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Chapter 553: Chapter 551: Revival(3)

Blerrghhh!!

Clarissa’s mouth opened as multicolored blood sprayed forth like a fountain, her body wavering from the obscene weight of the presence falling upon the place.

It already felt like reality was about to crumble from where I was, so I couldn’t even begin to understand what she who was connected to the thread was feeling.

My heart clenched as the fusion completed in but an instant—a moment that actually felt like eternity.

"Clarissa!"

My arms wrapped around her, grounding her in an embrace as I willed it, and chaos energy poured out of me like a broken dam.

WOOOOSHHHH!!!

The black aura covered both our figures as I forced the energy into her body, making up for any deficiencies she was experiencing.

"Take it... take her pain away, goddamn it," I ordered as Devouring stirred to life. A violent force covered Clarissa’s body as I devoured the weight of existence off her, taking it all into myself.

"Ughhh..."

The pain that hit was like a speeding truck.

<<Devouring in progress...>>

I pushed the notification aside, uncaring for whatever it is I was actually devouring. So long as Clarissa wasn’t taking on any of this burden, I was satisfied.

Her body slowly relaxed as I devoured and took away all the existential weight falling upon her consistently.

"Boy! Hurry. Anchor’s gaze shall soon fall upon this creation. And when that happens, even Sam won’t be able to help you anymore."

"Damn it! Old man, is this what you call helping out!?"

"You have no idea, boy! Now move!"

I clenched my teeth hard.

<< [Nothingness] bestows upon you authority over their realm.>>

<<DING!!>>

<<You have acquired the authority <Nothing>(temporary)>>

The notification that appeared before my eyes stumped me for a few moments, but—

"MOVE!!!"

The old man’s voice snapped me out of it as I took action.

Oblivion surged from within me. This time, I didn’t use it on anyone but myself, casting my own presence into a realm of inexistence, but that wasn’t all.

Denial roared to life, rejecting thoroughly only one aspect: the aspect of my existence.

"Shaia!"

"Do it!"

Tightening my grip on Clarissa, I let my consciousness sink into her mind, latching onto the verdant string she had used to connect to something so far away that distance wasn’t a concept to discuss anymore.

"My presence is but an illusion."

Absence covered my form as I finally surged upward!

The combination of Denial, Oblivion, and Absence making it so that for the moment I was within this realm, I didn’t exist. Not in memory. Not in life. Not in death. I existed nowhere.

<Nothingness recognizes your wish and cloaks you in its embrace.>

For that brief instant, I became just like the old man. I became.... NOTHING.

The moment my consciousness fully connected with the verdant green line Clarissa had built, Oblivion acted.

Covering the entirety of wherever I touched in its essence, wherever I passed by was swiftly erased and removed from the memory of reality.

I surged upwards, unwilling to waste any more time. All these things had happened in a frozen instant, and yet the being’s presence was still falling like an inevitable omen; I had no time to dawdle.

The connection pulled me through a myriad of lives lived by people I had no idea existed.

Hundreds. Thousands. Millions. Billions of lives flashed through my mind as I kept surging up the connection.

Lives lived. Lives wished to have lived. Dreams and aspirations tied to lives lived. Dreams killed due to a life unlived.

It was overwhelming.

I had thought devouring the high-planar galaxies from earlier was overwhelming, but it couldn’t come close to comparing to the lives of an innumerable number of beings around this cosmos drilling themselves into my mind, wishing to take hold. But I cared not for that.

Oblivion was the most efficient eraser there was, as wherever I passed, all the false memories, false lives, and false dreams were swiftly erased, thrown to a realm where the forgotten roamed.

My upward surge remained unimpeded, and slowly but surely, I could feel something... familiar.

A warmth like no other. Inviting and loving. Homely and caring. I could feel the soft caress traveling through the connection the closer I got. I could feel the overwhelming care bleeding through the connection as my consciousness made its way out of the bounds of this realm of creation.

And right next to that warmth was a brash arrogance. A steadfast and unbending will. A staunch, strong will that stood firm in strength and assurance.

I didn’t need to think twice; I already knew exactly who it was calling out to me from the great expanse beyond.

"Mother! Father!!"

I couldn’t help calling out as a trail of Nothing was left behind me, my consciousness finally breaking through the barrier keeping me locked out of their hold.

I wasted no time. Denial, Devouring, Absence, and Nothingness surged to life within me as they covered the two ethereal balls of light, and then—

"Come!!!"

I pulled, HARD! The line connecting me to my realm of creation, to Clarissa, drew taut as my consciousness was violently yanked backward, and with it....

My parents’ souls.

....

....

Anchor’s rage could be felt plainly as he turned his furious gaze unto the golden sphere of light, his senses peering through the ball, aiming to get a glimpse at the creation trying to bargain back these souls.

"Remember your place, Anchor! You shall not cause those wishing for what is theirs back any form of harm. I do not mind invoking the Will should you so much as dare abuse your authority." Samsara spoke out once more, halting Anchor’s brash actions for a brief instant.

"Samsara..." Anchor drawled threateningly, but—

"Your rage means nothing to me, Anchor. If you wish to do my job so badly, then you shall follow due process." Samsara added. His tone was final, yet something about the way he drew out his words made it clear he was stalling.

"Humph!" Anchor snorted. "If that is what worries you, then fear not. I merely wish to judge if these bargainers are truly from the same realm or if another anomaly has occurred."

Done with his words, Anchor moved once again, clearly trying to get this over with, but—

"Then I assume you’ve already imprinted the signature of the souls’ realms within your archives? For you to so confidently claim to be able to distinguish them." Samsara butted in again, halting Anchor’s movements.

"Old friend... you better hurry, I can’t stall for much longer." Samsara called out, trying to think up ways to distract Anchor more, but—

"It is already done." A voice replied, calm and relieved.

"Huh?" Samsara startled, surprised at the words he’d just heard. Yet before he could think about it further—

BLIP!

The realm of solitude. No. The entire expanse itself, blipped. A little dip in the workings of things, but they all felt it.

"What... just happened?" came Anchor’s surprised voice.

"Were... we talking about something just now?"

"I... do not know. Something—"

Anchor’s words cut short mid-speech as the entity’s eye widened. "Impossible!!" He roared, chains clattering as a myriad of them pulled out of the darkness of solitude, his gaze peering through them.

"This... how?"

"Anchor, what happened?" Samsara asked, his voice hard. For something to spook Anchor this much...

"The reality of the Expanse... it was shifted..."

"Shifted? What do you mean shifted?"

"I mean... the happenings of the Expanse have been affected by something, and now a new reality was made... we... everything you see here is entirely new, remade to match the new workings of whatever was changed..."

"What? Impossible.." Samsara whispered in dread, unbelieving of what he’d just heard.

"But... I can’t remember anything?"

"You wouldn’t be able to... I told you... everything is new... even you and... I." Anchor answered, his voice dreadful.

"Then how... how can you still be so sure?" Samsara asked, still not willing to believe that something could affect the infinite Expanse on such a scale.

"Because I... can still feel the fading remains of my anchors in the rewritten reality."

Was Anchor’s reply as both he and Samsara fell silent.

The anomaly wasn’t only felt by the two, as all within the infinite Expanse had felt the shifts and rewritten reality.

Needless to say, the shock was palpable as these beings, far removed from such a thing, were now unequivocally thrown into confusion and dread.

Yet none of this had anything to do with Dante, as finally....

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A/N: You guys are lucky there’s still another Chapter to come, anyways, happy new month family, let’s go harder this month why don’t we? Anyways as always....

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