Chapter 419: _Outside The Universe

Amazon Rainforest

Valentine and Gabriel exchanged a glance.

Neither could explain why or how Ambrose disappeared. There hadn’t been any spatial fluctuations. He didn’t give them any warnings either.

One second he’d just been standing beside them as they waited for Javier. The next... he was gone.

"Where’s Hunter Ambrose?" Hunter Ji-Hoon asked from behind them, fingers crossed.

She actively looked out for fate threads, ready to pull the right ones that would help the gathered Hunters survive. At the same time, she could tell something had happened.

"Argh." Javier groaned loud enough to make everyone freeze before Valentine could answer. ’You... you have your world to go back to. Please. The Yoxa aren’t there anymore. You’ve slaughtered most of the Yaxari too. Innocents.’

Vines crawled out of the soil around his palms. Before he could react, they wrapped around his wrists, locking tight like chains.

The entity’s presence became far more overwhelming.

Probing.

’Innocents?’ The entity repeated mockingly. ’They watched the Yoxa sap the planet of its resources. Of its life force. They let them cause damage that will take centuries to heal.’

’... W-What are you? Truly?’ Javier gnashed his teeth. ’You are no nature spirit. You’re a parasite. You leeched off that planet’s life force and wish to do the same to ours.’

’There’s nothing parasitic about my existence, pest.’ The vines grew thorns that pricked through his skin, drawing blood. ’I helped Xalora wipe out the true parasites. Just like I’ll help this planet rid itself of you and your kind.’

More vines shot out, coiling around his ankles until he almost fell chest-flat to the ground.

"Hunter Javier!" Someone shouted. "What’s happening?"

Gabriel squinted.

Something wasn’t right.

’And you...’ The entity brushed his consciousness with a tenderness that made his soul shiver. ’... You’ll make a fine host to carry out my will.’

"Hunter Javier?" The space god’s fingers tensed, aether already gathering. "Give the word. Do you need help...?"

His eyes bulged.

Javier gasped, the veins on his neck throbbing with a bright emerald light. His neck twisted at several unnatural angles.

"No." He tried pulling back control of the forest one more time.

Hopeless.

"... Flee!" He roared. "It’s... I can’t—"

The vines swallowed him whole, burying him underneath the dirt. Then, like a seed bringing up a tree, he sprang out, standing upright.

Valentine slowly took off his sunglasses.

The Brazilian Esper was covered in vines, with enough space present on his face to reveal two glowing orbs that were meant to be his eyes.

His head looked over his shoulder.

Tens of Hunters backed away, weapons drawn.

"Hunter Javier?"

Every tree in a fifty-mile radius trembled.

"That’s not Javier..." Valentine’s senses were on full gear. "Not anymore."

The entity had taken Javier as its host!

★★★★★

Hale-Ferguson Residence, Aurelia

Silence.

That’s the only thing that settled over the house several seconds after Orion vanished into golden light with his older personality.

Ambrose had collapsed to his knees shortly after, staring at the space his baby boy had been crying out for him moments ago.

Devon had his hands on his head.

Loki, Kali and Thoth stood in silence.

Ambrose’s breathing gradually steadied.

Translucent blue screens began appearing one after another before him.

[EmergencyMission: Protect Orion.]

[Searching target...]

[Search radius expanded.]

[Scanning planetary coordinates...]

Nothing.

His jaw tightened. "Again."

Aura obeyed without hesitation.

[Scanning solar system...]

[No target found.]

[Expanding search...]

[Scanning galactic coordinates...]

[No target found.]

Devon slowly looked over. "...Ambrose?"

The young man didn’t answer.

His attention remained fixed on the endless stream of windows continuing to appear.

[Scanning universal coordinates...]

[...]

[...]

[Search complete.]

[Target not found.]

For the first time since Aura had awakened inside him, the system hesitated before displaying another message.

[WARNING: Target exists outside detectable universal coordinates.]

Ambrose’s pupils constricted.

Outside the universe?

His fingers slowly curled into trembling fists.

How?

Orion wasn’t simply hidden.

He wasn’t behind some barrier or concealed by someone’s ability.

Aura couldn’t even locate the universe he currently occupied.

A soft sigh escaped Kali just then.

She already understood what that expression on Ambrose’s face meant.

"You couldn’t find him."

It wasn’t phrased as a question.

Ambrose lowered the floating windows with a wave of his hand before finally looking toward her.

"My system couldn’t."

Silence descended over the room once again.

If even a system capable of tracking Orion from the very beginning had lost him completely... Nobody present could pretend the situation wasn’t serious.

Thoth eventually shifted his attention toward Loki.

"I believe," he said carefully, "an explanation is long overdue."

The lord of chaos scratched the back of their neck before letting out a slow breath.

"I was hoping we’d never have to explain this again."

Their eyes wandered toward the empty spot where Orion had vanished.

"The first time we met... him... wasn’t today."

Kali frowned. "Him?"

"Older Orion." Loki nodded. "Back during the zombie apocalypse, I sent Ambrose, Devon, Victor, Valentine and Gabriel into Orion’s dreamscape. We thought Orion was refusing to wake up."

"We found the child," Devon quietly continued, finally finding his voice again. "But he wasn’t the one keeping himself trapped."

"It was the older Orion," Loki finished. "He believed that if Orion remained asleep forever, nobody would ever hurt him again."

The room fell quiet as everyone processed those words.

"It took Ambrose convincing him that protecting someone and imprisoning them weren’t the same thing before he finally let Orion wake up." Loki’s gaze drifted toward Ambrose. "Before disappearing... he made him promise something."

Ambrose closed his eyes. "That I’d protect them."

Kali slowly folded her arms. "So this isn’t about a broken promise." Everyone looked at her. "It’s about a promise he no longer believes is enough."

Thoth remained thoughtful for several seconds.

"What troubles me more," he finally admitted, "is something else entirely."

"The entity calling itself the older Orion should merely be a fractured aspect of the child’s psyche. A defensive personality created through trauma. Yet it possesses reasoning, emotional maturity and cognitive development exceeding Orion’s by years."

His brows gradually knitted together.

"At what point do we stop considering it another personality and start recognising it as a separate existence?"

Loki gave a small shrug. "I don’t think there’s a line anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"I think they’re both Orion."

Nobody managed to respond.

The sharp trill of a phone ringing suddenly sliced through the heavy silence.

Ambrose glanced down.

Gabriel.

He answered immediately.

"Gabriel."

Static and frantic shouting echoed from the other end before the space god’s voice finally broke through.

"Ambrose... we’ve got a problem. Javier is gone. Whatever came through that Rift has taken him as a host, and it’s getting worse by the second. We need you back here."

Ambrose slowly rose to his feet.

His eyes lingered on the empty room for one final moment before settling on Devon.

"If..." He stopped himself, shaking his head. "When Orion comes home... Call me immediately."

Devon swallowed hard before giving a single silent nod.

Without another word, space fractured behind Ambrose.

He stepped through the portal and vanished.

★★★★★

Unknown Location

Orion’s eyes slowly fluttered open.

The first thing he noticed was the silence.

Stretching in every direction was a vast meadow of emerald grass that swayed beneath a gentle breeze despite there being no visible sun overhead. Wildflowers bloomed wherever his eyes wandered, their petals glowing faintly beneath a sky painted in soft shades of white and gold.

There were no buildings. No roads. No monsters.

Just an endless field that seemed to continue forever.

Orion slowly sat up. "Huh?" His small hands brushed against the grass beneath him before he looked around in confusion. "Daddy?"

No answer.

"Papa?"

Still nothing.

His lower lip trembled slightly as he climbed to his feet.

"Hello?!"

"You don’t have to shout." The familiar voice drifted toward him from somewhere ahead.

Orion turned.

The older Orion stood several metres away with both hands tucked into his pockets, calmly overlooking the endless meadow as though he’d always belonged there.

Relief briefly flashed across Orion’s face before confusion replaced it once more.

"Where are we?"

The older boy looked toward the distant horizon. "A place nobody can reach."

Orion frowned. "But... Daddy—"

"Needs time." The answer came gently, without the coldness he’d shown inside the house. "So do you."

The younger boy stared at him for several long seconds before lowering his head.

"Are they angry with me?"

The older Orion’s expression softened almost imperceptibly. "No."

"Did I do something bad?"

"You protected yourself."

"But everyone froze..."

"They’ll survive."

Orion fell silent again, unconvinced.

His fingers twisted together nervously. "I don’t like making people scared."

"I know." The older Orion finally turned to face him completely. "That’s exactly why we’re here."

He slowly raised a hand, gesturing toward the endless landscape surrounding them.

"This place exists because you needed somewhere the world couldn’t touch."

Orion blinked. "And what is this place?"

A faint smile touched the older Orion’s lips.

"Home."

The word lingered quietly between them as the wind continued to dance across the endless sea of grass.