Chapter 2014: Hello? Mr. Temple? Is anyone there? |
"Alright, this one was faster than before."
Nux muttered as he stretched his body after closing the tenth crack.
But…
Even though he had been working without any breaks from the beginning, the number of cracks hadn’t gone down but had increased instead.
The rate at which he was closing them was far lower than the rate at which they were being formed, it couldn’t even be compared.
Even when Nux had started closing larger cracks first, it still wasn’t helping.
More and more Realities were merging with the current one, the fabric of existence had been getting weaker and weaker, and reality was close to collapsing altogether.
Yes, things were bad.
But on the bright side, the speed at which Nux was closing the portals was increasing.
Points that he needed to forcefully pull apart.
The process was getting quicker and quicker, and as more time passed, Nux’s speed increased even further.
In just a hundred more years, the speed at which Nux was closing these cracks had become similar to the speed at which these things were opening.
Also, since every time he closed an already opened crack, the reality that came from that crack returned to its original timeline—
What’s more? Since Nux was only dealing with already opened cracks and it took a lot of time for the new cracks to be wide enough for the reality from the other side to come and merge with the main reality, the number of realities mixed with the main reality was reducing, reinforcing the fabric of existence, making it difficult for the new cracks to form.
Yes, Nux had finally begun making progress.
One by one, he continued dealing with mixed realities, protecting millions in the process. He didn’t even know how many versions of Azriel he had saved from being killed by their own alternative versions.
Heck, some of the evil Azriels had banded together to ’take over the new world’, a ridiculous notion, but it seemed like not every Azriel was a good Azriel.
Other people he knew had joined the mixed reality war as well, even some versions of Arvina were participating actively, just that most of Arvina’s versions were quite weak, so they weren’t able to survive for long.
Actually, the one who was making the most progress after versions of Azriel was Faelara. The Fox’s versions seemed as talented as her.
Some of her evil versions were even stronger than Azriel herself and with their mastery over space, she had turned the battlefield into a nightmare.
The only ones who were actually able to stop evil Faelaras were the good Faelaras who seemed to be fighting to protect the world and their people.
They were… quite charming.
If Nux wasn’t desperate to end things quickly and return to his wives, he might have made his move and taken them with him.
All in all, it was very interesting to watch different versions of people he knew battle each other.
What’s intriguing was that he wasn’t seeing anyone too strong.
Yes, while the realities on the other side of the cracks were indeed complete Universes, there were no signs of Supreme Entities like Infinities making an appearance from any of the Universes.
Let alone an Infinity, Nux hadn’t even seen a Primordial.
The strongest being in here was a Divine and even that too had only appeared after a long, long time.
It seemed like there was some force that was resisting the complete collision between two realities, and while the other Universes were still able to bleed into this one, only a weaker part of it—the one somehow connected to Nux—could be sent here.
Another thing to note, however, was that whatever it was that was resisting the complete reality collapse, it was getting weaker.
At first, the strongest being here was only an Early Saint, but now, Nux had seen Peak Divines.
Heck, he had also seen a Peak Level Divine Stage Azriel with his ridiculous Law of Absolute, and that being was a complete monster.
So much so that if Nux was actually a Divine, he might have used that chance to spar with him, and even with all the advantage he had, it wouldn’t have been an easy fight.
’I still would have won though.’
Nux muttered in his head.
Yes, even when the entire reality was collapsing, he was still being competitive. Heck, he was even considering purposefully weakening the fabric of reality and letting a Primordial Level Azriel appear, just to fight him.
Of course, as soon as that thought appeared, he quickly threw it out. He still needed to return to his wives.
It had been such a long time that even someone like him was getting sick of it.
Therefore, Nux continued to close the cracks.
Another century passed and by now, the speed at which Nux was closing the cracks had become ridiculous.
All of the merged realities were gone, only three unopened cracks were left, and the fabric of existence had become so strong that it required more than 10 years just for a crack to form.
Yes, it was all over.
Nux appeared next to the third-last crack, placed his hand over it, entered the other side, comprehended their ’Time’ in a day, found the ’shared moments’ or what he now liked to call ’knots’.
The more knots there were between the two realities, the larger the crack. And since these were all unopened cracks, the number of knots wasn’t much, barely a few hundred.
With Nux’s speed now, he needed about a day to untie a knot, so within a year, a small, unopened crack could be closed.
And two years later, Nux closed the final knot and then,
[Trial Four: Complete]
He saw a familiar screen and,
"Haaaahhh…"
He sighed in relief.
For a moment, he closed his eyes, exhausted. He sensed the world around him and realized that he was now able to sense the very fabric of existence that he didn’t even know existed before.
Not just that, his grasp over Time itself had become so strong that it was almost ridiculous. How could it not?
He had understood the concept of Time of so many different Universes that all other Laws in his mind felt vague now.
Even he, someone with such a highly functional mind, needed some time to slow down his thought process and return to his normal state.
Yes, that was what this trial had done to him.
It was… overwhelming.
Nux kept his eyes closed for the next few days, then, once he felt that he was ready, he opened his eyes and,
"So? What’s next?"
He questioned, feeling confident.
"…"
He, however, was only met with silence.
"Hello? Mr.
Temple? Is anyone there?
I was told there were Six Trials here. I have only cleared Four.
Where are the rest of them?"
He questioned out loud.
Of course, he still hadn’t forgotten the fact that he cannot form any Time-related Law anyway if he doesn’t create Time on his own, but he was still curious about the next Trials.
And honestly…
Nux was pretty confident the next two Trials would be a breeze, especially after what he had been through.
So…
Since he was already here,
Might as well continue and break the Universal record, no?
Nux didn’t mind any extra attention.
Suddenly,
Nux felt a force trying to teleport his body away. Since he had gotten his powers back, meaning he now once again had Absolute Power over Space, he could resist this.
But thinking he was being taken to the next Trial Ground, he allowed it.
Flicker
Nux’s body flickered out of existence, and he was teleported away.
He looked around, curious as to what the next Trial was about. The only thing his mind could think about was the ways he could clear these next two trials as soon as possible before returning to his wives, but then,
’NUX!!’
He heard a loud scream as suddenly, his shadow under his foot trembled and engulfed him in an instant.
’W-What?’
Nux stuttered, somewhat confused.
For a moment, he wondered if this was part of the Trial.
Soon, however, he was quickly attacked by 18 figures and he… he was completely helpless against them.
"NUX!!!"
The women shouted, pretty much fighting each other to get close to him.
And Nux, who was once again surrounded by his heaven, finally realized that the Temple had thrown him out.
But honestly,
He didn’t care.
Not when the welcome he received was… this overwhelming.
With a wide grin on his face, he glanced at his beautiful wives around him and,
"I am backkk~
Did you miss me?"
He sang, waiting for wholesome replies, but then,
"WHAT WERE YOU DOING!?"
"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?"
"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?"
"HOW DID IT TAKE YOU FIVE THOUSAND YEARS TO CLEAR THE TRIALS!?"
"DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED WE WERE!?"
The women shouted, ready to actually tear him apart,
That was how angry they were.
And Nux…
He couldn’t believe what he was hearing,
’5,000 years…?’
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