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nAfter Daniel’s true nature became known to the Pantheon, the multiverse began to change.

nDeities who once lived to witness their influence expand passively and powers grow limitlessly, were now leading trillions to war. Their target, not just the beings who had disturbed this status quo, but anyone who stood in their path. All a consequence of damaging the existential nature of one of the true pillars of existence, Fate.

nAs Fate abandoned absolute control over the regulation of the multiverse, the aspects who previously fell in line felt liberated. Uncountable years of being forced to submit, hoping that their champions would not fall behind in providing them with more power than the rest of their kin. Their lives were like those of puppet kings, forced to live in luxurious castles in which their needs were catered by subjects they had no true control over.

nFate’s decision, however, had put an end to that lifestyle.

nNow free to interfere with the realm of mortals, the aspects of existence hunted, conquered, and expanded their dominion with no restrain, using the smallest slight and offense as an opportunity to wage war, and ignoring the very clean cut borders their champions had struggled to establish throughout the years.

nIn the cracks between these endless conflicts, small groups led by extraordinary entities had started to emerge. Each fighting on the sidelines to secure a safe place for their people to settle in, and survive the chaotic era.

nOne of these groups was the Immortal Armada. A fleet of space faring mortals and cultivators whose goal was the exploration of the multiverse.

nTheir goal, to find a universe where their existence wasn’t destined to cease as a consequence of a stray attack, or a wave of existential energy released by beings whose nature they could barely comprehend.

nThroughout the years, the Immortal Armada recruited any sentient species willing to work towards this very goal, growing to a size that not many other independent powers could match. Fueled by the technological advancement of the most ingenious scientists, as well as cultivation practices one could find in the several universes they had visited, the Immortal Armada rapidly became one of the most advanced communities throughout history.

nNow, as a fleet of millions of vessels inhabited by two thousand times the number of individuals, they explored, hoping to find a universe that was neither occupied by a domain, or the rogue armies of the corrupted champions of Destiny. A voyage which carried on for decades of uninterrupted conflict that more than once had threatened the Armada’s existence.

nUntil now..

nAfter close to two hundred and sixty years, the Immortal Armada finally stumbled upon the type of universe they had always desired to find.. An untouched universe.

nA universe open to multiversal travel, but which had yet to attract competitors among the champions of the many aspects of existence, who were now otherwise occupied with their deity’s war campaigns.

nAs the first few frigates made their way into this universe, their captains immediately realized that their search was over. No cultivator at the godhood stage collecting taxes, no traffic of gargantuan monsters, alien vessels and floating islands, no powerful fluctuations of essence emitted in the distance. Just a peaceful and empty universe.. Or so they thought.

nWith the excitement one could expect from people who hadn’t been able to place their feet on soil for centuries, or even just once in their lives in case of the non-cultivators.. The entire Armada invaded the universe, and began to take control over the interdimensional portal.

n—-

nSCIA Zion, Administrative department.

n“I don’t expect you to work miracles, but we need results.. It’s been two years!” Exclaimed a rugged faced man-at-arms to a room of white coats. His tone fluctuated between the respect the men that stood in front of him deserved, and the exasperation caused by the urgency of the situation.

nThe men and women in white coats, all humanoid yet not all human, did not take the man’s tone at heart. Instead, they looked at one another with disappointment. They shared the man’s urgency. They knew that the man-at-arms did not see them as failures, and recognized them as the only hope the Immortal Armada had to not lose the ideal universe they had found.

nA woman, abnormal in both her overwhelming height and appearance, took a step forward and asked with worry, “Commander, our work will yield results, but we need more time. How.. How much longer do we have?”

nThe commander raised his head. His gaze locked onto the big and bottomless pools of darkness that were the woman’s eyes, ignoring the long and soft gray-colored scales which grew on top of her head, and serpent-like scales which covered the back of her neck and nose bridge.

n“Horror’s crusade has been marching towards our section of the Trigate.. His success against the lower domains has facilitated his power growth. According to our estimates, at the latest, our universe will reach its path of destruction within ten standard months.”

nThe quietness of the room was interrupted by a collective gasp, then resumed as the researchers’ voices were choked by a feeling of anxiousness.

n“Repeat to me what our options are.. Please” the commander muttered before getting up from the chair, and approaching the vast window mounted behind his desk. Through the window one could see the usual darkness of space, yet, the man’s eyes were aimed elsewhere. The tens of thousands of ships that surrounded the Scientific Center of the Immortal Armada, Zion.

nThe woman who had previously spoken took a step back, allowing three researchers to take her place. A dashing young man who radiated faint and unstable waves of immortal essence, a short and bald old man with thick glasses, and a colossus, twice as tall as a normal man, with muscles of rough stone which threatened to tear his coat to shreds at any moment.

nWhile the young man appeared to be the youngest individual in the room, the rest of the researchers treated him with high regards. A respect he had earned not only because he was the only immortal cultivator among them, but also due to his age, which matched that of the rest of the scientists combined.

nAfter taking a step forward, the cultivator unconsciously brushed his messy dark-brown hair to the side, then looked down at his hands, where a small pile of documents had suddenly appeared.

n“Since last year’s report, we have narrowed the scope of our research by half.. A fifth, given the new deadline.” He said dispassionately while picking a large portion of the documents he was holding. Once he finished turning the pile into two, he placed the largest pile on top of the desk face down, discarding them as unviable options. He then handed over the rest to the commander.

nAs the commander sifted through the documents, the young-looking cultivator began to explain. “We are left with three projects. Broken Vase, House of Mirrors, and Amber Stone.” He listed as his eyes narrowed slightly. It was only after the man-at-arms turned to look back at him, showing that he was paying attention, that he continued.

n“Our studies towards the Broken Vase project have borne good results. The idea is to create a contained space fracture which would encase the interdimensional portal, giving the impression to future visitors that this universe is on the path of collapse, and therefore isn’t worth exploring.”

nThe commander flipped a few pages. “That sounds ambitious.. What’s the hitch?” He inquired.

n“The scavenger division has accumulated enough spatial treasures to produce a formation.. The problem is the formation in itself. Nothing would stop us from implementing it tomorrow, but we cannot guarantee that the formation we have now, would stop the artificially shattered space from collapsing a hundred years from now.. Leaving us trapped inside a collapsing universe, and wiping us out. More research towards a more adequate formation is required.. a lot more.”

nThe simple explanation was far from being enough to explain every small detail of the project, but the commander was not there to interrogate the scientific team. Their goal was the same as his, and he knew better than to argue over something that was beyond his sphere of competence. He did not doubt their motivation in the least.

n“Very well.. Talk to me about House of Mirrors.”

n“House of Mirror is the more far-fetched of the three projects. By far the most viable, but just as much risky. It consists in creating an illusory formation which, just like Broken Vase, would give the impression of a shattered universe. It requires a tenth of the resources, just enough processes of solidifying space into shards, and forcing them to grind against another.. But..”

n“But what?” the commander asked.

nThe cultivator turned to look at his colossal companion. On his face was a doubt that did not escape the attentive eyes of the man-at-arms. This was the project the lead scientist was the least confident about. “Well, within a natural shattered universe, the shards shift, teleport, clash and fall apart constantly, yet they are always connected the same way they were when the space was in its original stable state. With that being said, a normal universe would have an infinite number of shards, meaning that the chances of two connected fragments being near one another are infinitesimal. Our illusion would have a significantly smaller number of fragments.. Any cultivator with a sufficient comprehension of the essence of space would be able to notice that our puzzle is composed of much fewer pieces than it should have, allowing them to see through the illusion.”

nThe commander nodded his head in agreement, then added, “An illusion would not be able to fool an aspect of existence either. Mhm. What about Amber.. What was it?.”

n“Amber Stone.” The bald old man repeated before the cultivator in the white scrub could.

nThe young-looking cultivator was not bothered by the interjection. Instead, he continued with a matter-of-fact tone, “The Amber Stone project is the most realistic and safe among the three.. However, its completion is beyond our efforts.”

nThe commander’s eyebrows rose for a moment. “What do you mean?”

n“It is based on the same concept as House of Mirrors and Broken Vase, in the way that we need spatial treasures and spheres to fuel a vast formation.. But the setback is different. While the problem with the former two projects is either the risk in its concept, or a lack of a solid formation, Amber Stone is rock solid in those two aspects.”

n“What is the problem then, and how is it beyond you?”

nThe bald and short old man who had spoken before, lead of the Amber Stone project, took over the explanation. “As you know, the interdimensional portals aren’t rifts.. They are channels of soft space which moving objects can penetrate through simple motion. It is not heat, pressure, life, or anything of the sort that enables passage.. Just the motion. A lack of motion inhibits these portals, hence why when a universe fully collapses, the absolute lack of motion from the other side turns the malleable portal into an indestructible barrier..”

n“This function is extremely odd, and we haven’t been able to explain it.. What we know, however, is that had this function not existed, the collapse of a universe would spread into the trigate, and through the other universes, bringing the entire multiverse to destruction.”

nThe commander’s face suddenly showed a trace of confusion, “What about the patch of stable space that surrounds the portal?”

n“The barrier is a natural formation that stabilizes the space surrounding the portal. Presumably, to safeguard the ability to apply motion to the portal’s surface. However, it is not indestructible. The collapse of the universe would still harm it, breaking it in the shattering phase, and swallowing it during the total collapse.” the old man explained. “The barrier is not a problem for House of Mirrors, since the shattered space would be just an illusion, while Broken Vase would require us to break the barrier itself, and contain the fragments, hence why it requires more resources. Amber Stone, on the other hand, would allow us to solidify the space within the barrier by overcharging it with a formation, but that requires more spatial treasure than we have available.”

nFor the following few minutes the commander continued reading through the details of the three projects, while the scientists waited in silence. It was only after going through them twice, that the man-at-arms raised his gaze and said, “You have done a fantastic job, and I know there is enough expertise in this room to turn any of these three projects into a success, given enough time.. But realistically, we only need one.”

nAs he finished speaking, the commander grabbed two of the projects, and added them to the discarded pile. He then handed the remaining one back to the lead scientist. “Focus on this one.. Amber Stone. Perfect it as much as you can in the time we have. Regarding the resources.. The army has nothing but men to spare for the scavenging teams. Finding the treasures you need will be our main focus.”

nMost of the scientists appeared ecstatic by the man’s decision. Each of them was either the lead, or the conceiver of one of the original fifteen projects, yet, seeing their project being discarded did not appear to bother them. The reason for that, was that they all desired the dream on which the Immortal Armada had been built to succeed more than they desired personal gratification. To focus the entirety of the scientific division into a single project was clearly a step towards that goal.

nSeeing this cohesion among the scientific team, the commander could not help but let out a faint smile. “Ten months, gentlemen.. Billions of lives rely on this. Let’s not disappoint th-” Before the commander could finish speaking, a blinding light pierced through the thick window, blinding the scientist and the room around them.

nTaken by surprise, the commander turned around..

nIn stark contrast with the pride he was feeling a moment earlier, the commander felt a strangle at his heart. As he fell on his knees, the view became clear for the scientists, who saw thousands of ships, all filled with millions of mortals and cultivators, destroyed.

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