Chapter 993: The Generation Before
Instinctively, he pushed back the energy trying to force him off the planet, a frown forming on his face.
"I’m not here to cause trouble, ’Gozon’, so cut the bullshit."
His irises flashed crimson as he spoke, and immediately, the cosmic energy trying to forcefully expel him from the planet receded.
"What just happened?" McEnda asked, his expression faintly confused, and at this, Arthur shook his head and replied, "The usual. ’Gozon’ not liking Singularities."
He covered up the real reason with a commonly known fact, sliding his hands into his pockets as he walked over to the couch in the reception room McEnda had warped them to and dropped down onto it.
"Anyway, we were talking about the Abyss Labyrinth’s resident, right?"
That question made McEnda immediately push the matter with ’Gozon’ out of his mind and focus on Arthur.
"What are you planning?"
"I’m not planning to do anything directly," Arthur replied. "I just want to bring a friend of mine over. However, this friend might get pursued, and if the pursuers chase them all the way here, there’d definitely be an altercation.
I was thinking about keeping them inside the Abyss Labyrinth to avoid any collateral damage in the event of a battle, but there’s the possibility of upsetting the creature that lives there, so before I even bring them over, I was planning to come to you guys."
Arthur leaned forward, placing his hands on the table between him and McEnda as he asked, "You Race Kings were the ones who created the Abyss Labyrinth, right? You built that dimension, and that Cosmic Horror made itself at home inside it, without conflicting with you guys at all.
Makes me wonder if you reached some sort of agreement with it, and if you did, that means you can communicate with it..."
Arthur didn’t say anything further, but that was enough for McEnda to understand that he was trying to learn how to communicate with the Dark Young that resided in the Abyss Labyrinth.
The man sighed, pressing his fingers to his temple as he recalled the exact words Gazer had spoken when the other Demon King told him about the possible futures he’d seen.
After a moment, he exhaled lightly and shook his head.
"I can’t help you with that, Arthur."
Arthur frowned lightly, sensing there was more to it than it seemed, so he stayed silent and allowed McEnda to continue.
"You’re not wrong when you say the ’Race Kings’ built the Abyss Labyrinth. But you’re forgetting something."
Leaning back on his couch, McEnda said, "There’s more than one generation of Race Kings in this universe."
"!"
Arthur’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, and McEnda continued.
"The Abyss Labyrinth was created over a million years ago. Right now, there’s no known Race Ruler in this universe older than it."
"The generation of Race Rulers that built it is the one before your generation," Arthur muttered, earning a light nod from McEnda.
"But... where are they? The former generation of Race Kings?" he asked.
"Most are either retired, outside the universe, or dead," McEnda replied instantly.
Arthur pressed his fingers to his temple and exhaled lightly, but almost immediately his eyes widened, and he looked up at McEnda in front of him.
’Most?’
That word implied that not all of them fell into those three categories, and after a second, Arthur understood why.
’Of course! He’s McEnda II!!’
Indeed, the man in front of him was Jack McEnda II, meaning there had to be a McEnda I as well.
One of the Five ’Race Emperors’ of the Valmone Universe.
"Demon Emperor McEnda I. Your father."
Hearing Arthur mention his father, McEnda II raised an eyebrow, then softly shook his head.
"Sure, my old man’s one of them, but I don’t think he can help you," he said. "For starters, I haven’t so much as seen his shadow for the past two centuries. My mother used to be my only point of contact with him, but even she’s been off-grid for about a decade now."
In other words, neither Demon Emperor McEnda I nor his wife, Demon Empress Nephinae, could be contacted.
"What about the Elven Emperor or the Spirit Empress? Were they involved?"
Arthur held onto a bit of hope for those two, but McEnda’s response wiped it out.
"Spirit Empress Kaylatheurge wasn’t involved in the Abyss Labyrinth’s creation. My father told me that when he passed his seat among the 72 to me.
As for the Elven Emperor, that prideful long-eared bastard might as well be best friends with Craig."
The Master of the Valmone Universe’s Pantheon, god Emperor Craig, was the last person Arthur would expect to receive help from in this universe, and there was no way someone close enough to be called his ’best friend’ would assist Arthur either.
"Well, I’ll be damned..."
Arthur leaned back and cursed, staring up at the decorated ceiling above.
’There’s too much risk if we can’t establish some kind of communication with the Dark Young first.’
He closed his eyes and sank into his thoughts, searching for another path.
’Kelliana Weiss should be an Ultimate Realm Existence, right? She should be able to locate and speak with the Dark Young on equal footing. Can we have her be the one to make contact?
But Alexia said she seals away her Progenitor power and memories most of the time, so I can’t rely on that.’
Another heavy sigh slipped from his lips, and at that, McEnda asked, "What’re you gonna do now?"
"That’s what I’m trying to think about," Arthur replied.
Sitting up, he continued, "Worst case scenario, we’re gonna have to try finding another universe to work in. You guys have been pretty accommodating with me, so I’d rather not mess things up here.
The reason I wanna talk with the Dark Young is just to let it know beforehand that there’d be a fight and try to get it to NOT interfere."
He drummed his fingers on the table, but no immediate solution came to mind, making him shake his head.
"Nope. Can’t think of anything immediately," he said. "It’ll be a while before they come around this part of the Multiverse, so I’ll try to think of a solution in that time.
Even when they get here, their pursuers won’t instantly know they’re here unless certain conditions are met, so maybe I’ll bring them to meet you guys so we can discuss alternatives or something."
Arthur rose from his seat, looking straight at McEnda as he continued.
"I’ll take a look at the Parallel Paths with my own Temporal Authority and see if I can find a solution among the endless possibilities.
Until then, I’d like you guys to keep in mind that avoiding whatever ’trouble’ King Gazer saw is my priority. I’ve invested too much time and effort into this universe to wreck it with a thoughtless action, after all."
Right after saying that, Arthur created a Cosmic Gate with a thought, ambient cosmic energy rapidly gathering to form a gate leading out of Gozon with such speed one would think the planet itself was trying to chase him away.
Which, in truth, was exactly the case.
