Chapter 298: Chapter 293 – Prelude to the New Era

"What's wrong?" Alfina asked, coming behind her brother, hugging him, and returning Oynega from his distant gaze back into the present.

"I felt something weird from our cycle. Something unnatural. But I can't find it now, no matter where I look."

"No wonder! It was damaged by that bitch! You are just overstressing yourself about it!" She pinched his cheeks, pulling them apart. "Stop overthinking it; we are the ones in control! If we jump at any bump, it has now…! A big chunk of it went up in smoke; we would never have time for each other if we only focused on it! We just need to keep it in motion, and everything will work itself out! The creases will straighten themselves naturally! Maybe this was a boon, making our cycle more natural instead of being shaped completely by our hand!"

"You are right!" Her brother sighed, shaking his head, putting his weird feeling from before into the back of his mind.

As the two were talking, inside their own reincarnation cycle, millions of souls were constantly swirling, colliding, as if it was the Cosmos in its infancy, birthing new realms everywhere. The chaos that the previous explosion caused was still present. When Nilier's death broke it apart, the souls were not just released back into the Realm, but a lot that remained trapped were damaged, never to be able to be born again. Amidst the sea of unconscious, broken souls, amongst those who already went through multiple reincarnations, indoctrinated by the two, never to be able to leave the services of the Twin Gods, hundreds of 'abnormals' have appeared already. All of them were led by one particular soul that was none other than Leinor. He was already taking up the same shape he looked when he died, recovered to a level where he was complete again. Even more than complete. Touching his corporeal chest, he could feel part of Ren inside of him, the part of her that protected his soul and the reason he was fished out from the natural cycle by Oynega.

The moment the God sensed the weird, never before seen anomaly of his state, he happily collected him and threw him into their own cycle to see what would turn out from it. Like an embryo, he fed and kept growing, and his mind was kept intact by Ren's soul. With Nilier's death, he finally could go all-out, releasing his affinity's new form that manifested within his soul, and he was gulping down hundreds of others' damaged souls like a whale. By now, he felt like a human again, alive and well, even without a fleshly body.

He was adamant about stopping their plan, no matter what he had to do. Learning that Ren was already an Immortal plastered an almost always present grin on his face, unable to wait to meet with her again. He started collecting interesting souls, helping them absorb others, and nurturing them until they regained consciousness. One of them went by the name of Zakku, which turned out to be a boon for Leinor. He could contact his other half, stuck in the outside world, and when Orsi answered, it established a line between the two. Leinor's first move was to send word for Ren, hoping it would reach her. Outside, when Orsi helped Zakku maintain contact with his other half, turning the man into a communication device, Ren was impatiently standing there, watching the eyes of Zakku, falling into a deep trance.

"I heard you are only a step away from reopening the Sky? How long have I been gone~?" Zakku spoke up, but his voice was distant, distorted, and foreign… Still... Ren could barely hold back her tears.

"Too long! You idiot…!" She said, breathing heavily in a weak voice.

"For me, it was an instant… Like when you fell asleep and then woke up…. Sorry to make you wait."

"If you are sorry, then hurry and escape from there!" she chuckled, wiping her eyes, forcing calmness onto her mind.

"That is my intention, believe me! But that won't be easy! There are a lot of souls here. Poor slaves who are being reincarnated over and over into their sects! They are oblivious to their own sad state that their fate is predetermined by the two Gods! They worship them as soon as they start thinking for themselves. If my men and I are found out, they could wipe us out; I need to be extra careful! Thankfully it is still in a chaotic stage after the damage, so I can move and act with much more ease!"

"Do you have a plan, LeiLei?" Ren asked, by now much calmer, listening to his voice.

"Sort of." He answered, "For now, I am making an army. When we are strong enough… and we have an opportunity…."

"Let me guess~" Ren chuckled, "The opportunity part is my responsibility?"

"Of course!" Leinor laughed at the other side. "If you could damage their creation at one point, we could focus on that from the inside! It would not withstand an attack from both directions and would surely break apart!"

"Releasing the souls trapped in there." Ren crossed her arms, scratching her chin.

"The damage was significant because as soon as a crack appeared, the pull of the natural cycle ripped out A LOT of souls! It won't survive another event like that in quick succession!" He answered with evident excitement.

"Good! I'll come up with a way to do it! How much time do you need to get ready?"

"Don't worry about it!" Leinor answered with confidence, "You just do it; when it happens, we will know and break out!"

"Then I just need to somehow draw them out and hope they bring it with them…." Ren murmured to herself, but Leinor had a solution for it already.

"They are planning to get Skoorn. They want his soul to repair the suffered damage. It would be your best bet, Ren!"

"Oh? Two birds with one stone… I like it! Do you know when they are planning to do it? More importantly, where?"

"Not yet, but it should be soon! I'll send word when I learn more about it!"

"See…? This is why I need you; everything becomes much more simple with you here!" Ren smiled with pure happiness.

"Isn't that the husband's job? Making life easier for her wife~?" He joked as both of them laughed at the same time. "I missed you."

"Me too, LeiLei…." Ren whispered, almost reaching out, touching Zakku's face.

"I… am… at my… limit…" Orsi groaned, already trembling, making sure the connection would be stable, and they could communicate through Zakku and through her.

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"Sorry, Orsi." Leinor said, "I'll send word through him if I learn anything else! See you soon, Ren…."

"LeiLei…" Ren pulled back her hand in the end.

"Yes?"

"I love you."

"I love you too." echoed out his voice as the connection was cut, and Zakku slowly returned to reality, confused, feeling weak and sick, needing to lie down before collapsing; same with Orsi, who, in the end, ended up in Ren's arms. Remembering how a young, little kid was at death's door when she managed to save her. Not even imagining that it would play out like this one day.

"It is him…." Orsi whispered as Ren helped her to slowly sit down and started to wipe down her sweaty forehead. "I felt his soul! It is him, no doubt about it!" spoke, trying to ensure no doubts arose in Ren's mind.

"I know…" Ren nodded, hugging her strongly. "And thank you…."

"I-i… did nothing major…" Orsi murmured, surprised as for her, this was the least she could do!

…
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Days later, the four Immortals were once again meeting personally. As they listened to Ren's information coming from Leinor, none of them ever doubted its authenticity, only looking at each other with excitement in their eyes.

"If we succeed, we could end all of it instantly!" Ophila exclaimed.

"So we WILL succeed!" Invictus crossed his arms.

"Yes!" Ren nodded at them. "LeiLei sent word. The twins are getting ready to face Skoorn, and they are going to bring their creation with them to capture his soul! He still can't tell where they are going to come into the main Realm, but he is 90% sure it will be far out deep underwater. The moment they enter the main Realm, he sends word! Orsi is constantly alert, ready to receive the message through Zakku's soul. We just have to be ready to move as fast as possible!"

"We are going to have to reward her after all of this!" Kaizer smiled, ready for action.

"For sure!" Ren laughed, taking a deep breath in the end. "I have a feeling after all of this is done, in the future, many people will be born with gifts towards cultivating the soul! All that is happening now is creating a new way to reach the strength to travel to the outside world!"

"In essence… we are similar." Ophila thought, scratching her chin the same way Ren used to, "When we break our cores, fusing it with our soul, it is all about strengthening it! They could do the same in a different way!"

"Yes, but by absorbing others…?" Kaizer continued her sister's thoughts, "Highly questionable and could be turned into an evil way of cultivating with a snap of a finger!"

"Dad always said there are no evil techniques, only evil applications!" Invictus chuckled, "Let that be the trouble that has to be faced by the future generations coming after us! We can't worry about everything!"

"Not like you EVER worried about anything!" his siblings rolled their eyes, but Ren only smiled at them.

"He did; he just never told you any of his worries. You both know this too!" Ren said in a voice that was laced with playful scolding, drawing a warm smile onto Invictus's face. "Delegate all your things and plans to your disciples!" She continued, dusting off her hands, "We are going to be focusing on one thing only from now on! Killing Gods!"

"Yes!" all three answered at the same time.

"When all is done, and they are gone, their people will lose their strength either way…." Invictus sighed.

"What are we going to do about them?" Ophila asked with a serious voice.

"Help them." Ren replied quickly, "It is going to take a long time, but we have to! Those who are willing to make peace are going to be accepted into the fold. Just like those followers of Nilier who did not attack us! I know there are a sizable number of them who uphold her last wishes and are working to make peace between warring sects, even right now, in your territories! The others are going to have the same option! They can live if they are willing to stop, and I mean FULL STOP. They can still worship their dead Gods even!"

"And if they don't?" Invictus asked, and Ren's answer was, once again, instant, cold and hard.

"Kill them. All of them!" She looked into their eyes. "Their choices are simple! Peace or death! Those who choose the latter don't need to remain in this Realm. Let them reincarnate instead!"