Chapter 503 - 503: Real deal

Silva was about to head back onto the planet to meet with the others and talk things out so that they would know how to return. But before he could take a step, a massive rift formed behind him.

He turned around along with all the clones, all looking at it with panic.

"Another rift?" one clone asked.

"Get yourself ready," Silva said.

"Calm your horses down," Zion spoke. "Look, it's not rift monsters."

They all looked and saw a figure coming out of the rift.

"Ophelia," Silva, along with all the clones, spoke at the same time. They watched her come out while standing on some wide platform.

Her eyes met with Silva. She saw him amongst the clones without issue, her gaze locked on him.

"Silva," she called out.

"Ophelia?" Silva responded.

"What are you doing here?" He asked immediately after.

She gave a shaky smile and looked around a bit. "Uhm, I need your help to save my world," she said. She expected Silva to push back and begin to talk about all she had done and what had happened all this time.

"That rift you use, can it take us back?" Silva asked without hesitation.

She looked at him, shocked.

"I know what caused the rift. Ragna led it there," Silva stated.

"Ragna? The primordial? That old fart was the one that did this?" she asked in anger.

"Does that rift take us back?" He asked again.

"Yes, it does," she replied calmly.

Silva proceeded to call Drake and everyone back, Aris as well.

"Is this everyone?" Ophelia asked.

"Yeah, it is," Silva replied.

She prepared the platform and all of them stood in it. Dawn held Snow and ensured she was safe.

"To ensure that you all end up at her side properly, I'm going to cover your minds with divine energy. The rifts are extremely dangerous, and you risk abyss madness because of the abyss and its influence," she explained and got into the preparation.

But before they moved, Kren, the elf, and hen lady came their way. They had noticed something was happening and so they came to check it out, but the moment they saw Ophelia there, they froze.

"You are a god," the lady said in shock.

Ophelia looked at her and then spoke.

"Let me guess, you are demigods under the empire," she said plainly.

"Yes, we are. We have a task to handle the coming together of the empire. This task was given to demigods because all gods were called to the capital to stand before the throne," the elf explained.

"Why are you not there?" Kren asked. They looked right at Ophelia.

"Because I don't want to be, and what makes you think two low-ranked demigods can ask me about what I am doing?" she asked while looking them right in the eye.

"Go back and continue your rift purge in this world. It's all anyone in this universe is good for, after all," she said in a pissed-off tone.

"Hold onto whatever you can and ensure that you do not get off the platform or interfere with the divine energy wrapping around your head," she explained and then threw the cube. It created another rift gate for her, and she immediately controlled them in.

The gate closed soon after, and they started traveling in a straight line.

Silva had already unsummoned all his clones because it would have been too much to handle as they went through something like this.

He watched the abyss around him. It was the first time that he had entered the very place where he had summoned many monsters from. He watched the darkness swirling, consuming itself and rebooting itself in every passing moment. It was genuinely beautiful and scary at the same time.

Every few moments as they passed through, he would sense some movement. He knew those were abyss monsters swirling around in the very darkness of the abyss, and he could tell that they were not small at all.

'It seems infinite, the abyss.'

"Yeah, well, it's the abyss," one of his kind said.

"We kind of got that from the name," another kind said.

"How do you handle it?" Zion suddenly asked.

"Handle what?" Silva responded.

"Handle the fact that I'm your head now. There are eleven minds all functioning and speaking at the same time in one body, and you also have ten clones that seem to have their own personalities. Does it not get heavy for you to see and hear yourself so many times over?"

"You are my system, you should know how I handle it," Silva replied.

"Well, I do on paper, but not everything can be explained with facts and logic. Every living thing is unpredictable and extremely unique," Zion said.

"Sigh, it's always been a part of me, so I handle it like that. I have questioned if I am truly me many times, when I fight my alternate versions to save the world, when I hear hundreds of my clones speak and hear my minds as well.

It worries me if I am the same person at all, or did one of my clones somehow become the original and the real me was forgotten.

You should know, if I die and I have a clone, that clone becomes the real me. I have never told anyone this because it scares even me.

The concept of me dying and a clone becoming the replacement so fast that no one even knows because that clone is me now believes he is genuinely me."

Silva took a deep breath. "I'm lost for who I am at this point."

"Well, I'll tell you who you are," Zion said and smacked him in the back.

"You are the dark dragon, the pride-filled being that rises to destroy all that stands in his way to true freedom.

Never forget the start and the goal, freedom," Zion said.

"As long as you still have that pride and want for freedom, then you know you are the real deal."