Death... and me



Roan then noticed that they were moving way too far from their initial objective, so he went back to the part that mattered. "Alright, Hex was correct. Even if there are other Universes, there is no point in knowing about them. It's just way too far from our league."

[That's what I said. It's pointless for you to know it. Even because this Universe hasn't received or sent anyone away in a very long time.]

Sesame remembered something. "You said in a very long time, just how long exactly? Also, why are you here?"

[I had lost my power of communication, so it's been longer than the time when that Fragment fell into this place. At least, that's what is recorded within my runes. Unfortunately, I can't tell you why I'm here. I'm an Artifact Spirit, which means I was born within this Universe Space Temporal Beacon. When my sentience first took root, I was already here. The runes inside me also don't have any information about why I was here.]

"So you were universe the Universe Foundation Fragment to recharge yourself?" Roan caught the real use of the Fragment in Hex's case.

[Yes. I was truly lucky. If that Fragment hadn't fallen near me, my sentience would have already disappeared due to the lack of energy. It's not like we Artifact Spirits can cultivate like you all. Especially since this place doesn't have even a spec of Divine Energy or basically any other energy whatsoever. I couldn't even call for help back then.]

Roan and the others nodded before Rean continued the interrogation. "So, you have been using the Universe Foundation Fragment to recover yourself all this time. It even blocked the entire Swamp of No Return in the process. Does that mean you were trying to communicate with the other Universes? The other Universes might be meaningless to us at the moment, but that might not be the case if we suddenly start receiving experts from them."

[Not really. This Universe Space Temporal Beacon where I was born wasn't supposed to give birth to an Artifact Spirit, me. According to what I can see from the information I have inside, it was the connection between this beacon and the other Universes that prevented such a thing from happening. Once again, lucky. Thanks to the loss of connection, I was able to take form.]

"So you mean that if you try to connect again to the other Universes, you might be wiped out from within your Artifact. That's why you won't try to communicate."

[Exactly,] Hex immediately agreed. [I saw I could use the Fragment to help myself recover to the point I would be as strong as this Universe's Divinity Realm experts. Unfortunately, the Fragment was taken away. Such a pity... At the moment, I should be strong enough to compare to a Space-Time Cultivator at the Initial Stage. Obviously, I'm no match for this Pixiu.]

Indeed, that was too weak to be a threat to Sesame. However, that was definitely enough to trash the twins' group. The twins could more or less jump an entire realm to fight. But that wasn't enough. If push comes to shove, burning their nascent souls and fighting together might allow the twins to fight one and a half realms above their strength. Only then would they be able to match Hex in a fight, but they would be fighting against time, as burning their Nascent Soul had a time limit. Chances are they would lose anyway.

[Simply put, if I try to communicate, there is a good chance that I will be eliminated to allow the beacon to work as its creators intended. That's if you believe my story, of course.]

Indeed, they heard all of this, but that didn't mean the artifact spirit was telling the truth. Yet, it's not like they can tell if he is being honest or not, so they could only accept that Hex might be at least hiding a few things.

Rean just shook his head in the end and continued. "Alright, let's just pretend we believe for now. Have you guys noticed one thing? Hex's communication system most likely stopped working when the Extinction Sphere appeared in this Universe."

Celis looked at Rean. "Wait! Didn't he say that his Spirit was born even before the Fragment fell in this place? The time doesn't match."

Roan immediately corrected Celis. "Wrong. What Rean meant was the appearance of the Extinction Sphere. Between the appearance of the Extinction Sphere and Gem's plan that destroyed it, just how much time do you think had passed? Rean is talking about when the Extinction Sphere first started to swallow the Universe whole."

"Roan is right," Rean confirmed Roan's words. "What I wanted to say was that what stopped this Universe Space Temporal Beacon from working was the presence of the Extinction Sphere."

[That makes sense,] Hex believed Rean was right. [I have little information about the Extinction Sphere. The only thing in the beacon's memory is that should it appear, it should warn all the visitants of this Universe so that they can escape.]

"Did it inform everyone?" Roan immediately asked back.

[Yes, it did. The recordings inside me show that everyone who came from outside of this Universe escaped straight away. Or, to be more specific, they were recalled back. That guaranteed that no one stayed behind. Of course, if any of them left descendants behind, that's another story. At the very least, I can confirm that this Universe has no one from outside living at the moment.]

Sister Orb understood what it meant. [I see... It means that for everyone outside of our Universe, our Universe is already gone. The fact they escaped straight away proves that they didn't know how to stop such a calamity or, at the very least, that they had no intention of trying to do so.]

It wasn't a bad thing, in everyone's opinion. "That's good. We can't confirm it, but it is always better if an unknown power thinks you are dead."