Chapter 435: Primordial Again?
Caelus recognized it immediately.
He had seen this exact sight when he awakened Endless Extraction.
The black hole kept drawing in the light as a new notification appeared before him.
[Ding! You’ve met the requirements to become a Primordial.]
Caelus was still staring at the Primordial notification when another message appeared beneath it.
[Ascension Unavailable.]
[You do not meet all requirements to become a Primordial.]
He read both notices again before clicking his tongue.
"Then why did you get my hopes up?"
He had been seeing messages like this ever since obtaining the Divine Halo in the Abyss. They would appear without warning and remind him that he was too weak before leaving him with no useful explanation.
At least this one had changed its wording.
It no longer called him weak, though telling him he had failed some unknown requirement was hardly an improvement. Caelus checked the notice for more details and found nothing.
"Would it kill you to tell me what I’m missing?"
The system gave no answer.
Then another notification covered the first two.
[Your Ender of Origin powers have been amplified.]
Caelus forgot his complaint as he read it.
His Origin powers were already among the most useful things he possessed. If becoming a God had strengthened them further, then the trial had given him far more than a new body.
Right then, the cocoon began opening around him.
Its light flowed into his skin until he could see the stars again. Sylvia’s cocoon remained nearby.
𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺
Making sure there was no mishap with her ascension, he raised his hand. He wanted to test out the amplification immediately.
[Skill Activated: Origin Lock.]
He only intended to test its range.
Instead, countless lines and shapes appeared across his sight. They filled the empty space around him and stretched far beyond the stars he could see.
Caelus lowered his hand, but the strange view remained.
"What the hell?"
He understood what he was seeing before he could make sense of its size.
These were concepts.
Space held the distance between him and the ships. Other concepts held matter together or governed the forces moving through it, and he could sense how they connected.
Then his awareness spread farther.
The Star King World was only one part of what lay before him. Beyond it stretched other worlds and vast regions of space, all held within the same enormous plane.
This place was far sturdier than an ordinary Tier 2 World. Yet he could see the concepts supporting it as clearly as he could see his own hand.
Caelus reached toward the space between himself and a distant point.
He felt where it could be cut.
At the same time, John’s spaceship began approaching him. Several familiar figures stood behind its viewing panel.
John opened the communication channel and begin speaking.
"Lord Caelus, are you—"
But before he could speak fully, Caelus moved his fingers.
The distance in front of him broke.
WHOOSH!
The ship vanished from his sight as he appeared far beyond it.
He had not used Space Passage or Spatial Flight. Origin Lock alone had cut through the space separating two places, allowing him to cross between them.
John’s voice came through again.
"Lord Caelus? Where did you go?"
Caelus looked back and found the ship far behind him. Through his senses, he caught Gorn turning toward John while the others searched outside.
"I’m fine. I was testing something."
"Testing what?"
Caelus looked at the concepts filling his sight.
"I’m still figuring that out."
He ended the reply and carefully examined the point he had crossed. Space had settled behind him, but he could still tell exactly where he had made the cut.
That had taken almost no effort.
The amplification was far greater than he had expected.
His own strength was still limited, even after reaching Lesser God Rank. However, his Origin power could now reach the very things holding this world together.
Caelus followed one connection and swiftly withdrew his attention.
Breaking it would affect far more than the empty space around him. He could feel how the damage would spread through the nearby region and reach worlds filled with people.
Millions could die from one careless cut.
He had destroyed the Heavenly Faction’s planets with his dragon body, but this was different. He would not need to overpower those worlds if he could sever the concepts keeping them whole.
For several seconds, Caelus did not move.
His power had reached the origin of this world.
He could not yet grasp everything that meant, but he understood enough to be careful. This was not something he should test near the people waiting for him.
Then he noticed several passages above the plane.
They were difficult to make out at first. Once he focused on them, he could see where they crossed the boundary and reached somewhere beyond his current senses.
The God Domain.
Caelus was certain of it.
These were the connections used to travel between the two realms. Some carried traces that suggested they had been used before, and his thoughts immediately returned to the Heavenly Lord.
The man had entered this world with a clone and taken Bane away.
He could do the same to Sylvia or Freya.
Caelus’s expression turned cold as he followed the passages toward the boundary.
He could not defeat the Heavenly Lord yet. But if he closed the way into this realm, that bastard would have to find another means of reaching them.
"I’m not leaving the door open for you."
Caelus examined the boundary before making his move. As his Origin power passed through it, he finally sensed the limit placed on beings entering this plane.
Lesser God Rank.
Anything beyond that carried more power than the plane could withstand. If such a being entered at full strength, its presence would destroy this place.
That explained why the Heavenly Lord had sent a clone.
It also reminded Caelus how little he knew about the worlds above. This plane was already far larger than he had imagined, yet it could not bear the arrival of something beyond a Lesser God.
He pushed that thought aside and focused on the passages.
His people needed time to grow. Until they were ready to ascend together, he would keep the God Domain from reaching down and taking them.
[Skill Activated: Origin Lock.]
Caelus spread his power across the connections.
This time, he knew what he wanted to cut.
The first passage snapped.
Then the others broke one after another as his authority severed their links to the God Domain. Their distant openings faded from his sight, leaving the boundary closed behind them. Unless he let go of the severance, the passage won’t heal
No one from the God Domain could descend through them now.
Then he cut through the distance again and appeared beside John’s Spaceship.
Everyone inside turned toward him.
John hurriedly opened the communication channel.
"You disappeared in front of us. We thought something had happened during your ascension."
"Something did happen, but I’m alright."
Before John could ask more, light spread from Sylvia’s cocoon.
She had started before Caelus and still taken longer, even with everything that had interrupted his own ascension.
The last layer of light sank into her body.
Then Sylvia slowly opened her eyes.