n

n

nHer pale arms swung to her sides, striking at the invisible walls as her expression turned grim, and her well kept brows curved in a not-so-subtle hint of panic. Locks of straight golden hair brushed over her shoulders, like feathers let loose from the plumage of a legendary golden phoenix. A few strands fell at her feet with a gentle motion, pulled out by the occasional grip of her nervous, slender fingers.

nIt took the good part of a minute for anger and indignation to finally replace the fit of anxiousness that had crippled her mind-Allowing her to regain the clarity of mind necessary to properly assess her situation. Her shiny blue eyes glowed with hues of gold, rapidly darting at the images that reached her from beyond her cage that she alone occupied. A quiet world devoid of any sound other than her nervous moans, the soft tapping of her feet, and the brushing of her loose robe against her skin.

nOn the other side of this cage, Roley had been attempting to make contact with the closest of the several trillions of mortals, beasts and cultivators Der’s power had freed. Each of them shocked awake by a dream-like control that, in their minds, had only lasted a moment. Like a bad dream, clear and realistic as long as one delved into it, but brief and inconsequential the moment they woke up.

nAt one point, they were traveling across the universe with the comrades of their factions, sharing a dinner with their husbands, wives and children in a world with close to no knowledge of mana, or bearing tusks and fangs at the prey they had been chasing half across the woods they had known for all their lives. The next moment, they were standing in a foreign world. A flat surface of white marble where once was soft and warm earth, and endless darkness where once were the comfortable sight of a blue sky, and slow moving clouds.

nIt was needless to say that, as the spell came crashing down, the once calm, yet eerie crowd, had turned loud and chaotic.

nSome of the strongest cultivators were quick to react, and immediately darted into the depths of the unknown universe, blasting thousands of mortals who, unable to bear the power of their sudden departure, were sent flying in every direction. Similarly, some of the most malicious beasts, men-eaters in nature since birth, felt their empty stomachs grumble, begging them to partake in what, in their eyes, was the most scrumptious of buffets.

n“Stop! Calm down, everyone! I can explain what is going on!” Roley shouted with raised hands, occasionally lowering them in a calming motion.

nUnfortunately, no matter how many attempts at bringing some order to the chaos Roley made, none of them found success. Some of the closest cultivators, feeling the power within his body, were brought to terror-fueled submission, but to the mortals, Roley did not look any different than a common young man with odd colored eyes. Not much different than the many others around them.

nThe screams, yells and discussions wore Roley’s already worn nerves thin, as he slowly rotated the treasure of primordial spatial essence in his fingers. “I should just shove them into a pocket dimension. Drop them onto a patch of land until they calm down, they might be more inclined to listen then.” He thought to himself, growing angrier by the second.

nYet, before he could act on his thoughts, *BOOM* A deafening blast pierced through the roar of chatter and beastly noises, catching not only his attention, but that of the surrounding cultivators, beasts and mortals. Large pieces of white stones flew in the sky, darting past the confines of the supporting platform and joining other debris into the depths of space. A patch of white smoke that resembled a cloud lingered in the air, slowly inching for the hordes of living creatures.

nGiven more time to expand, the cloud soon started to thin out, revealing a humanoid figure that floated quietly in the sky. Clad in a peerless armor, and wielding a sword of dazzling silver, his appearance had an effect on each of those whose eyes laid upon him. The morals, once terrified by the surrounding monsters, saw the arrival of a knight of legend, while the cultivators shrieked as their senses came upon contact with the essence he emanated. The beasts, less intelligent but still sentient, felt their furs and scales stand on end, their instincts screaming at them to do whatever their species would do when faced with their natural predator.

n“I don’t want to hear another word.” A deep and powerful voice emerged from the chink of the man’s helmet, spreading his immortal essence outwards, like the shock waves produced by the explosion of a dying star. The wave of power carried the weight of his cultivation, as well as a mental blast that, instead of breaking their minds, dove into them, seeping into the deepest corners of their subconscious. He growled once more, “Be quiet!”

nThe entire platform turned silent. No growls of somewhat savage beasts, no cries of scared humans, nor constructs of immortal essence breaking through the floor and space. Only silence.

nDer gently landed onto the platform’s surface, still clad in the spectacular armor. At some point during his descent, the sword had disappeared from his hand, placed back into its sheath. His gauntlets lay at his waist in a relaxed position as the front of the large helmet turned towards the young woman trapped a few feet from him. “Remind me why you couldn’t have done that before sending me to find the needle in the haystack?” He asked grumpily.

n“She is using the accessories of her system.” Roley said as his black and white yes moved onto the large golden bell. “I wasn’t sure whether disconnecting her from this universe would activate either of the two. Though I doubted that the bell would ring on its own. The temples were the real problem. For all we knew, she was the only thing preventing the temples from activating. Separating her from them could have done just that. I couldn’t take the risk.”

nDer could not deny his friend’s logic. He had seen dozens of those temples before. Mines of sinister power that did not require a specific input to activate. If they did, no matter the speed those signals would travel at, to reach the main tower hidden within the archives in an attempt to ask for confirmation would take decades. No. The remnant of a will was more than enough, arming the weapon of mass suicide with a simple instruction left behind by the woman, her presence not being necessary.

n“What do you want to do with her?” Der asked before suddenly remembering something. “Also, I have been in the archives. You wouldn’t believe how many books there are in there. How are we going to find the information we are looking for?”

nRoley’s features hardened as his eyes shifted to the blond woman. In them, the old warrior could feel a hint of murderous intent. “We ask her.” He growled. The images of his followers diving to their death in a fool’s attempt to harm him were still clear in his mind, playing out on repeat.

nNoticing the look in Roley’s eyes, the woman could not help but shudder.

nƥαṇdα- ηθνε|·ƈθm

n“There is no need.” Roley shook his head. “Krom.” The last word was spoken quietly. A command that rode a wisp of sound essence into a minuscule, almost invisible rift in space. A moment later, a third figure appeared next to the two cultivators.

nThis creature was humanoid in shape, yet not completely human, composed of four limbs and a head of glass which protruded from the holes of a large dark robe, each lacking most details present on a human body. Its arms and legs lacked fingers, or joints for each part to bend properly, while its head was a smooth bowl of glass more akin to a light bulb than a human’s head. A high-tier spatial elemental. The oldest and most advanced surviving member of its kin within Roley’s elemental army.

nRoley looked back at him, somewhat unsure of which part of the glass sphere to look at. He then passed over the bead of primordial spatial essence alongside a few words. “Help the armada relocate these people to our planet. Use this to give the elements some form of.. solidity.”

n“As you command, my lord.” The spatial elemental said with a distant disembodied voice before carefully grabbing the small bead, and disappearing. Its demeanor was far less proud and aloof than that possessed by the members of its kin. A detail that had surprised Der, rooting him in place for several moments before he finally decided to follow suit.

nThe blond woman followed each of Roley’s actions carefully. Every step, every glance. She was grasping at anything. A moment of distraction that would bring this cage down, even if just for a fraction of a second. That would be enough for her to reconnect to the bell, and pick back up the one card she had left to play.

nWhen Roley’s inhuman eyes landed on hers, her shoulders shook, and her legs started to wobble. More than ever, when he started to walk towards her.

nStep by step, the young man approached the cage of spatial essence, stopping only a couple feet from direct contact. His eyes still glued on the woman’s as his right hand rose to his mouth. “This is where the negotiations begin.” He spoke into a wisp of sound essence that immediately found its way into the cage, playing into the woman’s ears.

nStartled, the woman looked around. Her immortal essence, pitiful as it was, carefully scouting every nook and cranny of the barrier, hoping to find whatever hole the wisp of sound essence had used to get to her. But, alas, she was soon disappointed.

nAs she would never come to understand, the barrier was perfect. As a matter of fact, it could hardly be called a barrier. Calling it a miniature universe would have been far more accurate. A separate dimension with absolutely no connection to the vast universe that contained it. To breach the barrier was as foolish as directly trying to teleport into the trigate without the use of the portal. It was simply impossible.

nOr at the very least, impossible for her.

nThe miniature universe possessed the spatial concept of containment. A concept that practitioners had only vaguely grasped in the studies that led to the creation of pocket dimensions, but that still required some form of essence as fuel. Specifically, Roley’s immortal essence.

nIf not for the woman’s almost nonexistent cultivation, she could have easily overpowered Roley’s power at the early stages of high immortality. But because of her reliance on the power of her system, she had failed to achieve the cultivation required to break free, allowing herself to be caught by an overly sophisticated trap that countless cultivators could have effortlessly broken out of.

n“What could you possibly want for me?” The woman asked.

nRoley’s expression was different from before, lacking any of the joviality and curiosity that, despite his serious words, the woman could see in his resting face. He was now stern, almost cold, and that scared her beyond words. “I did not come here for you.” He pointed out. “There is a piece of information I need from the archives, and you better tell me that you have the ability to point it out to me.”

nHer expression suddenly relaxed. Clashes between champions of Destiny were no small matter, and while Roley also wielded a system, he was not one of Iewah’s spawn. He was not the type to seek conflict for the sake of confrontation, and considering her kin’s reputation, the information he had crossed her in order to obtain must have been quite important. At last to him.

n“I do. What is your offer?” She asked as her feet gently tapped onto the transparent floor. Her arms, thin and pale, wrapped underneath her breasts, pushing them up just enough for her to seductively press them against the cage’s wall.

nUnimpressed, Roley’s eyes stuck to the woman’s as he said, plain and simple, “Tell me what I want to know, and you will go free.”

n