Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The goddess of creation had returned.
While this process had many twist and turns, plus what happened in the middle and the end of it was beyond Hao Ren’s expectations, in the end, the mission objective was successfully completed. They had located the Umbral Realm, found the sleeping goddess of creation, and woken her up.
As for the goddess of annihilation who escaped, Hao Ren could only say that it was fated. He had tried his best to get the best possible outcome, and the current situation was actually much better than the worst-case scenario he had expected. The goddess of annihilation had suffered a permanent injury and would be imprisoned within the Dark Abyss for the foreseeable future. The Mad Lord had also received a nasty present for its efforts. Regardless, something good still came out of the battle.
After waiting for the energy storm within the universe to subside, the Aiur quickly approached the sky above the floating continent. Following the bright glow of the teleportation beam, Salaman and a big troupe of guardian giants teleported before the goddess of creation. The ten-meter-tall giants, for all their martial presence, were like children at a loss before their creator. Most of them even forgot how to speak, and only Salaman managed to maintain his calmness. Going on one knee, he knelt before the goddess of creation. He lost his voice the moment he spoke, “Mother, we have finally…”
“It must have been tough for all of you.” The goddess of creation stood silently before Salaman as she looked up at the majestic creatures that she had created. With a slightly aghast tone, she said, “Eh, why did I make you guys so tall back then?”
“You said you messed up the measurements back then…” Salaman answered.
Hao Ren, who was by the side sitting on a stool munching on popcorn waiting for a tear-jerker scene, almost choked himself to death. With comically popped-out eyes, he guffawed. “You guys are going on about this after not seeing each other for so long?!”
“Mother has always been like this.” Salaman smiled. Standing beside the goddess of creation, he felt a familiar and long-waited sense of relief. This sense allowed his usually stoic face to soften somewhat. “She is very strict, but she was also humorous. Her boundless optimism was the best of her traits…”
“Save the flattery,” the goddess of creation interrupted Salaman as she looked at the surrounding guardians and starships before sighing, “Many have perished, right?”
“Mother, the army on Amantir…”
“There’s no need for that. I already know.” The goddess of creation gently shook her head as she cast a glance at Hao Ren. “They have told me everything. The corruption of the Amantir battlegroup was my fault, it was my imperfect planning that caused all of these. Don’t deny it. I’m very much awake now, more so after I’ve managed to extricate myself from that corrupter. Thinking back, my plans back then had too many flaws… and I just hope it is not too late to salvage the situation.”
Hao Ren squinted his eyes. It seemed like after giving the goddess of annihilation a bloody beating, the goddess of creation had also been released from some type of influence. That was an incredible result.
Salaman and his kin had plenty to say after seeing their mother, but this was not the time for nostalgia. After comforting her children, she then asked the question that was most pressing in her mind. “Was L’Haronne affected by the battle earlier?”
“L’Haronne?” Salaman was stumped.
“That planet over there.” Nangong Wuyue, who was listening in immediately pointed her tail towards the distant planet. “There’s life there.”
“There’s life?!” Salaman’s jaw dropped so hard as he heard the news that you could stuff a car into it, but he quickly recovered his composure and contacted the radar and sensor team onboard his ship. A moment later, he shook his head. “While the scale of the battle was massive, the planet was unharmed.”
“That is good,” The goddess of creation heaved a sigh of relief before shaking her head in a self-deprecating manner. “If it gets destroyed again… I really won’t know how to face it.”
Lily’s comeback was instant, “Then you should just go dreaming again since the dream… Wooo wooo wooo…”
Hao Ren immediately clamped the werehusky’s mouth as he pulled her back and turned to the goddess of creation. “So, want to go have a look?”
The goddess of creation pondered for a bit before shaking her head. “While I do want to do that, the situation in the Plane of Dreams is more important. I’m just detached far too long from the world outside, and the information I got from you guys in the hurry is limited too. So now that things have calmed down somewhat, I think we should focus on the matter at hand.”
Her decision was reasonable and rational, and Hao Ren, of course, had no objections. Since L’Haronne would not run away, and the Mad Lord in the Plane of Dreams could rear its ugly face any time, the priority levels of both subjects were quite clear.
After 10,000 years, the goddess of creation once again boarded the bridge of the Aiur. The battle-scarred starship had become a temporary divine palace. But this palace did not have the time or luxury to hold a welcome back ceremony as an emergency meeting was quickly being organized. The attendees of the meeting were everyone who had something to do with the Mad Lord, including Salaman and a few of his important adjutants, the goddess of creation herself, as well as Hao Ren and his team.
Aside from that, the ancient giants (Loken and the rest), the guardians, and Asurmen who were standing by on CARS also joined via long-range teleconference.
Of course, to hold the meeting, the Aiur had to first leave the Umbral Realm and returned to the starport at the Core. While Hao Ren had already opened a pathway into the Umbral Realm using the marker system, but the latter and the material universe was still being separated by the special wall of law and order. As this ‘wall’ was created from the world barrier, it will cut off all forms of signal transmission between the two universes. While this matter was not insurmountable, it will still need time, and for now, if they want to have a ‘conference call’, both parties must be within the same universe.
The Lord of Lords Loken had the most baffled look on his face the moment he came online. He was busy doing some research about divinity in the CARS lab before suddenly receiving a high priority assembly notice. The next thing he realized was that CARS’ highest frequency antenna had suddenly activated before pointing towards a distant galaxy. Then he saw that even Asurmen, who was usually either in a daze or sending signals to the center of the galaxy, had been dragged into the meeting. That caused the ancient giant to fear the worst as he thought that the Mad Lord had finally broken out of its seal, the biggest threat to the universe was upon them, and that inspector was calling all hands for the final battle…
So he came with his fellow wardens into the hall, all clad in their battle regalia.
After the connection went online, the first thing he saw was the goddess of creation smiling before him. Hao Ren was seated by himself with his hands underneath his chin. He said with a serious look. “Oh, ancient guardians… your mummy is home.”
And as one would expect, Hao Ren’s announcement sent everything into chaos, and Heve almost fainted on the spot…
Thankfully, the guardians’ (the ancient giants included) innate discipline and resolve allowed them to tide through it. They calmly listened to Hao Ren’s debriefing of his actions in the Umbral Realm.
“My children, I know you have much to say to me, so do I, but now, we have to focus our efforts on the matter at hand.” The goddess of creation, Hao Ren and the rest was on the upper level of Aiur’s bridge, and around the platform, aside from Salaman and his high-ranked adjutants, were the holographic projection of Loken, Muru and the rest. “I have understood from this envoy of a foreign god the general situation, and now what I need to say is that my evil half have been pulled into the Dark Abyss, and her merging with the Mad Lord will introduce many more variables. Until today I am not able to contact the guards within the Dark Abyss. Asurmen, I heard that you are in charge of this. What’s the situation there?”
Asurmen’s projection was that of a flickering mist of lights, the energy cloud flickered for a bit before he spoke, “Goddess, your seal is still intact, but its condition is not optimistic. The Mad Lord’s powers have clearly perverted the laws of the universe there, and the communication between the Dark Abyss and the world outside is still broken. Your communication encryption key left behind those years ago is no longer effective, and my guess is that this is caused by the distortion of the mathematical values.”
“There is also the possibility of the guardians activating the emergency protocols after the containment had failed, or the sentries had lost control of parts of the station… but the seal itself is still working, so the possibility of all the guards being killed is minimal.” The goddess of creation massaged her forehead, as the debilitation from the long slumber had yet to recover, and will take a long time to recover, but now she had to stay strong, “While all communication transmission is currently broken, you can probably still hear something right? …That telepathy unique to the Denizens.”
“Yes, I can hear many blurry whispers, and the sentry system is still active, and the main control levels are still standing, but no one knows how long can they hold on,” Asurmen answered. “If the goddess of annihilation’s return causes the Mad Lord’s powers to swell, then the sentries are in grave danger…”
“No, getting stronger is not possible, not in the near future,” Hao Ren interjected. “And if everything goes according to plan, you will soon detect an energy explosion within the abyss. That explosion will weaken the Mad Lord… but by how much is not known.”
Asurmen was confused. “Energy explosion? Why?”
“That’s because the goddess of annihilation smashed her face against our reactive armor.” Hao Ren shrugged. “It’s too complicated to explain. You just need to know the results.”
Asurmen was clueless.
At that moment, the goddess of creation drew everyone’s attention as she spoke, “While things may go our way in some aspects, but I need to warn everyone, the fusing of that evil goddess and the Mad Lord will be a threat to us…”
Everyone’s attention was now focused fully on the goddess herself, and she did not keep everyone in suspense.
Slowly, she explained, “The Mad Lord, who has all this while been a mindless chaotic being, relying on its base instincts… is about to get a very intelligent brain very soon.
