The blade hovering in front of Maria's chest begins vibrating violently, like it's about to move forward again.
"So you do know the Fallen One! Where? Tell me where he is!" echoes through the void.
At the same time, I feel this soul bond that has been dull since we left the green zone start to warm up deep inside my chest. I cannot sense mana, divine energy, or my glyph imprints at all, but I can sense the invisible tie that links me to Ember.
My eyes open wider, as diamond-shaped cracks form all over the sky, like the scales of a dragon, are being printed into this Primordial Void.
The energy that leaks out ripples with dark and dense energy, that feels cool and peaceful. Like I'm watching the birth of serenity itself flow through the gaps in the Domain.
I grit my teeth and the Demon tracks my gaze upward while I reply, "You really want to see him so bad? Here he is, I've arranged you two an appointment!"
Shock vibrates out from this Demon's psyche, and at the same time, a burst of black and chaotic energy explodes around my neck. It took a little longer, but my corruption achieved the same feat as Maria's Source Resin.
Just enough of the outer layer of advanced primordial aura that was touching my skin was broken down, and the will-altering aura has been pulled from my mind. I give the dagger a violent twist, tearing a hole in my throat. It is painful, but it lets the weapon fall out of my body in the fastest way possible.
Maria follows my lead and does the same, twisting the dagger out of her neck while lurching backward.
It feels like a heavy net is being pulled off of the outer layer of our souls as we start to break free.
The Family Head does not move at all, his eyes only stare up at the ceiling of this domain. I can't even make out the emotions rippling off of him. There's a combination of shock, fear, disbelief, and most of all, pure excitement.
"You really came back! Ha! You almost made me believe you'd stay wasting away in the thin air of the Lower Realm for eternity! I thought these two humans would be my last bit of entertainment before sealing the fate of this system, but no, you've come to watch me give it the send-off it deserves!"
He even starts laughing, sending waves of Chaotic Primordial Aura out of his body.
It even starts disrupting the process of us escaping from the daggers' auras, and some of the strongest waves pulse upward to collide against the cracks in the ceiling.
A strong familiar voice echoes in from above, carried by soothing waves that appear extremely dark, but my brain registers them to almost appear white in this altered form of sensing energy.
"I have returned. Marcellus, your perspective is far too limited to hold all the power that this system contains alone. I must put an end to this sealing before you make a mistake that no one else can undo."
Whether his aura is black or white, I cannot tell, but I do know it's heavy, calm, and smooth. When it collides with the orange and blue chaos pulsing up at it, they are like complete opposite forces trying to exert total dominance on each other.
It is actually unclear which one is stronger...
Marcellus doesn't respond with words, it's only a demonic roar.
He stretches out a single hand toward us, and all three of his daggers come rocketing back into his hands. Trails of Source Resin and Corruption fall off the two that were lodged inside us, and the moment they land in this demon's hands, its aura pours into them again, and all of the chaotic primordial glyphs shine bright as new again.
The third dagger circles around his head, closer and closer, until it begins resonating with his horns. Even these glow through the invisible veil around him, and shine with the same purple demonic glyphs printed all over them, infused with primordial aura as his eyes.
The ceiling above shatters open once the cracks in the domain all give way, and an enormous Hybrid Dragon falls through. He is using an energy form I've never seen before, but I can tell that all of his mana, astral, and celestial forms are activated underneath, enhancing its abilities.
Every single one of his scales shimmers, and the claws on his hands and legs each sharpen to deadly blades that look like they're cutting through space itself as he falls.
Ember's wings spread out, and his long pointed tail curves behind him. The humanoid features of his face, and eyes, gleaming a vibrant red, are still there. It is unlike any creature I've ever encountered before.
From the look of terror on the Imperial Family Head's face, I can tell this is all new to him too.
"What—is that form?! What kind of monstrosity have you turned into? This is not what the Demon's fated soul partner should look like at all!" he yells.
My attention falls inward, looking deep into Ember's body, as silver and golden threads hold him together.
The Advanced Primordial Aura that pours off these, making an echo of their existence in reality, is even more fascinating... They send waves of color into my mind on a spectrum I've never seen before. Millions of new, previously unimagined colors pour into my mind.
Marcellus Imperial builds up a massive amount of energy beneath his feet, and jumps upward off the stump of this tree. It's the first time I've seen him actually move with urgency. Before now, all I've seen him do is stand in place, or pace back and forth while letting his daggers do the work.
The smooth and chaotic auras start to bend and compress even more, sending strange waves out of their contact points. It becomes more and more intense the closer they get to physically colliding.
While I can comprehend what I'm seeing to a certain degree, I'm certain my strength is nowhere near close enough to get in the middle of this clash.
Maria and I both let the shockwaves help in pushing us backward, away from the explosion that is about to go off.
As the veil of Advanced Primordial Aura is lifted, the extremely hot feeling of glyphs burning near the center of our souls returns.
It begins to slowly melt the barrier holding something back again, but staying this close right now is the last thing I want to do. I take advantage of all this estimation, and channel it toward making propulsion glyphs backward in the opposite direction.
Then, activate shadowstep in time to blip over a hundred kilometers away.
At the same time, all of the updated notifications from the system I missed while held captive rush in.
An incredible visual of the outer settlements pours into my mind. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel✦fire.net
Before it was nothing but a tiny crescent, but its growth has spread like two rockets moving in opposite directions around the ring. I can see over halfway around, with thousands of new domains filled with ancient forgotten races pledging their loyalty to me.
My linked worlds tick up to 99 billion, and all around me, I feel my Aura spread out to contact hundreds of new Primordial Trees.