Return of the Mythic Bloodline

Chapter 510: Cosmic Corridor

"Haha, definitely not," I chuckled, rubbing the back of my head, feeling a bit embarassed.

We settled on the chairs around the small rectangular table placed in front of the bed, with Celestia standing before us. The soft lamplight cast long shadows across her determined face.

The pressure inside the room turned heavy. The earlier teasing and laughter completely vanished, replaced by a solemn stillness. Both Ume and Nymeria now carried serious visages, their eyes fixed on the Death Knight before them.

"Celestia, tell us everything you know about the pisach that appeared in your world. Its abilities, strength, weaknesses. Do not miss a single detail."

Celestia closed her eyes, preparing herself for the explanation. It was not easy to speak about someone who had manipulated her into destroying her whole world. The memories alone were a wound that had not fully healed.

"Its name is Doom. That is what it calls itself," she said, her voice serious and steady as she continued. "Doom came to Rukadvatta shortly after I was summoned. It is just a hypothesis from my side, but I think my summoning is somehow connected to its appearance as well. Nonetheless, I am not certain of it."

"Yes, your summoning is the reason behind that monster’s appearance in your world," Ume revealed, her pink eyes fixed on Celestia, unwavering. "Pisaches are beings of destruction and chaos that devour death. The more living beings die, the stronger they become. They live in the Cosmic Corridor, an imbalanced space used by cultivators to travel from one world to another. Normally they cannot leave that place, trapped there for eternity. However, when a cultivator uses the Cosmic Corridor, these pisaches attach a small part of their body to them, using it like a parasite to reach the world the cultivator is traveling to."

Ume paused for a moment before continuing, her tone carrying the weight of ancient knowledge. "The summoning ritual used to bring you to the world you call Rukadvatta must have caused your body to travel through the same space. While you were moving, the pisach named Doom must have attached a part of itself to your soul."

Ume’s words left me with parted lips for a moment, my mind reeling. Several missing puzzle pieces fell into their places, clicking together like a lock finally turning.

"Is that the reason why travelling to different worlds is banned in Vyoman?" I asked Ume, my eyes widened with dawning comprehension.

She gave a slight nod, her expression grave. "The cultivators millennia ago used to leave Vyoman after reaching the High-Tier Realm to look for worlds with greater Soulforce than Vyoman. However, none became successful in finding such a planet. Vyoman is a remote world in the cosmos with no nearby star. The cultivators died in space before they could even catch a glimpse of any nearby habitable planet."

She pressed her temples between her thumb and fingers, a heavy weight carried in her voice as she continued, "However, thirteen hundred years ago, a cultivator found a method, a shortcut to connect to a nearby world with Soulforce without the need to endlessly roam through space."

"The Cosmic Corridor..." I finished her sentence, realising what she was trying to imply. The name sent a chill down my spine.

"Precisely," she replied. "The Cosmic Corridor is a mysterious subspace that bends the distance between two worlds, connecting them to one another through their Soulforce signatures. The cultivator used this subspace to travel to another world, but in doing so, a pisach attached itself to their body. First, it destroyed the world where the cultivator had gone, before targeting the one from which the cultivator had come... Vyoman."

My hand slowly moved upward, covering my widened mouth, my breath catching in my throat. "So that is how the pisach invaded Vyoman."

Ume’s eyebrows twitched, a crease appearing between them as she seemed deeply troubled, her delicate features etched with concern.

"What is it, Sister Ume?" Nymeria asked, reading her worries, leaning forward slightly.

"There is something that I cannot understand," Ume murmured, her voice low and contemplative. "A thousand years ago, we annihilated every last one of these cursed beings and paid a huge price for it. Then how are they still alive? What I am worried about is whether this is the only one or if there are more."

My eyes shifted to Ume, my face carrying both curiosity and shock. The implications were staggering.

"Ume, have you recovered your memories of the Forgotten Era?" I asked, my tone serious, almost tense.

The Forgotten Era was the time before the years were officially started being calculated in Vyoman. I was born in the year 987 of Vyoman. The time before year zero is called the Forgotten Era. No records, historical architecture, dynasties, or beings still remained from that era, except for the Four Beast Gods and the Emperor of the Southern Continent. The people would have thought that Vyoman before that time did not even exist, if not for the Four Beast Gods and their tales spread across the world by the demi-beasts. It was as if someone had deliberately erased the entire history, wiping it clean from the fabric of memory.

"I have recovered most of them when I regained my six tail form," Ume answered, her pink eyes steady. She closed her eyes and opened them again as she stated, "Still, I did not know what price we paid to annihilate the pisaches. I only remember a single name connected to it. Maximilian Éclair Valcyrion Bane."

The name sent chills through me, a cold shiver racing down my spine. I had heard the name before. In the memories of Vyaghra, Ume had briefly mentioned the name Maximilian. However, now, it was my first time hearing the full name. It was ending with Bane, the same surname as mine. Was it just a coincidence, or was he... truly my predecessor, a distant ancestor from a time long erased?

"I understand your concerns, Taranis, Nymeria," Ume said, reading us like an open book, her pink eyes soft but knowing. Nymeria was equally shocked, her pale eyes wide, hearing someone carrying a similar surname to ours from the Forgotten Era. The weight of that revelation hung heavy in the air between us.

"We can discuss more about it another time. We must give more priority to the crisis closer to us," Ume continued, her voice firm yet gentle.

We both took a deep breath, deciding not to inquire anything more about the ancient history for now. Instead, we focused our minds on the immediate threat, the pisach named Doom, and the shadow it cast over our future.

Our focus shifted to Celestia, who was visibly trembling in front of us, her blue irises shaking like leaves in a storm. "S-so it means, I-I was the reason th-that monster ap-appeared in Rukadvatta."

One more sin added to her consciousness, piled on top of the countless others that were already pressing her down into an abyss of guilt.

"Celestia, was it you who used the Summoning Ritual?" I asked, my voice firm, cutting through her distress.

"No," she shook her head, her cyan hair swaying. "But—"

"You should not carry the blame for something that you did not commit. Nonetheless, you should not forget about the crimes you have already done," I said, cutting her off mid sentence. My tone was unyielding but not unkind. "That is the only way you will be able to find peace and leave the world of the living."

"I-I understand, Master," she replied, her voice low, her eyes dropping to the floor. Although she knew it was not her choice to be summoned to Rukadvatta, she had unknowingly and unwillingly brought doom to the very world she was summoned to protect. The irony was a bitter poison.

This revelation also made me realise something else, a cold dread creeping into my chest. I had been teleported to earth after dying at the Sentinel Line. Yet nothing had changed on Earth at that time. But five years ago, when my body split into two and I was again teleported to Vyoman, it was also around the same time that Earth bloomed with Soulforce, causing the awakening phenomena in humans and the appearance of gates and monsters.

My eyes suddenly widened as the revelation hit me like a broken dam, a flood of terrible understanding. I jumped from the chair and asked Celestia, my voice hasty and urgent, "Do you remember how you were able to enter this world?"

"I do not remember exactly, but I have a vague memory of Doom mentioning something," she answered, trying to regain her composure, her hands steadying at her sides. "It said it found the world I came from thanks to some weakling descendant of the..." She stopped, trying to think of the name Doom had mentioned. She searched her memory for a few seconds but could not retrieve it. Her recollection of that time was foggy, shrouded in darkness. "I am sorry, but I cannot remember it clearly. However, it said that the planet was useless, devoid of Soulforce, and would not help it become powerful. So it decided to send the Soulforce energy of Rukadvatta onto Earth, to make it rich enough to be devoured."

I fell back onto the chair from her words, pressing my forehead into my palm, my mind spinning. ’It is me... the gates, the monsters, the Awakeners... everything happening here is because I was teleported into this world.’