Chapter 554 - 552: They’re Back!

Chapter 554: Chapter 552: They’re Back!

BANG!!!

"Ughhh!!!" I groaned as I was violently blasted backward after pulling myself back from the Expanse.

"What... what the... what the hell was that?" I couldn’t help but ask, breathing heavily as I tried to regulate my breath, but my body betrayed me as it trembled unceasingly.

"What the fuck did I just glimpse?" I looked at my hands; they were shaking so hard one would think me an old and obsolete man.

"That... my love, is an Elder Manifestation in its truest form," came Shaia’s hardened voice, as even her words carried dread.

"An Elder Manifestation..." The words sank like a heavy boulder thrown into a lake as I tried to understand just what the hell I’d glimpsed.

It was heavy. A weight so mighty it felt like I was about to get wiped out just by daring to look at it.

"Anchor...." I had tried to look at the being that had dared hold my parents hostage, hoping to engrave its existence in my mind for when I inevitably took vengeance, but—

"Impossible..." That’s how it felt.

The very thought of ever challenging that... that thing... was wiped from my mind before it could even form as I cut my losses and bailed out.

Now truly I understood why Shaia had said I couldn’t forcefully pull them back or use my abilities to do it, for before the presence of that thing, I truly felt helpless...

"Damn it..."

"My love. Do not be too hard on yourself. You’re merely a fledgling. The distance between you and them, even with Elira, is something you can’t possibly hope to clear at this moment," came Shaia’s grounding voice. "So, instead of worrying about foes that will not be making any moves soon, why don’t we focus on the truly important things?"

Her words successfully snapped me from my haze.

"Ahh... yes... you’re right." I couldn’t help but smile at those words, pushing the thoughts of any Elder Eldritch Manifestations out of my mind as I raised my head, my eyes landing on Clarissa, who had fully stabilized herself. Yet, my attention wasn’t on the ravishing, glowing beauty—no.

My attention was firmly locked onto the two souls floating peacefully before the woman.

"Dan... Dante..." Aunt V’s choked voice came from behind me as I turned to find the woman already in tears, her expression shattered.

"Aunt V..." I called out with a small smile, pulling her into my embrace as a warm expression appeared on my face, a feeling of peace welling up from within me...

"Are those..." she asked, trying hard not to break into tears, but—

"Yes... Aunt V.. it’s them... we succeeded."

My words made the dam finally crack as she burst into tears, coating my chest in her waterworks.

I held her tighter. "Yes... Aunt V.. we did it," I whispered, more so to myself than to her.

Thirteen years. Thirteen bloody years of pain and sorrow. Of thinking about how useless a son I was for letting my parents be killed, even when I knew I couldn’t have done anything back then.

Thirteen years of darkness and cold that had only been mitigated by the woman in my embrace.

"Thirteen years..." Indeed, thirteen years, but now...

I looked toward Clarissa. The woman’s glow had reduced significantly as the weight and connection she’d established with the Expanse had finally been cut. All that remained now was the Vital Principality, my own lovely and beautiful—

"Clarissa..."

Words couldn’t even begin to explain how grateful I was to this amazing woman for what she’d just done for me, so—

"Come?" I opened my arms, inviting her to join us.

"Don’t mind if I do." She smiled, taking a step and appearing within my embrace.

"We did it..." Clarissa whispered gently, her eyes closed.

"Yes... yes we did.." I tried closing my arms around her form, but—

"Master~~ if it’s a family group hug, why are you leaving us out?"

Elira and Sana both appeared within my arms as well, the former wearing a cute pout while the latter just scowled.

I laughed, happiness flooding my being. What better way to celebrate a milestone than with those you love?

"Big brother!!" Lucien chimed in lively, appearing atop my head as he clapped cheerfully. "Big brother happy!!! Yay!!! Finally!!! Big brother happy!!"

"Yes... little man, big brother is indeed... happy."

I finally closed out the hug, the figures of Clarissa, Aunt V, Sana, and Elira fitting snugly into my enlarged frame, whilst the little man merely hugged the top of my head, his eyes closed in pure bliss.

The region fell into a comfortable silence, as this time around, for once, there wasn’t any fighting, any explosions, any loud cursing. No, there was only a shared peace in the knowledge that the task we set out to do had been accomplished, and now, only one final step remained...

...

...

"Are you guys ready?" Clarissa asked with a smile as she looked at us, at me.

"Clarissa, I can take it from here. You don’t have to stress yourself out anymore." I tried to stop her. She’d already done more than enough; whatever came next I could finish, but—

"Fufufu... now, why would I leave my task unfinished? My darling, are you trying to steal my spotlight?" Her eyes narrowed as she leveled me an accusatory glance.

I could only shake my head and raise my hands in surrender. "Forget I said anything; you may carry on."

"Humph! Better. Now watch your wife work."

She turned with a flourish, facing the still floating spheres that were my parents’ souls. A verdant green aura pouring out of her as she once again usurped authority over all life, only within Prime this time.

Mom and Dad were originally from the Prime universe, so their lives naturally began from the Prime universe’s Lifetree, and now, to bring them back, it was still through the Lifetree’s authority.

Yes, I could finally use Denial to reject their current states and bring them back whole as they used to be, probably even better, but I wasn’t about to take the moment away from Clarissa, not when she looked so—

"Beautiful..."

"Ahh... looks like she’s finally trapped him," Shaia noted.

"Hehehe... it was inevitable. Sister Clarissa put in the work this time," Elira said.

"Haa... another competent woman falling into the hands of this pervert. Absolute bless her soul," Sana muttered.

I ignored the chattering women as I focused entirely on the process that had finally begun.

The green light from Clarissa’s body had completely covered the spheres, flooding them with life and anchoring their existence back onto the flow of this universe’s timeline.

Hummmmmm!!!

Like a piece of itself had finally returned, a low hum ran through the entire region as the radiance from the two orbs became blinding, and within that light, I could see it.

A transformation had begun taking place as the orbs grew larger and then began morphing.

First came the legs, then the thighs, then the torso, then the arms, until finally, the heads.

WENG!!!

The light exploded outward the moment the transformation was completed as the region finally went quiet once again, only for that silence to be shattered completely soon after as—

"BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!"

A loud and boisterous laughter thundered through the region.

"REJOICE, PRIME!!!! YOUR CHOSEN ONE HAS FINALLY RETURNED!!!"

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A/N: Yup... they’re back. Who’s ready for some proper shenanigans? Anyways, as always....

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Thanks for reading...