Chương 500: Chapter 469: Integrated Space

The first system event, which had been a rather special treasure hunt, had finished and throughout the multiverse, rumors about the winners began to spread. Five of the treasure hunts had turned out to be extremely difficult, with an abnormal entrance fee of one thousand five hundred years—something completely unheard of. In previous eras, nothing had surpassed the five-hundred-year entrance price. Such a trial was meant for champions, and it was expected that only a Chosen would emerge victorious.

For four of the trials this had indeed been the case, and the gods loudly bragged about the accomplishments of their Chosen. Yet when it came to this one trial, the rumors fell eerily silent, and no one dared to claim victory. The contrast between the loud boasting and the complete silence surrounding that trial sparked countless speculations that spread like wildfire. It did not take long until people discovered which planets had participated in that system event. Soon the questioning began.

For most participants, simply surviving such a trial without being killed by one of the many monsters inside was already a great achievement. That someone without a blessing might have won such a trial was extremely rare. Gods were dominant beings who controlled most of the valuable territories across the multiverse. Even in the newly shielded universe, they were already conquering land through their Chosen.

The idea that there might be someone capable of fighting a Chosen—and winning—was of great interest to all factions without a patron god. For them, this person would be both a hero and a chance to obtain powerful items they normally would never dare to compete for. Only those who had entered the final stage knew who had won, and those gods refused to comment on it.

The only beings able to relay messages between the new universe and integrated space were gods or incursions, which meant the information remained hidden. Eventually, however, one god—whom no one expected—began to boast. Seeing how the rumors were spreading, Tenebrice decided it was best to release the final ranking list. His Chosen had placed second—ahead of all the Chosen of the living races.

Tenebrice himself was not doing particularly well in the greater balance of power, and it was rumored that another undead faction had promised to aid him if he revealed the information. Thus a single name flooded the entire multiverse. Thalion the human who surpassed multiple chosen. For many gods it was merely the newest gossip. For a few, however, it was highly interesting information, and they began asking questions such as: Why hadn't the other gods revealed this earlier? The answer was rather simple.

The gods involved were simply too powerful and it would damage their pride if their Chosen had lost to someone without a divine blessing. Many incursions sent out orders to dispatch scouts in hopes of contacting this Thalion and discussing possible alliances. As always with such stories, many began to doubt them while false tales spread alongside the truth. Since no further information or accomplishments surfaced, the name slowly began to fade back into the shadows.

What no one in the multiverse knew was that many of the rumors had not spread by accident. They had been carefully orchestrated by two gods. One was Aeta, who did not find it amusing at all that the human who had stolen from him was now celebrated as the hero of the weak. The second was the Golden Lord, ruler of the elven gods. The Golden Lord was even less amused by the amount of attention Thalion had begun to attract.

The fact that Thalion's patron had remained silent was interpreted as a sign that this unknown god must be extremely powerful—someone who fully understood the consequences should his identity become known, especially since he had not yet granted the human a divine blessing. With each passing day new rumors appeared claiming that Thalion had been killed in battle. Those stories came from many different sources, which made them seem believable.

And since there was no way to verify the truth, few bothered to question them. While the multiverse slowly began to forget what had happened during the first system event in the new universe, the Golden Lord paid a visit to the Oracles. They were gods who, when it came to raw combat power, were among the weakest. Yet when it came to gazing into the future or locating a specific individual, there were none more capable. The Golden Lord had grown impatient.

The gods who had Chosen in the new universe had all failed to capture Thalion, and they were unlikely to succeed anytime soon unless they received a hint about where to search. Golden light spread through space, announcing his arrival within the system of the Oracles. He was one of the gods who had sworn to protect them, and in return they were bound to aid him should he request their assistance. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

The Oracle domain encompassed three planets orbiting a green star. A massive river of cosmic energy connected the planets, making it possible to travel between them as if swimming through an endless current. Solan, the Golden Lord, flared his aura briefly—far from his full power—to announce his presence. Among gods, this was something akin to ringing a doorbell.

"What an honor to see you here, Solan. How can we be of assistance?" the oracles asked in unison as all three sisters appeared before him. They were blind human women with blue hair that flowed like the rivers connecting the planets. Each of them wore the same simple blue dress without ornaments or runes. With a wave of his hand, Solan, the Golden Lord, conjured a barrier around them so that no one could listen in.

"I need to know the whereabouts of the human Thalion in the new universe." The three oracles chuckled in unison.

"Great lord, we had not expected that you would be interested in a human. We assume you do not wish this human well, correct?" the sisters spoke together.

"Not really. I just want to know the name of his patron—that's all. If he gives me that information, he will be off the hook," Solan said with a shrug. He truly didn't care much about the human. To be fair, after being captured and questioned, the elves in the new universe would most likely enslave him—but that wasn't Solan's concern. The sisters nodded together and began invoking their Transcendence skill. A faint glow shimmered around them, the same color as the great river flowing behind them.

Solan waited patiently for hours until the glow slowly faded. Normally this was the moment when they revealed what they had seen. But this time the sisters simply stood there in silence, exchanging glances.

"And what did you see? You did locate the human, right?" Solan asked. He had already begun to worry that Thalion's patron had granted him some ability capable of blocking their transcendence.

"No, no… we saw him…" came the hesitant answer. Yet it was clear they were unsure whether they should continue.

"For heaven's sake, must I drag every word out of you? Where is the human called Thalion?" Solan demanded, his voice beginning to grow irritated. What was wrong with them?

"Eh… well… he is with your daughter…" the oracle on the right said quietly. It took a moment for the words to sink in. Then Solan exploded.

"MY DAUGHTER?! What?! Have you lost your minds? My daughter is in my empire! How could a human from that new universe possibly reach her? Would you kindly explain yourselves?!" Solan roared, his face turning red.

"Well… we saw him on the new planet first, but he was constantly moving. The place is also very primitive. No great cities or anything that could guide your forces there. So we looked further into the future…" The oracle paused. That pause broke the camel's back.

"YOU LOOKED FURTHER INTO THE FUTURE—AND THEN WHAT?!" Solan shouted. He couldn't remember the last time he had been this emotional.

"You know the Endless Spire? The great tower filled with trials where no one has ever reached the end. The Endless Spire where only the greatest prodigies are sent…"

"DO YOU THINK I'M AN IDIOT?! The Endless Spire—one of the most important trials in existence! I KNOW the place! I KNOW what the Endless Spire is! At what point in this conversation did I say that I didn't know what the Endless Spire is?!?" Solan was truly on edge now. But when it came to his daughter, there was nothing he wouldn't do.

"Right… the Endless Spire," the oracle continued calmly.

"At some point we lost track of the exact moment in time. It can be quite difficult when looking far in the future. You know, we only see images rushing past. If there were a ruler beside us showing the timeline, that would really help…"

"IF YOU DON'T GIVE ME THE IMPORTANT INFORMATION RIGHT NOW, I WILL GET A RULER AND SMASH IT OVER YOUR STUPID HEAD!" Solan roared as the oracle began drifting off again.

"Ah, right. You know… age and all that. Anyway—this is the place where we saw them. We only caught a very brief image, but all three of us saw your daughter and the human inside the same trial within the tower."

"We thought that might be something you would be interested in." Well, they weren't wrong about that. Sadly, the oracles couldn't give any more information, and it would take some time before they could use their transcendence skill again. In the meantime Solan returned to his own palace to think about what he had just witnessed. He had rarely felt this confused or uncertain.

After that last statement he had screamed at the oracles, and they would be searching the future of Thalion and his daughter again and again and again. Chances were high they wouldn't find anything useful, but a father could hope. This whole situation was going in a direction he didn't like one bit. Since his daughter was involved, should he order them to kill Thalion outright—or leave him alone? For now, it was all too stressful. He decided to enter a quick cultivation session to clear his mind.

Yet as he moved closer to the massive golden sun—which was also one of the greatest natural treasures in the multiverse—the surroundings suddenly began to darken. Within a split second Solan was fully alert, clad in his full armor. He could feel what was about to come, and it was powerful. A dark vortex opened four hundred thousand kilometers away, and multiple dark figures emerged from it. Solan had already notified the other gods, and several of the strongest immediately teleported to his side.

Normally being this close to the sun would put immense pressure on invading gods, but the first figure stepping out of the vortex radiated such a suppressing aura that it devoured the surrounding light.

"Eclipsari… what do you want here?" Solan asked in a threatening tone. They were powerful, and an all-out fight would cause catastrophic damage to his empire. But here, within his domain, he would not lose. Still, he had to admit that the aura of the humanoid insect standing at the center was overwhelming. No wonder—this was the oldest member and leader of the Eclipsari. It was also the only one in the group with pitch-black eyes, a sign of extreme power among their kind.

Most Eclipsari had violet, purple, or red eyes, each color representing how strong the Eclipsari was. Eyes as black as the night meant that this Eclipsari stood at the pinnacle of its race.

"We and the human Thalion… are connected. The strands of fate have led us here. Should the human die through your involvement, this means war." The Eclipsari leader spoke, its dark voice rolling outward like a shockwave.

"What? How are YOU connected?" Solan blurted out, earning several confused stares from his commanders. He still hadn't fully recovered from the meeting with the oracles.

"He is one of us. Yet he has not survived our trials to be worthy of the name Eclipsari. If you bring us the human alive and well… you will receive a small favor." The leader paused.

"We also require a way to send a few of our kind into the new universe to test him. Assistance will be required there as well. Otherwise things could get out of hand."

"Okay, I will help you!" Solan answered instantly. The heads of his commanders snapped toward him with perplexed expresions. In Solan's opinion, this was perfect. Send a few young Eclipsari into the new universe and onto the planet with the human, and the problem would solve itself. His daughter would be safe, and if he was really lucky, he might even learn the name of the human's patron.

"Good. Then we shall return in two days with a few of our kin. What is the level requirement?" the leader asked. Solan immediately noticed that the creature seemed more relaxed now.

"Currently we can't teleport individuals into the universe. For that, more time must pass, but it should be possible around early D-grade," Solan explained. Now he no longer had to worry about his daughter. There was no way that the human would survive the testing of an Eclipsari. The fact that they called a fight to the death "testing" was something else entirely.

"Good. We will remain in contact," the leader said. A vortex opened behind him, and a moment later he and the other Eclipsari were gone. The moment they disappeared, Solan's commanders began bombarding him with questions. With a quick teleport he escaped them. This had been too much already, and after everything that had happened he wanted to see his daughter. Politics sometimes truly weren't meant for those who had someone they cared about. Good lord…

I can never tell her mother about this, or the apocalypse will begin.