Chương 1028

There is only darkness around me, yet when I move my body and even swing my sword, it feels like there is a thick atmosphere. Just like the surroundings feel hot and cold at the same time, there is a very odd sensation taking place with the force I exert on my surroundings too. It feels like I'm trying to push through dense liquid that should have heavy resistance. However, the aura in the air reacts with my movements to counter the strain, making reality shift with me when I do so.

It is like simulated zero gravity. All of the Primordial Aura, ether, and purple divine threads, mana, and corruption used when I move should theoretically flow outward into the void. Yet, not a single drop of energy leaves my origin body. I can't even tell if we're headed straight upward into this darkness, or if we're spinning, or falling. Waves of disorientation and perfect serene comfort flow into me at once, only amplifying my confusion.

When I look deep into my mind and view the Upper and Lower Realm through my spectate feeds, it is all still there. I can even sense the sextillions of soul ties anchoring my mind to reality. The only strange part is, they disappear into the darkness too. I know they connect somewhere, but my actual senses cannot find a direction to track them. The only other living being I can feel is Maria. Her voice echoes in my mind.

"This aura... we have felt it before..." Then memories begin flashing through our minds. After collapsing our Mind Palaces while awakening our Origin bodies, the ability to instantly recall any memory either one of us holds is as easy as breathing. The clear imagery of a Void Creeper that held a silver artifact that looked like a clock comes to mind. It was when we claimed the Creator's Legacy, and images of a strange place outside of the Ravine kept appearing in our minds.

It was a very dark place like this, but the flow of space and time didn't make much sense when I was viewing it before. Now, as I feel the absurdity of this very dark aura around us, I'm certain that place we witnessed memories of is similar to this one. Vague imagery of many Void Creepers waiting around in this space comes back to me too, but it doesn't make floating in this darkness any different.

I even try channeling the feeling of the void I sit in now, or the wavelength that the memories of this place make me feel. It doesn't create any fluctuations. The darkness around us continues mirroring everything we do, and pushing all of the energy we expend right back into our pools. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Even full-powered swings of my sword, or forming complex arrays and setting them off all at once.

The instant they leave the touch of my Origin body, they disappear into the darkness, and all of the energy returns to my being like it was never spent. I can't even zero in on how it's happening. There are no microscopic arrays, or even changes in the dark primordial aura's flow. It can only mean one thing, whatever it is, it is so much stronger than me that I am nowhere near comprehending its abilities.

When I try to push my mind down through my soul ties, into the Upper and Lower Realms to try and use my shared Primordial Aura resonance to speed up my processing power, I come to another very interesting discovery. Since the moment the final crack in the outside of the construct healed up, it's as though time has slowed down to a complete stop. When my mind was completely away, solely focused on Maria and trying to understand the void, no time passed at all.

Now, when I pour my attention back into my soul ties, reality moves forward again. Abby's Primordial Tree grows its roots to connect highways from the edges of the Lower Realm's galaxy up to the leaves blossoming in the Purple Zone.

"Do you feel that too...?" I ask Maria. Her mind is right beside mine, observing this phenomenon play out. We instinctively let our consciousness drift away, isolating ourselves together in our own thoughts, then pull back and watch the Upper and Lower Realm move forward in time again.

"Yes... I definitely did..." she responds. We keep testing this ability, and find that the flow of time itself is not being altered within this construct. The living beings inside have no clue at all that we're conducting these tests. The only ones affected are us, the observers looking in. It's impossible to pinpoint how or why this is happening. I don't know if it is some kind of unwritten Rising Emperor's Perk that has not been updated in the system because it is too strong.

Or possibly, it is this Dark Primordial Aura we're floating in. It could be easily manipulated, and the fact that we're the only living beings inside it connected directly to the Upper and Lower Realm, we can claim control of this construct. Or, this is all an illusion, and the darkness is playing tricks on our minds in total isolation. Just as we start getting accustomed to manipulating the perceived flow of time in the Realms below, a soul tie that is separated from the others vibrates on a different frequency.

I can't tell what direction it's coming from, but I can feel that it carries packets of strange energy. The instant I latch onto it, voices start echoing in my head. The first is tinted slightly golden, and it's flooded with the white and black serene aura that Ember holds.

"Do you truly believe this is how you will live forever? You are living a lie. I have already killed you, yet you hold onto this childish idea of immortality." A reply flows in right after, like someone is talking back to Ember, somewhere else in this darkness. His aura is silver and purple. It feels sharp and ancient, yet so sure of itself, filled with an ego that makes Marcellus nothing but a drop in an ocean.

"You do not make the rules any longer! Your Great Cycle is over. I rule the system now, and I have since the moment I was born. This is the path I was meant to take, to find another system. I will be the last to see this galaxy full of life. I will succeed where no other Overseer had the courage to try!" Ember's golden aura responds, and I can feel him sigh through the soul tie.

"I have heard declarations like yours many times before, but your belief of what is outside is just that. A belief. A wish with no proof, nothing more. I truly do hope you close your eyes and pass before seeing what you have caused billions of years of suffering to wait for. I have seen what is beyond, and there are no other systems left."