Prime Originator

After settling aside Maya's matters, Leon focused his attention on Darlene, who was embracing him tightly.

He paused for a few breaths before finally peeling Darlene off him to face her.

"I have something very important to tell you," Leon said seriously.

Although Darlene was confused at first, her expression quickly turned solemn after hearing his words.

She nodded and gave him her full attention.

At the same time, Aria and Duna became interested; they perked their ears to listen in after witnessing the sudden mood change.

"We were right to be wary of the Empyrean Infinite Void Fragment in you; Empyrean Infinite Void is still alive," Leon stated.

It was just a short statement, but it quickly shocked everyone as much as it confused them.

"Empyrean Infinite Void is alive? What do you mean by that, Leon?" Darlene asked with a startled look.

"Exactly as it sounds, the literal meaning; Empyrean Infinite Void is still alive. The soul fragment that spoke to you isn't an ego born from Empyrean Infinite Void's will. No, the one talking was Empyrean Infinite Void herself," Leon explained.

His words shocked both Darlene and Aria even further.

"How is that even possible? I thought the end of the primordial era also ended the gods and devils…" Aria mentioned.

"Heh," Duna suddenly snickered.

Aria and Leon immediately glanced at Duna with surprise, thinking it was rare nowadays for her to take the initiative to say something.

Nevertheless, Duna didn't care about what they thought about her.

"The reign of True Divinities ended, but their existences cannot, shall not, and will not end, not now, not ever," Duna coolly stated.

"A True Divinity's soul is like your consciousness; if you keep dividing it, it'll cripple your ability to think or function at all. However, if you put them together again, you'll revive a True Divinity. You don't even need to gather them all, just the bare minimum."

"Does that mean someone has gathered enough soul fragments for Empyrean Infinite Void to regain her ability to think? But how can we even find out about this?" Darlene asked with surprise.

She, herself, was one possessor of Empyrean Infinite Void's many soul fragments. Still, she cannot determine it from her soul fragment's words alone.

After all, she cannot trust it.

"Well, as it stands, Leon has another basis for claiming Empyrean Infinite Void is alive. And by alive, I mean capable of conscious thought because True Divinities can't die," Duna stated coolly.

"Perhaps, Empyrean Infinite Void has means of retaining consciousness despite the shattering of her soul into countless pieces. No, that should be the only possibility. There's no other way to know Empyrean Infinite Void is conscious unless she has been conscious from the start."

"After all, Primal Chaos is infinitely vast. And we have yet to even explore beyond this galaxy, which is already home to more than 100 billion star realms, not to mention the trillions of galaxies out there."

As if Duna had spoken enough, she suddenly ended her words there and became silent again. She was disinterested in speaking further.

Nevertheless, thanks to her informative knowledge, Darlene and Aria gained a greater understanding of True Divinities.

Shortly after, Darlene returned her attention to Leon.

"If Empyrean Infinite Void is alive, then what will happen to me?" Darlene asked with uncertainty.

"That's the problem. Even if you don't integrate with Empyrean Infinite Void's soul fragment, she is aware of your existence and whereabouts. But if you do integrate with her soul fragment, she can swallow your soul and use your body as her incarnation," Leon replied.

Darlene felt lost after hearing that.

What was she supposed to do? Was she fated to be Empyrean Infinite Void's puppet and fade from existence?

The thought of disappearing alone terrified her.

Aria suddenly patted Darlene on the shoulder, snapping her out of her negative thoughts before turning to Leon.

"But it's just a possibility that Empyrean Infinite Void will send her incarnations after Darlene or swallow her if she integrates with the soul fragment, right?" Aria asked.

"Right," Leon nodded.

"It's impossible to guess what someone at an Empyrean God level of existence is thinking, but we can assume that there's a high possibility of it happening. After all, who wouldn't want to live again if given a chance?"

"But isn't Empyrean Infinite Void living many lifetimes through her incarnations?" Aria argued before adding, "Whatever the case may be, there is nothing we can do. We can only cultivate and hope for the best."

"Right," Leon nodded.

Aria said the same thing Maya said to him, but her words weren't for him to hear but for Darlene, who was at the heart of the problem.

She was undoubtedly feeling the most pressure from Empyrean Infinite Void's existence.

"Don't feel like you are alone, Darlene. Whatever happens, we are in this together. I won't abandon you," Leon assured her.

"Mm," Darlene bit her lips and nodded with her head lowered.

"Then shall we head back now that we are done here?" Aria suggested.

"Ah, not quite yet. Let me take a quick look around the ruin one last time before we go," Leon stated before getting up and leaving his spot.

However, Aria and Darlene didn't let him wander off alone.

Instead, they both took a side and supported Leon while he was still mildly affected by spiritual exhaustion.

Leon wanted to scan a copy of all the runes engraved on the murals and broken walls in the ruin, and it did not take him too long to do so.

He was done within the hour.

"Alright, I'm done with this place. Let us head back to the Dark Fae Clan," Leon stated after recording a copy of the last runic engraving into the Archive.

"Mm," Aria and Darlene nodded.

They continued to support him out of the mountain while Duna casually followed several paces behind them.

…

"Woah, there's quite a crowd out here," Aria exclaimed.

Upon exiting the crack in the mountain, Aria did not expect to see such a large group of dark faes waiting outside.

But no one else expected them either.

"These dark faes must be the ones sent to slave away in the dark crystal mines," Leon concluded.

"Mm," Aria nodded.

She could guess that much.

"But why are they just waiting around here?" Aria wondered.