Chapter 531 - 529:No…

Chapter 531: Chapter 529:No...

The tower of ascension cut through space like a hot blade through butter as it made a beeline toward a far distant location, crossing light-years with every warp initiated, its pitch-black surface blending into the surrounding regions seamlessly.

Within the tower...

"So, let’s go over the plan one more time just to be clear."

The looks everyone gave me were ones of pure exhaustion, as they seemed just about tired of hearing me mention this "plan."

"Oi. Why do you keep saying the same sh—" Malachi was already letting his tongue slip, but one look at the wide-eyed and clearly eagerly listening purple-haired demon currently sitting on my head, and a glance at the silent, dark-haired monster beside me, and the monkey wisely changed his next words into something more appropriate. "... the same thing? What we have isn’t even a plan."

"It’s a plan. Without it, we risk nuking everything at once, and I can’t have that. I need these bastards to pay properly. Touching Mel isn’t getting written off with just a snap and erasure."

"Haa... fine." The monkey finally relented as I nodded.

"Big brother, Lucien wants to fight too! Beat up bad men." The little man pulled my hair, making his intentions known. Naturally, I was already almost accepting—after all, I would be there, and those two would be right beside him too, so he should be okay playing around a bit, but—

"No... you’re too young. Grow up a bit more first before you think of fighting." Aunt V shut down that idea before it could even form.

"Pooh..." The little man slumped, his face distraught.

"Yea, sorry kid. Your days of reckless fun have finally come to an end."

I couldn’t help but feel bad for the kid. All this while, it had been fun and energy-filled entertainment because we were ready to indulge in his wild ideas, but that train had finally left its station the moment Aunt V came out.

Hell, she seemed hellbent on not letting us get any time alone with the little man, probably worried we’d teach him some more "new words."

I could only shake my head in exasperation as I finally got down to the finer details of our very simple plan.

As for what that plan was, like Malachi had said, it was less a plan and more a restraining order. Once we arrived at the Calderan region, the guys weren’t allowed to use extermination-level attacks, as those would be too devastating. We would fight like normal and make sure the Calderans experienced a slow and inevitable death.

"We’re approaching the Omni-Galaxy." Came Sana’s voice as we finally neared the Calderan main region, and the moment it came into view—

"Damn..." Paku couldn’t help himself.

"This... what is this?" Xuan looked on in disbelief, his eyes widening in sheer awe.

We were all stunned, not expecting what we saw. The moment the tower came out of warp speed, we weren’t greeted by a single galaxy as we had been expecting. Sana had called it the Omni-Galaxy, so we expected to break into another galactic region, but—

"This is just excess in its purest form, no?" I couldn’t help muttering as I saw the insane number of swirling circular nebulae that filled the region, their starry radiance bathing the entire place in a warm, beautiful light.

The high planar galaxies had been boasting an impressive cluster of five galaxies interconnecting the Martial Spirit World, but this—

"How many are there?" I asked, unwilling to accept the sheer scale of the sight before me.

"Four hundred and ninety-nine galaxies have been pulled into a galactic orbit around the high command of the Caldera family." Came Sana’s reply as everyone stood transfixed.

"Four hundred..." Xuan couldn’t believe his ears.

"Mother... were these guys planning to gather the entirety of Prime within one cluster? What the hell?"

"This is normal, Dante." Came Sana’s response.

"What do you mean, normal?"

"Most powers in the universe and cosmos alike prefer to keep their resources close to their reach to prevent untoward circumstances."

"But this is a bit much, no?"

"You’re gathering galaxies in your soul, Dante. This much isn’t anything—not especially when I know what you already planned to do the moment you saw this."

"Damn..."

"Besides, these are just galactic clusters. Outside the boundary, the moment you reach further out, there are beings out there who have universal clusters."

"What?"

"It’s true. I wouldn’t be surprised if this universe and some others are just part of the true Caldera family’s universal cluster. So be careful, as your actions here might alert them truly."

Well, that reframed things. To think pulling together galaxies wasn’t enough; they were even pulling universes into clusters now.

"Well then, I guess we better get to work before things go awry."

"Alright fellas... go wild!"

"Finally!"

....

CRAAACK!!!! BOOOOOMMMMM!!!!

The sharp sound of something imploding echoed through the region of space as—

ROOOOOOOOARRRRRRRR!!!!!!!

Paku’s gigantic frame pulled two planets together, smashing them to bits against one another.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! CALDERA PRICKS!!! COME GET SOME!!!" The raging monster roared, his horns glowing a malevolent crimson as he turned toward another collective region, blasting them to smithereens.

Luckily, we couldn’t hear the cries of the beings within these planets, as that would’ve been a heavy weight on my conscience. But since all it looked like now was playing marbles—big, gigantic, planet-sized marbles—it didn’t really feel like anything.

HUMMMMMMM!!!!!

The golden radiance of Malachi’s ego avatar lit up regions of space. Even from this distance, I could still make out the brilliant aura coming off the distant avatar as he went on a sweeping spree, taking down worlds one at a time with his staff. The monkey was playing pool with literal planets, wanting to see how many worlds he could take out by hitting only one.

"Creative form of destruction, if I do say so myself."

As for Salazar, the Chronari seemed to have taken a liking to rewinding the time of things. All around the man, there weren’t any planets or worlds or even a galaxy in sight; he had unmade them, returning them to the time before their creation, so that only cosmic explosions not dissimilar to the Big Bang surrounded the excited man.

I didn’t even bother looking toward the region Leo had taken for himself, as I knew I would be forced to feel something for the poor souls he was probably abusing right now.

Was what we were doing morally right? Many would say no.

Did I care for what many would say? I would say fuck you.

These bastards were getting a reckoning, and everything around them was bound to suffer the same. Right or wrong, it didn’t matter; what mattered was—

"You’re going to pay."

"Dan... Dante... isn’t this a bit too much?" Xuan’s voice came from beside me, the man seeming incapable of understanding why we didn’t just run headfirst into the high command that stood like a sentinel over this region.

"Nothing is ever too much, Xuan. How am I supposed to get their attention if I don’t do this?"

"But... those lives..."

"Can only blame themselves for submitting to the wrong power."

The man fell silent.

I could understand his point of view. The high planar galaxies were a subordinate power to the Calderans, and had they been pulled toward this region like the others, then their fate might have been just like any one of these worlds.

"That’s just it, Xuan. The law of the jungle. The strong take what they want, irrespective of the wishes of the weak. So all you need to do is make sure you’re strong."

He didn’t reply, and I didn’t force him. If he was going to be joining me on my adventures, he should begin understanding that things weren’t going to be rainbows and sparkles, but a lot of gray and crimson instead.

HUMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!

I hadn’t finished settling my thoughts yet when a heavy presence finally descended upon the region I had taken over.

"I am amused." A calm and detached voice echoed through the region as all sound was sucked out, the carnage and destruction pausing at the sound of the words.

"Heh!" Malachi appeared beside me in a burst of gold. "Looks like we finally pulled out a big fish."

ROOOOOARRRR!!!

Paku cared nothing for theatrics as the raging crimson fist of the massive creature came tunneling through the region from a distance.

"Huh?" The voice lost its detached tone instantaneously as the fist collided with the space above us.

SHATTER!!!

The sound of glass breaking apart resonated throughout as multiple figures were forced out of their hiding spots, their expressions grim.

"This... who are you?" The speaker—the one with the detached voice from earlier—spoke out once more, but before I could reply...

"Aaron?" Aunt V’s trembling voice stopped me cold.

"Huh? Aunt V? Something wrong?" I turned, my eyes narrowing sharply as I saw Aunt V’s face turn pale, her body trembling.

"Hmmm? This voice..." The leading man turned, finally taking his gaze from Paku as his eyes landed on Aunt V, and an expression that instantly made my blood boil appeared on his face.

"Ahh... Ravena. It’s nice to finally see you again." The man’s voice held a note of something... dark. But I wasn’t in the mood to deal with it. Not now, not at this moment, because—

"Aunt V... what’s wrong?" She was hyperventilating. Her heart was beating loud enough for me to hear as she stepped back, her voice tinged with disbelief. "You... you’re supposed to be dead... this can’t be happening..."

"Aunt V... talk to me... what’s wrong?" I was panicking.

"Ahh... but I am. And it seems fate has finally brought us back together... Now come..."

The fucker’s sickening voice was just about to make me tear his head from his neck when his next words made my heart sink entirely:

"...come greet your dear husband."

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A/N: Haaa... late Chapter but better late than never. Anyways, finally, I can get to why aunt v had such a strong reaction to hope’s plight. It won’t be pretty, so bear with me. Our favorite mommy’s backstory, finally.

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Thanks for reading..