Chapter 1074: An Impossible Absorption

While Arthur was heading towards Echidna’s lair, all the way in the Dark Multiverse, the Aggressor of Creation, Hyperion, was receiving a not-so-unexpected visitor.

Within his personal dimension, a little pocket universe hidden away in a deep corner of the Dark Multiverse, was the existence who was supposed to be diametrically opposed to him, as well as to the entirety of the Dark Multiverse, and someone who should have been weakened and immensely uncomfortable merely by existing within the Dark Multiverse.

It was the woman whose Divine Spark Fragment Arthur had absorbed only days ago, the Eternal of Creation, Gaia.

"Where the hell have you been all this while?" she asked, her voice holding far more emotion than the bland indifference it had carried when she had been speaking with Arthur.

"I’ve been busy with a few things," Hyperion replied casually as he shrunk his enormous Titan form down to a much more modest two-meter height, making it so that Gaia’s body wasn’t comparable to an ant beside his own.

"So, what is it?" he asked as he turned around and took a seat in the cushioned chair behind him.

Gaia was silent for a moment before she finally asked, "Do you know of the Progenitor named ’Arthur Vaughn’?"

Hyperion’s eyes widened slightly in surprise at the unexpected question, and Gaia immediately narrowed her own.

"You know him, don’t you?" she asked with certainty. "He’s the one who currently has Lostvayne."

Hearing the name of the Rule Breaker that she called, realisation dawned within Hyperion’s eyes, although it didn’t overshadow his surprise.

Gaia noticed the change as well, and for a moment, the reaction left her confused.

"Hyperion? What’s wrong?"

"Huh? Ah, right. It’s just that..." Hyperion paused for a moment, pondering his phrasing before continuing. "I’m a little surprised by the fact that you, of all people, are asking me about the youngest of the Progenitors, who’s barely made a name for himself besides that little stint he had with Vlad some time ago."

Gaia completely ignored Hyperion’s mention of Arthur and Vlad’s encounter, instead focusing entirely on the fact that Hyperion knew who he was.

"So you do know who he is?" she asked.

"Yes, I do," Hyperion replied with a nod. "I encountered him when he gained control of Lostvayne. But how did you find out about him, and why are you asking about him?"

Hyperion hadn’t exactly been aware of everything happening on the cosmic stage over the past few years, since he’d been too busy with his own affairs.

Because of that, he was assuming that something immense must have happened involving Arthur for Gaia of all people to travel all the way to the Dark Multiverse just to ask him about Arthur.

His assumption, however, was completely overturned by Gaia’s response to his question.

A tinge of irritation appeared in her expression as she revealed the reason behind her inquiry.

"I found out about his name from Ranus, and he stole from me."

"...huh?"

Hyperion blinked in surprise, tilting his head slightly to the side as he asked, "Ranus or...?"

"Obviously Arthur," Gaia cut in, rolling her eyes as she corrected him.

The range of expressions Gaia had shown during the few minutes she had spoken with Hyperion would have shocked the vast majority of existences who knew of her if they were to witness it, due to how far removed it was from the blank, unreadable expression she always wore.

It was a look that barely changed regardless of whatever major cosmic event was occurring, be it a battle against a Cosmic Horror from the void, or the last Eternal-Aggressor war where Azi Dhaka nearly destroyed one of the Numbered Multiverses.

Hyperion, however, was no stranger to Gaia showing emotions in his presence, for a variety of reasons.

What he found strange, however, was Gaia’s specific knowledge of Arthur and the reason behind her inquiry about him.

"So, exactly what did Arthur steal from you? And how did he even get the chance to do so?"

Hyperion’s tone was incredulous, which was expected, as he couldn’t fathom any way Arthur would be able to successfully steal anything from Gaia in the first place.

A chair similar to his appeared behind Gaia after he spoke, and she sat down on it before responding.

"Remember that experimental universe we created in the First Multiverse? The original one, not the copy."

Hyperion nodded silently, recalling that said universe was where Arthur’s father was from.

Seeing him nod, Gaia then said, "He stole something from my Avatar that was there."

"Your Avatar?" Hyperion echoed, his incredulity increasing considerably as he processed what Gaia had just revealed.

"Yes, I scanned his existence and saw that he has some sort of ability to absorb pieces of Soul Cores from other existences. But my Avatar doesn’t have a soul, and the place where a soul is supposed to be is directly connected to me."

"So that’s why you noticed," Hyperion muttered in understanding as the circumstances surrounding the theft finally became clearer to him.

"But if it didn’t have a soul for him to steal anything from, how did he actually succeed in stealing something from you?" Hyperion asked.

"Because when he realised it didn’t have a soul, he targeted its Divine Spark instead," Gaia replied.

Hyperion’s eyes immediately narrowed at Gaia’s words, as he, who had been there when Gaia created the Avatar, knew exactly what was contained within that Avatar’s Divine Spark.

"He took an Aspect of Creation from it?" Hyperion asked with disbelief. "And Lostvayne let him do that?"

"Yes, Lostvayne let him do that," Gaia responded instantly. "There was some other Rule Breaker that I didn’t recognise there as well. I scanned his surface thoughts and found that he calls it ’Celestia’."

Hyperion’s expression didn’t change when Gaia mentioned Celestia’s name, and a moment later, a look of remembrance appeared within her eyes as she then added, "Oh right, he said something about telling you that he’s going to be coming for his Rule Breaker soon."

The moment Hyperion heard that, his brow twitched ever so slightly, a reaction Gaia instantly noticed and questioned.

"You know what that Rule Breaker is, don’t you?"

Hyperion knew that lying to Gaia right now would be absolutely pointless, so he answered truthfully.

"Yes. I know that Rule Breaker."

Before Gaia could even pose another question about it, Hyperion continued speaking quickly, "But that’s not important right now. What’s important is that you said he took an Aspect of Creation from your Avatar.

As far as I know, the power of destruction runs in Lucifer’s blood, so trying to absorb an Aspect of Creation would be suicide."

Gaia could tell that Hyperion was purposely diverting the topic away from Celestia. However, finding out what Hyperion knew about Celestia was low on her priority list, so she simply allowed him to get away with it and decided to ask a different question instead.

"Who the hell is Lucifer?" she asked, her expression carrying faint traces of confusion.

"Hmm? Oh!" Hyperion muttered, lightly facepalming as he recalled something. "Right, you know him as Morningstar."

Hearing that name, Gaia finally understood who he was referring to, and her recognition showed in her facial expression.

"That devil Quinn was so infatuated with," she muttered.

"Yes, that one," Hyperion responded. "He is Arthur’s ancestor, and Arthur inherited his power of destruction, as well as Lostvayne. It’s that same unique power of destruction Arthur possesses that allows him to wield Lostvayne, but that is far from the issue here.

What I want to understand is why he thought taking an Aspect of Creation would be a wise decision."

At this, Gaia shook her head before explaining, "It’s not that he was trying to take an Aspect of Creation. He was simply after a portion of my Avatar’s Divine Spark."

Tilting her head lightly, she asked, "He’s Luka’s slayer, isn’t he? Then he surely has the same power as other Slayers and is able to absorb Divine Sparks to become stronger.

He was after a portion of my Divine Spark and unwittingly took an Aspect of Creation with it, which is precisely what led me to come and ask you about him."

Meeting Hyperion’s golden eyes, Gaia declared.

"The Aspect of Creation that he took was Ordered."

For a moment after Gaia said that, there was silence.

Hyperion then raised an eyebrow and asked, "Ordered? You’re saying that a denizen of a Chaotic Multiverse who possesses the power of Destruction extracted an Ordered Aspect of Creation from your Avatar?"

"Yes," Gaia responded immediately.

At this, Hyperion exhaled softly and shook his head before saying, "Gaia, I know you’re normally not one to joke, but if this is your idea of a joke, it’s not even funny."

"I’m not joking, Hyperion," Gaia snapped.

Hyperion, however, clearly didn’t believe her.