Several Universes away, Aurae, who was about to execute a long-distance teleportation, suddenly froze. The six lightning suns serving as its eyes dimmed significantly, and the tsunami-like waves of energy radiating from its being suddenly receded.
As improbable as it may seem, the titanic android "frowned."
"Who did this?" The robot snarled with a tinge of frustration and helplessness in its metallic voice. "I had finally managed to breach their defenses and pinpoint the coordinates of Grigori's Divine Academy when I lost them again. I can't even lock my mental sense onto the coordinates of Seed World Z4ZF1367 anymore. It's as if it has literally been erased from the Mirror Universe."
Aurae was no ignorant small Evolver but a venerable Ancient Designer. Faced with this unusual situation, its processor accessed the Oracle System's Archives and sifted through billions of decillions of exaoctets of data in less time than it takes a human to blink.
In an instant, it found thousands, millions of occurrences that could correspond to such a phenomenon. The common denominator of all these unusual events was invariant: space-time and Aetherdream had collapsed to a level of degradation beyond Grade 20.
In other words, all Aether Runes and Symbols whose compression level was below Grade 20 had disintegrated, reverting to pure Dream Aether. At such a degree of disintegration, very few things could survive, and the space-time of the Mirror Universe was not one of them.
To make it even easier to understand, one could consider that the Mirror Universe now had a hole somewhere in its body. Between two Mirror Universes, there could be "void," but this void was not the void as we usually describe it.
This void was the infinite Dream Aether in its purest form. The same Dream Aether that the Mirror Universes and Digestors were so fond of. The problem was that this Dream Aether belonged to no one, and it was not so easy to claim.
And the main reason for this was the theoretically infinite density of Dream Aether in these places. Whatever the strength of an Evolver, even an Ancient Designer could only perish if it dared to venture there without precautions. The only known thing that could "swim" in it was the Mirror Universes themselves.
Tacitly, the less-informed experts from various Mirror Universes called these untraversable places Chaotic Space, while the slightly better-informed ones called them Blank Aetherdream.
Confirming the terrible news, Aurae gave up all hope and became calm again. No need to rush anymore. Grigori and all living beings on this umpteenth planet Quanoth were no more.
"A Blank Aetherdream? The Oracle has been decisive this time. I wonder who it sent." Aurae murmured, pinching its enormous chin thoughtfully. "Still, I have to see it with my own eyes to confirm Grigori's death."
That was the least it owed to its loyal subordinate. Even if it had no chance of finding his body, it had to go there in case he had miraculously managed to escape in time.
Projecting its mental sense into the Aetherdream, it locked its attention onto a set of coordinates not too far from the now non-existent Seed World Z4ZF1367 and prepared to teleport. It was about to disappear when a familiar "Beep" from its Oracle Device rang in its mind.
Aurae read the notification from the Oracle System, and its body, which was about to be compressed into a stream of information and energy, immediately solidified. The gigantic android was still expressionless, but this time one could feel the deep emotions that shook it through the flickering of its six eyes.
The message was short, but the news it brought was enough to shake its steel heart and make its circuits overheat:
[An Ancient Designer has fallen in battle. All Rank 5 Oracle Governors or higher personnel are required to join the emergency war council at the Oracle Palace of System A1, Planet A0. Your presence is mandatory, and any personnel absent without a valid excuse will face severe sanctions.]
At that moment, Aurae made the parallel between the destruction of Seed World Z4ZF1367 under its authority and a bad premonition began to creep into its mind. Its instinct as a robot billions of years old whispered to it that these incidents were only the beginning, and that the worst was yet to come.
A new era was about to begin. Would it be the last for their Mirror Universe? Aurae didn't care. In the end, it was just a robot.
*****
A year before the annihilation of Seed World Z4ZF1367 or a few minutes ago for some, a few victorious Players had left the Divine Academy prematurely, choosing not to take advantage of the one-year stay offered by Grigori. Vhoskaud, Ael, Felphi, and Psykow were among them.
One might wonder what the point was in leaving an Ordeal World so early? After all, regardless of the time spent in an Ordeal, didn't all Players emerge from their Red Cubes at the same time? Namely, 8 o'clock in the morning sharp.
Such restrictions did not apply to the powerful and the wealthy. In the Mirror Universe, everything had a price, even the Oracle. It was both fantastic and frightening.
By leveraging its super faction's relationships, Vhoskaud had been able to be projected onto Quanoth hundreds of years before the other Players.
In this way, at 8:16 a.m. of the same day, sixteen minutes after the start of their Fourth Ordeal, two humanoid aliens with pale blue skin and darker blue stripes emerged from a huge Red Cube floating a few inches off the ground in a huge, deserted room.
The alien on the left, half a head taller, was a pleasant-looking man, even for humans, but only the lower part of his face was visible under his hood. His clothes and armor were in tatters, but somehow his hood had been spared.
The alien on the right was a drop-dead gorgeous woman with curves where they should be, and the state of her clothing matched that of her companion, exposing much more skin than modesty and decency allowed. To her great disappointment, the man at her side was totally indifferent to her "attire."
The two Players had barely taken a few steps out of the Red Cube when another similar alien bearing a vague resemblance to the couple teleported in front of them, blocking their way. He wore the same kind of dark hooded mantle as Nullifyer when Jake had first met him.
Smiling, the blue-skinned man greeted them, "Ael and Felphi, you're already back? You're just in time."
Like them, this man was what the Archives of the Oracle System called a Neron God. Neron was their species, but unlike other gods who were born or gained their power by harvesting the thoughts and faith of their followers, they were what one could call a genuine divine race.
By birth, they were immortal and had a unique Divinity within them, a divine body and spirit. Their powers were random and quickly stabilized with their personality. To procreate, Neron Gods mixed their divine essence, ensuring their offspring had the same potential.
Unlike most of the Deities in Lost Divinities, even if no one believed in them they could still develop their divine powers and were not in danger of being "forgotten" to the point of extinction.
Another typical racial trait of their species was that they liked to be called by a common name evoking their divine ability rather than using the usual format "God of Something."
Recognizing the alien before him, Ael, aka the Nullifyer, frowned and quipped,
"Uncle Carbonizer, what are you talking about? We only parted ways a few minutes ago as agreed. I hope the main branch of Lost Divinities didn't lie to you about this secret dimension you want to send us off. A year of free time on Quanoth, let alone in such a Divine Academy, is not so easy to give up…"
"Don't worry, the Omniscient God personally crafted this Divine Realm, and I paid a small fortune to send you and Felphi there." Carbonizer reassured his nephew calmly. "An hour here is equivalent to three years there. Two days there, it's definitely worth it."
Ael and Felphi exchanged a glance and nodded, "Okay then."
The couple pretended to start walking again when Ael noticed that his uncle Carbonizer had not moved.
"Anything else, uncle?" He raised an eyebrow suspiciously.
Carbonizer became serious and disclosed,
"A few minutes before your 4th Ordeal, a meeting was held this morning at the Oracle Senate on our planet, gathering the Oracle Overseers and the most powerful leaders and Evolvers of B836, B839, and B840. The topic was the impending end of B841's diplomatic immunity and to a lesser extent that of B842 in a little less than four years. As you know, the Evolvers and territories of these new agglomerated planets are little Corrupted, and their strength is still lacking. Aether density is also still low, while the Digestor threat remains manageable."
"Tell me what you really want to say." Ael squinted his eyes. When his uncle beat around the bush, it never boded well.
"Maybe you don't know this, but three-quarters of the surface of B836, where we are, is already under Digestor control. The leaders of the most powerful nations and factions on our planet have, therefore, decided to participate in the invasion of B841 and B842. B841 is already a lost cause. Their Oracle Overseer is incompetent, and 90% of their territory has already fallen under Digestor control. Even if we capture and enslave the Evolvers there, we are closer to a rescue mission than a raid.
"However... B842 is more promising. Oros, its Oracle Overseer, gave Jax, the Oracle Overseer of B839, a good lesson not long ago. Jax is a vengeful and grudge-holding individual, but he also knows how to be generous when necessary. Zana, our Overseer, has thus decided to help him invade B842 when his diplomatic immunity expires. Of course, this kind of bribery has no sway over our super factions, but a competent Oracle Overseer and a properly defended planet are much more attractive. For this reason... Local branches of Replicators, Anti-Life, and Lost Divinities have also decided to get involved to relocate their forces. So... Are you interested?"
Ael and Felphi exchanged another surprised look, and the latter spoke up with a delighted smile,
"Isn't this planet the territory of the Myrtharian Nerds? Oya... I can feel the fun already~"
"Myrtharian what?" Carbonizer repeated in a confused tone, opening the interface of his Oracle System. Consulting the Archives, he muttered to himself, "Hmm... This name sounds familiar... Oh yeah, it comes back to me. Their leader has passed his second and third Ordeals and received a recommendation from Oros for Quanoth. He seems promising. Any problem with him or his faction?"
Ael remained silent for a brief moment, then a gleam of anticipation lit up his eyes. He said coldly, "Not really. But I have some advice to give. Don't attack him or his faction. Whatever is promised to you, let Replicators and Anti-Life handle it."
His uncle Carbonizer did not immediately accept but did not refuse either. Even if Lost Divinities was not completely under his orders, he could influence decisions concerning other Neron Gods and his own sub-faction.
Ael never spoke for no reason. If he was willing to say this, it meant he was confident.
"Any reason for this advice?" Carbonizer inquired.
Ael shrugged and replied laconically, "No need to kill each other."
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