speaking of Mum, where would she be around this time?’
Arthur wondered, but a moment later, he shook his head.
’Doesn’t matter. She’ll find me once those trackers she planted on me reactivate anyway.’
It shouldn’t be forgotten that, in her paranoia after Arthur’s near-death experience during the Nemo Galaxy Auction, Cattleya had placed several trackers inside his body to always keep track of his location.
And, as if she had foreseen his eventual Exuviation, those trackers remained intact even after his body had been broken down and reformed during the process!
The boy—no, the young man—could only admire his mother’s alchemical skills.
’Seriously, Mum really sticks her hands in a lot of stuff.
She’s got High-Rank Authorities in Sealing and Trickery for some reason, dabbles in Alchemy, and creates all kinds of artifacts.
Kinda makes one forget that her main job is to be a ’Destroyer’.’
Heaving a sigh, Arthur shook his head again, just as he sensed a subtle shift in the spatiotemporal fabric around him.
"Finally! Now, to find Layla and the others."
Arthur rotated his body as he spoke, pulling out a bracelet from his subspace and putting it on. The moment he infused it with his energy, the marker in one of the embedded gems began pointing in a certain direction.
To remind those who have forgotten, this was the Cosmic Artifact known as Linked Echoes. It was a pair artifact that originally belonged to Lucifer and his deceased wife, Diablo’s Mother.
It had the function of indicating the general direction of the person bearing the matching piece, even across intergalactic distances.
Arthur had given the other half to Layla. However, since he hadn’t been in Hell for the past year, he had taken off his piece and tossed it in his subspace.
Now that he was back, he wore it once more, and it immediately began doing its job.
Also, from his subspace, Arthur retrieved a star map and scanned the direction it was pointing him to. In the area, he spotted an Academy Space Station.
’Good. I’ll head to that station and get her exact coordinates from them, unless she destroyed her Academy-Issued watch.’
For the record, Arthur had destroyed his own after realising that traitors within the Academy had used it to broadcast his location to gods who attempted to assassinate him.
’Still never found out which universe sent them...’
That thought briefly crossed his mind as he activated the Cosmic Teleporter and beamed himself toward the Academy Space Station.
◇ ◇ ◇
Duke Tikan.
One of the Six Dukes of the Devildom of Hell and the bearer of the Deadly Sin Authority of ’Gluttony.’
He was also the Duke responsible for overseeing all matters related to the Royal Academy.
At present, he was conducting an inspection at a Space Station within the Varona Realm, currently hosting thousands of Academy students carrying out their Realm Expeditions.
Normally, he wouldn’t bother to appear in person, but the number of high-ranking noble children present was far too great to ignore.
Moreover, a few months ago, there had been an assassination attempt on a Royal Family member within this same realm.
That incident had cast doubt on his competence, forcing him to abandon his usual laissez-faire approach and take a much firmer hand.
As he stood in the main control room, he suddenly sensed a disturbance in the surrounding space.
’Someone’s trying to teleport directly into the station? Through all the barriers?’
He silently activated an Authority, his eyes narrowing at the distortion.
Moments later, a spatial gate roughly three meters wide tore open, and stepping through it was the last person he expected.
"Your Highness?"
"Oh. Sup, Duke," came the casual reply as the youngest Prince of the Devildom, Arthur, emerged from the gate.
"I’m looking for my friends—Layla and the others. What planet are they on?"
"..."
The Duke silently blinked at the young man, his gaze alternating between Arthur and the swirling gate behind him.
"Hello? You there?"
When the Prince called out again, the Duke finally snapped back to his senses and turned toward the others in the control room, who were just as stunned as he was.
All of them were Deities, and all could sense the overwhelming amount of law energy radiating from the gate, making it all the more baffling that Arthur, who was recorded as only a Superior Grandmaster just a few months ago, appeared completely unaffected.
Still, when the Duke gave his orders, the control room staff quickly pulled up the student locations Arthur requested.
"Two of them have just checked in at a Regional Office on Planet Cecriri," one of the operators reported.
"Ohh, guess the other two are there too, just haven’t checked in yet. Give me their coordinates," Arthur said.
"It’s 1956.3—pardon, do you even understand this?"
The man paused midway, realising he was reading off a string of coordinates that only those possessing Spatial Authorities would normally comprehend.
When he asked, Arthur simply stared at him deadpan, before silently copying the coordinates from the screen without a word.
He inputted the numbers into the Cosmic Teleporter, infusing it with energy and seamlessly converting the gate he had emerged from into a new entry gate directed at those coordinates.
"Thanks."
With that, he stepped through the gate and vanished beyond it, leaving behind the stunned Academy officers.
◇ ◇ ◇
And that was how Arthur ended up at the Academy Regional Office, waiting for Layla and the others.
While he waited, he passed the time playing Want for Speed, so focused on the game that he didn’t even notice they’d come out—at least, not until the exact moment Nicole hugged him from behind.
The second she wrapped her arms around him, Arthur let go of the controller, which dropped to his lap. He turned, reached back, and lifted her easily from under her arms, pulling her over the backrest of his chair and settling her down onto his lap.
"It might’ve only been a few months for you guys, but for me, it’s been over a year. I missed you all a lot," he said, pulling her into a hug.
Nicole, understandably surprised by the smooth lift-over-the-chair move, was snapped out of her daze by his mention of the time difference.
"The time difference... it was that much?" she asked.
"Mhmm..."
Arthur hummed in response, then leaned back slightly and raised an eyebrow as something about her caught his eye.
"You’re growing your hair out? It’s way longer than you usually keep it."
"Layla wanted us to try a new hairstyle, so she told me to," Nicole replied, lifting a few strands over her shoulder.
"I suggested we grow it out with magic, but she said that wouldn’t be ’authentic.’"
"Pfft... classic Layla."
Just as Arthur chuckled, someone suddenly blurred past them, nearly tripping as they skidded to a halt right in front of him.
Of course, it was the green-eyed girl they’d just been talking about—Layla—and her eyes couldn’t have been wider in shock.
"You—back—When?!"
"A few minutes ago," Arthur replied smoothly. "I’ll have you know I haven’t even gone to see my mother yet. You should feel honoured I came to see you first."
He added that last part with a smug expression, and at the sight, Layla visibly deflated, rolling her eyes.
"Every bit of joy I felt just evaporated with that sentence."
